Shillong, March 25: The Bharti Institute of Public Policy, at the Indian School of Business, has formally inducted the second cohort of the Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship (MLRF) with a workshop.
Organised in collaboration with the Meghalaya Institute of Governance (MIG), the three-day induction from March 20 to 22 in Shillong oriented the 12 selected fellows towards providing evidence-based research assistance and policy support to the legislators of the state of Meghalaya.
Introductory training sessions were held on data analysis, and group exercises utilised the India Data Portal and the Meghalaya Data Portal, thus equipping the new cohort with foundational skills. Further, the workshop offered insights into constituency-related tasks and outlined the project’s trajectory in the future.
As a knowledge and executing partner for the programme, ISB’s Bharti Institute of Public Policy selects, trains, and provides mentorship to the fellows for the Meghalaya Institute of Governance, the nodal agency for the MLRF, through a structured two-year programme.
As part of the programme, the newly onboarded cohort was engaged in a dialogue with Mr Donald Phillips Wahlang, Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya, to delve into the progress and prospects of the fellowship project.
Also part of the discussions, were Bharti Institute representatives, including Deepti Soni, Associate Director; Saubhagya Samal, Head of Project Management Unit; Amrita Chakraborty, Project Lead, India Data Portal; and State Coordinator Murchana Hazarika; and MIG Director Aibanshngain Swer.
“As we welcome the second cohort of fellows, we reaffirm our commitment to nurturing a new generation of leaders equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate the complexities of governance,” said Mr Aibanshngain Swer, Director, Meghalaya Institute of Governance, adding, “Together with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, we embark on a journey towards empowering our region through informed evidence-based policymaking and inclusive governance.”
The team along with the fellows also convened another meeting with the Principal Secretary & Development Commissioner, Government of Meghalaya, Mr Sampath Kumar (IAS) to deliberate on the Fellowship’s forthcoming initiatives.
The newly inducted fellows represent all three tribes of the state, Garo, Khasi and Jaintia, and are from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, including research, academics, and law. The fellows were selected through a rigorous process led by the team of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy.
Speaking about the fellowship, Ms Deepti Soni, Associate Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, who led the team for the workshop, said, “The MLRF is a unique programme which was introduced in 2021 by the state government of Meghalaya in synergy with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy.
Onboarding of the second cohort is a furtherance of the success of the first cohort of the programme and a testament to the value that this collaboration brings to evidence-based policymaking in the state.”
