Raphael Warjri

[November 17, 2023]: The Indian School of Business (ISB), in association with the Government of Meghalaya, successfully conducted the third fully residential Public Policy Workshop for members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) from Meghalaya. The workshop was organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at ISB along with the Meghalaya Institute of Governance.

The Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Thomas A Sangma, the Leader of the Opposition Ronnie V Lyngdoh, the Government Chief Whip, Nujorki Sungoh, and the Opposition Chief Whip, Saleng A Sangma, along with 35 members of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and 20 officials of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and Meghalaya Institute of Governance attended the workshop, held at the ISB campus from November 16-18, 2023.

These workshops at ISB would help Meghalaya’s MLAs develop innovative entrepreneurship and investment ecosystems in the state. This will help Meghalaya’s youth in finding new employment opportunities. The MLAs were also trained in ways in which they could improve livelihoods in tribal belts and rural areas across the state. 

The workshop commenced with an introductory session by Aarushi Jain, Policy Director of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, focusing on understanding the Meghalaya Legislative Research Fellowship and activities to advance the constituency development plans.

During the workshop, the participants engaged in a series of insightful sessions led by eminent speakers, including Amarjeet Sinha, IAS (Retd.) former Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Venu Rajamony, former Ambassador of India to the Netherlands. Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, held a session on "Forest Economy and Improving Livelihoods”, emphasising initiatives to improve livelihoods through the forest economy.

Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary and Development Commissioner, Government of Meghalaya also conducted a workshop with the legislators. He said, “We look forward to strengthening the existing collaboration between the Government of Meghalaya and the Indian School of Business. These workshops go a long way towards collaborative governance, thereby facilitating discussions between the academia, executive, and the legislature.”

Meghalaya MLAs visited the T-HUB, the public-private startup ecosystem enabler of the Government of Telangana. The workshop also provided an excursion opportunity to the Telangana State Integrated Command and Control Centre, a unique state-of-the-art centre in the country.