In India, a school for democracies world over

NEW DELHI - They come every year from many countries to learn how the world’s largest democracy works, at a little known school in the Indian parliament that came up five years ago.

The latest bunch of 46 officials from 26 countries who attended the school have gone back impressed. The month-long 26th edition of the parliamentary internship programme for foreign delegates ended this month. The programme is run by the Indian parliament’s Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST).

“We learnt a lot about budgetary processes, gender issues. We are amazed how various parliamentary committees operate. I believe something similar is needed in our parliament,” Palestine’s Mohammed N.M. Salahaldin told IANS.

Rommel L. Escudero of the Philippines agreed. “The committee system is wonderful; it ensures transparency.”

The underlying idea of the programme is to have an exchange of democratic culture and promote democracy.Democracy is not just about elections. It is also about a vibrant political system, an effective opposition, a transparent system, and the ultimate accountability to parliament and other institutions.

Biljana Ognenvoska of Macedonia was amazed by the sheer representative size of the Indian parliament.

“Macedonia has two million people. I am surprised that some Indian constituencies are larger than that,” she said, referring to the Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Macedonian was also impressed by the dedicated Lok Sabha TV.

“We have a channel for our parliament and the model of Lok Sabha TV will be useful. In addition, we are in the process of making a bureau for parliamentary studies; the Indian model can help,” Ognenvoska told IANS.

Since 1995, when it all began, 26 batches from abroad have been trained in the parliamentary school.

Munish Kumar, under secretary in BPST, told IANS: “The training programmes for officials of foreign parliaments are intended to meet the special needs of officials who study the working of the parliamentary system and institutions in India.

“These programmes provide an opportunity to exchange ideas in the context of their own experiences and make them aware of the environment, culture, traditions and working of parliamentary institutions in India,” he said.

Casmir Rockson Addo Mensah from Ghana said: “There is a vibrant opposition. Here the opposition has the capacity to stall proceedings, which is good for democracy.”

He was full of praise for the Right to Information Act.

“Another thing I found impressive was the small cars Indian MPs use. In my country all MPs want SUVs. I would suggest this in my parliament.”

The month-long programme included a visit to the Karnataka Assembly and field trips to provide officials an insight into Indian grassroot political systems.

For Svetlana Kizenkova of Belarus, the trip to Bangalore was special as she found the city comparable to her national capital Minsk.

“We have a Bangalore Square at Minsk and Bangalore has a Minsk Square!” she said.

(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)