“Surrender not the convictions you hold dear but learn to appreciate the points of view of your opponents.”
Shri Syama Prasad Mookerjee
India in 2019 is clearly progressing towards a prosperous future with a firm and steady pace. This progression along with the requirements brings with it immense opportunities for the society, especially the youth to join in and contribute proactively to this progress train. India with its young population stands to benefit extensively from this change, which not only presents a multitude of opportunities but also gives space for the youth to learn new skills while contributing to nation-building.
After my graduation in Chemical Engineering, I was looking at similar opportunities to be a proactive part of nation-building and contribute to the socio-political sector. However, for me, the first requirement for sure was to get trained in important skills which would not only open new gateways of opportunities but will also give me a holistic idea of the intriguing socio-political domain in India. After a bit of research and interaction with various professionals, I got to know about the Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL), which was one of kind in India, providing education and training in the field of Politics, Governance and Leadership.
What followed on my part was intensive analysis of the course curriculum, faculties, infrastructure and other factors accordingly IIDL emerged as a suitable organization for me and I applied for the 9 month Post Graduate Diploma program. After clearing the screening process I was all set to kick start my career in the socio-political domain. After joining the course my first step was surely to acknowledge the highly diverse and appealing field of governance where innovative ideas always find a suitable environment for growth. The course, being one of its kinds in India, provided me with an apt environment to hone my skills in fields of leadership, politics and governance.
In his address to the @iidlpgp students the hon Vice President of India @VPSecretariat spoke about leadership ethics, shared his own journey in politics and also spoke about his tenure as the country's Vice President. pic.twitter.com/5CAaKPOkQR
— IIDL (@iidlpgp) February 6, 2019
IIDL students reach Delhi for their week long National Capital Study tour
The students will be visiting the Parliament, Supreme Court, Rashtrapati Bhavan and shall be interacting with politicians, parliamentarians, along with meeting social and political influencers.@DEVenDrapai pic.twitter.com/5FkKAJ5f0T— IIDL (@iidlpgp) February 3, 2019
With a peer group of students from more than 10 states, IIDL gave me an opportunity to interact with professionals coming from various fields with diverse career goals. Peer group included from PhDs to executives of MNCs with career goals from being an elected representative to working for social organizations. Continued interaction with this diverse peer group helped me overcome my inhibitions and also helped me in getting exposed to different ideas and perspective which ultimately lead to lifelong friendships.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh holding an interaction with the newly passed-out batch of postgraduate students from “Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership” (IIDL), at New Delhi on Friday.https://t.co/cuKnlg7cXn pic.twitter.com/YafeBEQIpQ
— IIDL (@iidlpgp) February 9, 2019
The Director of the SPMR Foundation, Dr Anirban Ganguly interacted with the students and stressed upon the need to read more about Indic philosophy and Eastern traditions. pic.twitter.com/X7aqTiAV6Q
— IIDL (@iidlpgp) February 7, 2019
Other than the peers the faculties visiting the institute also brought with themselves a plethora of knowledge. The visiting faculties included senior elected representatives, prominent journalists, various policy experts, representatives of various think tanks, life coaches, senior lawyers and many others. The institute did not have any permanent faculties and all major parts of the curriculum were delivered by these visiting experts. Undoubtedly, this was another positive factor for the institute, getting visiting faculty to teach the subject which falls under his or her niche domain gave us the requisite expert exposure.
We had @rchanakyapillai revisiting the @iidlpgp campus to take session on Indic Approach to Leadership.He also took a session on Leadership lessons from Chanakya's teachings.
We thank him for sparing his valuable time & interacting with the participants of #iidl2018@RMPONWEB pic.twitter.com/cvvuMF5LFl— IIDL (@iidlpgp) October 10, 2018
Maharashtra's Cabinet Minister of Finance & Planning & Forests departments, Shri @SMungantiwar met and interacted with the students of Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership @iidlpgp and wished them all the best for their future during his visit at @RMPONWEB campus.#iidl2018 pic.twitter.com/StexiGzmlq
— IIDL (@iidlpgp) August 9, 2018
IIDL is an initiative of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, which in itself is a benchmark for training and capacity building programme and also shares a beautiful lush green campus with IIDL. The course also included various field visits like Mumbai High Court, Central Railway headquarters, Indian parliament, US consulate and many other places; it also included week-long study tours to Madhya Pradesh during assembly elections and to the national capital. The course also included various simulation training programs like model parliament, model United Nations and others.
#CGKagan met future political leaders from the Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership today to discuss the #USIndia relationship. He also inaugurated the English Language Specialist Program, welcoming English Language specialist Alicia Brent. pic.twitter.com/WGzrLQJJLo
— US Consulate Mumbai (@USAndMumbai) October 22, 2018
Enjoyed visiting the @iidlpgp campus and talk with Indian & Israel students on #India – #Israel relations. These students encounters are a great sign of our #GrowingPartnership. @DEVenDrapai @LiorTouil @RMPONWEB pic.twitter.com/Ouw4JDHfml
— Yaakov Finkelstein (@Yaakov_FINKLSTN) August 17, 2018
For me, my time at IIDL certainly brought a significant change in my perspective and surely widened my knowledge base from beyond the books to real practical exposure. However it wouldn’t have been possible without the guidance and mentorship of Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Shri Ravindra Sathe, Shri Ravi Pokharna, Shri Umesh More, Shri Devendra Pai and all the RMP and IIDL staff who made sure all the students got the best of training and exposure for their respective career goals.
Smt. @Shubhrastha sharing her experiences with #IIDL students.
Registrations started for 2019-20 batch
Apply now: https://t.co/DbSuj0Utjn
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.#PostGraduateProgramme #Leadership #Politics #Governance pic.twitter.com/wVeJaYWKNY— IIDL (@iidlpgp) May 29, 2019
RTI activist and former CIC Shri. @shaileshgan sharing his experiences with young minds at @iidlpgp
Registrations started for 2019-20 batch
Apply now: https://t.co/DbSuj0Utjn
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.#PostGraduateProgramme #Leadership #Politics #Governance pic.twitter.com/5uLYgwI0O5— IIDL (@iidlpgp) May 31, 2019
