Author: Payal Kapadia
Publication: Outlook
Date: October 23, 2000
Fifteen acres of lush
land, just north of Mumbai at Utan, is now the site for the country's first
training school for politicians. This BJP initiative is unique since no
other political party has ever attempted anything like this. Simply put,
what this means is that BJP politicians will be encouraged to go back to
school. But the sprawling Utan centre won't be a full-time college, only
a venue for short courses-orientation courses for the uninitiated and refresher
courses for the seasoned politician. For now, this would mean spending
three or four days spent in Utan, learning the skills of public speaking,
or time management, or publicity and public relations.
But in the long run,
Information and Technology minister Pramod Mahajan has an RSS-type training
in mind, specially designed to meet the needs of the BJP. A weekly course,
every year, for three years-for freshers, middle-level and senior workers-with
custom-made training for the organisational wing and the legislative wing
of the party. To top it all, there'll also be a certificate at the end
of it. Says Mahajan, who is credited with the planning of the project,
"I know that most MPs see the Constitution for the first time when they
take an oath by it. They hardly know the history of their own political
party, leave alone that of the competing party. Indian politics has been
left to fate. I want to leave it to effort."
The first phase of the
project, costing a hefty Rs 10 crore, was completed this year. The state-of-the-art
facility boasts a library, auditorium, swanky training rooms, soundproof
conference rooms and generously furnished guestrooms. The second phase,
which includes a health club, a jogging track, a swimming pool and villa-type
accommodation, is scheduled to be completed by January 2002. "The ground-level
structures are built to encourage people to walk around the complex and
to integrate the buildings with the landscape," explains Arif Noorani,
project architect and director of Parekh Noorani Architects Private Ltd
(PNA).
The Utan centre was the
unfulfilled dream of Rambhau Mhalgi, a prominent member of the Maharashtra
legislative assembly between '67 and '77, and the Lok Sabha between '77
and '82. While he died of cancer in '82, the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini
(Academy), an RSS trust named after him, set up the school. Its motto:
Atma Deepo Bhava (Let the soul be the light). The aim of the school, like
that of the trust, is to empower grassroots political activists. "Just
anyone can't join politics," says Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the Prabodhini director
general. "There should be a learning process so that the elected representative
can deliver the goods."
So will that learning
process be open only to BJP and RSS activists? Says Sahasrabuddhe, "We're
open to others joining in, there's a lot of functional training that isn't
specific to any political party." Other political parties are dismissive
and claim the school will be one more venue for RSS training. Says Mahajan,
who's also president of the Prabodhini, "Yes, we are part of the Sangh
Parivar so this centre naturally caters to BJP and RSS workers. You can't
expect me to teach the importance of Communism, or talk of the values of
Sonia Gandhi. I'm teaching my people at my cost in my institution. I can't
claim to be 100 per cent objective."
The school has been operational
since April. It aims to become self-financing by providing its infrastructure
for corporate use from January 2001. A number of courses were held this
year-a training course for BJP legislators in June, for their secretaries
in July, and for BJP district presidents in August. In November, there'll
be a three-day programme for women corporators on issues concerning women
and child development. Prime Minister Vajpayee is expected to formally
inaugurate the school by year-end. At present, says Mahajan, this experiment
in political training has the Centre's strong support. He also hopes to
garner the political will to extend the facility nationally.
If other political parties
take the cue, the Indian Parliament might just present a dramatically more
urbane and aware picture. "This is to raise the general standard of Indian
politics," says Mahajan. "Not to create genius." Or integrity, for that
matter. But if the business of politics is to become a service or a profession,
a school is a good place to start.
