MBAs, IT grads train as politicians

Management graduates, Information Technology (IT) professionals and political science graduates are among the first batch of students studying to be politicians at a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) affiliate’s institute of political leadership.

The Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership (IIDL), run by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (RMP), is the first institute in India to train students to be politicians. The course, launched last month on the lines of Kennedy School of Pubic Policy in the United States, now has 32 students who were selected from among 500 applicants from across the country.

Three of the 32 students in the current batch left their regular jobs to join the institute and train as a politician. One such student is Aritra Chattopadhyay from West Bengal, who left his job as an assistant manager in a private company and joined Prabodhini’s course.

“We always keep complaining that things are not happening the correct way in our country and politicians are to be blamed,” Aritra said.

“This is the reason I wanted to join politics myself. IIDL is the only available institute in India that offers a course like that and hence I sought admission here. The other option would have been the Kenedy School in US but there is …read more