Indian MPs exchange experiences at University of Chicago

Chicago: Parliamentarians from different political parties from six Indian states visited the University of Chicago from 28th October to 3rd November, 2017. “It’s been a wonderful experience and exposure for us and it’s great to see the kind of evidence based research that’s going on, especially in the Indian context. A lot of that is extremely useful for as policymakers and to the government,” said Kalikesh N. Singh Deo, Member of Parliament (LS) from Bolangir in Odisha. The delegation of MPs consisting of Riti Pathak, Rakesh Singh and Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal of Bharatiya Janata Party; Kalikesh N. Singh Deo and Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh of Biju Janata Dal; Vincent Pala of Indian National Congress, Vandana Chavan of Nationalist Congress Party and Vivek Gupta of All India Trinamool Congress met experts from different departments including Booth School of Business, Harris School of Public Policy among others at the University. Indian Lawmakers also shared their viewpoints in the different roundtables that were organized to discuss the global energy challenge. In the last leg of their visit, they met Navtej Singh Sarna, Indian Ambassador to the United States and other opinion leaders in Washington, DC.

Reflecting about the trip, Vivek Gupta, Member of Parliament (RS) from West Bengal said, “Perspectives change when you are confronted with data and ideas. The trip has been mentally very stimulating and we hope that we are actually able to achieve something out of it.” Adding to it, Vincent H Pala who represents Shillong Lok Sabha constituency said, “The kind of data and statistics with which we were briefed at University of Chicago, it really convinces us that we can work towards becoming a leader of world in terms of renewable energy and climate change.” Hosted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC- India) and the Climate Parliament, the visit was aimed at facilitating knowledge exchange to accelerate solutions for India’s diverse energy challenges. As a part of a MoU, EPIC- India and Climate Parliament have been working towards building the capacity of Indian MPs for confronting various energy and environmental challenges. Catch a glimpse of the visit at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHH5rBocXXQ&feature=youtu.be Also watch Indian Lawmakers interact with experts at Energy Policy institute at the University of Chicago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf2twsFHi84&feature=youtu.be