By Jayraj Pandya, Zerin Osho
Ever imagined working for a politician and getting paid? That is what the Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship is about. Run by PRS Legislative Research, this enables youth to engage in the domain of law-making and public policy by working with Members of Parliament (MPs). The fellowship programme that began in 2010 has a robust alumni network of 500+ fellows. LAMP fellowship is open for all Indian graduates under the age of 25.
During the programme, each LAMP fellow is assigned to a mentor MP and provides research inputs for various parliamentary interventions such as parliamentary questions, raising issues of public importance, legislative bills and discussions taken up in the House etc. The fellowship runs from June to April covering all three sessions of Parliament — Monsoon, Winter and Budget.
As LAMP fellows, we got the opportunity to observe, from close quarters, the internal workings of the Indian Parliament and the legislative process. The exposure from the LAMP fellowship not only combined our love for policy and law-making in India but also introduced us to the best and brightest Indian minds.
As 24-year-olds, we marvelled at the endless possibilities and fresh perspectives that a group of 50 young Indian professionals presented to their respective MPs. Some ideas became policy while others shaped public discourse. Either way, our work was directly or indirectly shaping policy in India.
As LAMP fellows, we underwent rigorous parliamentary training, which prepped us early on for our careers in policy. Skills in drafting, negotiations, stakeholder mapping, and the use of data-driven policy analyses have all given us an edge compared to our peers globally. This skill set is invaluable and has directly contributed to our success as public policy professionals.
Features
Mentorship by an MP: An MP is the representative of the citizens in the highest legislative body of the country. LAMP fellowship provides a platform for the youth to be mentored by the MPs.
Overview of public policy domain: During the inter-session period (the period between two sessions of the Parliament), PRS holds workshops for the fellows on a wide range of policy areas such as public institutions, health, education, tech policy, public finances in order to provide an adequate understanding of policy challenges and approaches.
Peer-to-peer learning: Each cohort of LAMP fellows comprises a set of young policy enthusiasts from diverse academic backgrounds such as sciences, law, humanities and commerce among others. The diversity in the cohort leads to extensive peer-to-peer learning among fellows which is a key feature of the fellowship.
(The authors are LAMP fellows from the 2015-16 batch)