From “gisting” the Sachar Committee report to “demystifying” the Budget document or “explaining” the finer points of the Indo-US nuclear deal, they have done it all. Meet the team of Democracy Connect (DC), “tutors” to some of our first-time Members of Parliament (MPs).

Since the time it was set up in 2005, the group has been providing “intellectual input” on demand to our young MPs — all free of cost. Their “clients” cut across party lines: Sandeep Dikshit and Jitin Prasada from the Congress, BJP’s Dharmendra Pradhan, NCP’s Supriya Sule and MDMK’s A Ravichandran are a few names on the list.

“We realised that our MPs don’t have anyone, outside their circle of political workers, on whom they can depend for information. At times, they just have 24 hours before a Standing Committee meeting or a crucial parliamentary debate,” says Nidhi Prabha Tewari, an IRMA graduate who hit upon the idea of providing professional help to parliamentarians while working with East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit in 2004.

The group now boasts an impressive panel of about half-a-dozen young graduates of top business schools, with current portfolios varying from investment banking to consultancy. While most of them are based in New York, DC operates from a one-room office in South Delhi.

“We could improve the policy formation process by arming the parliamentarians with facts, data and analysis, creating a legitimate platform to have professionals and individuals across the world engage in the governance process without having to give up their primary avenues,” says Kushagra Saxena, a Stanford University alumnus who works as a consultant with McKinsey in New York.

... contd.