Page 8 - Coffee Table ebook

Democracy is the essence of the power of the people in ensuring that the polity
remains responsive to their needs and aspirations. A strong and effective
parliament enhances democracy, ensures accountability and promotes good

governance. The backbone of an effective parliament is informed members

of parliament, ably supported by parliamentary staff, who fulfill parliament’s
primary functions of oversight, representation and lawmaking.

Seen in this backdrop, it is imperative to continually undertake capacity

building programmes, orientation and training of parliamentarians and
parliamentary officials. In order to make parliament work at its best, it is also
necessary that other stakeholders of democracy – government officials, media

persons, etc. – also get to know how our Parliament functions. Educating the

youth and students on our parliamentary democracy is crucial.

The Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies

(PRIDE) has been performing the onerous task of training new members of

Parliament and State Legislatures in our Parliament as well as parliamentary
staff, for the last forty-six years of its existence. Through these years, PRIDE
has successfully conducted numerous programmes to familiarize various

stakeholders of our democracy on how our Parliament works. It is heartening

to know that, in recent times, PRIDE has widened its ambit and embarked
on holding Parliamentary Outreach Programmes for the empowerment of
Panchayati Raj Institutions and Indian and Foreign Language Courses for

legislators and officials.