The Functioning of India’s Legislative Bodies

CASI Seminar
Fall 2017 Visiting Scholar
M. R. Madhavan
President & Co-Founder of PRS Legislative Research, New Delhi
Center for the Advanced Study of India
3600 Market Street, Suite 560 (5th floor)
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104

About the Speaker:
M. R. Madhavan is the President and co-founder of PRS Legislative Research in New Delhi. His work focuses on improving the effectiveness of legislatures as the key decision making bodies in a democracy. The work is based on three dimensions: to increase the use of data and analysis in the process of decision making by legislators; to make information about legislatures and legislators accessible to citizens; and to catalyze greater engagement between citizen groups and legislatures. The objective is to make the legislative process better informed, more transparent and participatory. Madhavan is a frequent columnist on issues related to legislative issues and representation, and has contributed several book chapters on these topics. Prior to starting PRS in 2005, he worked with ICICI Securities and Bank of America in Mumbai and Singapore as an analyst covering equity, interest rate, and currency markets. Madhavan holds a B.Tech from IT Madras and MBA and doctoral degrees from IIM Calcutta. He has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus by IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta.

About the Lecture:
The Indian Parliament is the central representative institution of the world’s largest democracy, but remains understudied. Madhavan will discuss how parliamentary work is structured and how parliament has performed as the central legislative and oversight body. He will examine the evolution of parliament as a representative institution and the performance of MPs on some parameters. He will argue there are several structural issues that hamper the effectiveness of parliament, and discuss ways in which these can be addressed. Finally, he will take a look at the functioning of a few state legislatures.

[Event Flyer]

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.