Congress launches Manmohan Singh Fellows' programme

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday launched a fellowship programme named after former prime minister Manmohan Singh, under which 50 mid-career professionals will be chosen every year and mentored by senior party leaders from professional backgrounds with the aim of building a modern and progressive India, reports PTI.

Addressing a joint press conference with SC department national coordinator K Raju and AICC media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, Chairman of Professionals' Congress and Data Analytics Praveen Chakravarty said 'The Dr Manmohan Singh Fellows' programme will identify and choose 50 mid-career professionals from across the country every year.

Chakravarty said those professionals would be chosen who are in the middle of their careers, not at the entry level, but who have spent close to ten years in the professional world, and now who are passionate about building a modern, progressive, prosperous India,

"These 50 people will be chosen by an eminent panel through a very intense selection process. Once they are chosen, they will be mentored by senior leaders in the Congress Party who have come from professional backgrounds themselves," he said.

"As professionals, and I'm sure Raju ji will agree with me, we also know how hard it can be for people coming from non-political backgrounds and families to transition to politics and the culture of a political party. So we will use our experiences and learnings to make it smoother for this new set of Dr. Manmohan Singh fellows to transition to politics and public life," he said.

Chakravarty said the chosen fellows will be given intensive and continuous training and put on real-time assignments and projects within the Congress party under the constant guidance of senior leaders.