Role reversal: Speaker hones her skill as a diplomat

From managing the House to spreading India’s success story, Kumar does it all

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is best known for her skills to preside over turbulent sessions and manage unruly politicians, but the first woman to have put the House in order now wants to expand her horizon.

At a time when the country is emerging as an economic powerhouse, Kumar, with her diplomatic background, is focusing on economic issues to highlight India’s achievements worldwide.

In her upcoming tour to Kenya for the executive committee meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Kumar will speak on: “How prepared is the Commonwealth for the emerging new world economic order?”

While her predecessor, Somnath Chatterjee, had earned his fame for tirelessly raising his voice against judicial activism and fiercely protecting the right of the legislature, Kumar is consciously trying to focus on economic issues.

On her visit to Swaziland in May, Kumar took the opportunity to oversee a $10 million credit to the African country to set up a science and technology park. NIIT had launched its IT education programme “hole in the wall” coinciding with Kumar’s visit.

“The Speaker is certainly taking a new role when she visits foreign countries or meet foreign delegates. Post meltdown, in most of her visits abroad, the Speaker is faced with the question of what is India’s secret of holding its economic growth?” said an official close to Kumar. A close friend of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Kumar regularly takes briefings from the officials of the External Affairs Ministry before every foreign visit.

In a previous tour in Luxembourg, Kumar not only harped on economic issues, but also held meetings with the country’s finance minister and other representatives. Last year, in a meeting at Geneva, Kumar chose to talk about food security and agriculture.

Kumar’s aides claim the Speaker wants to highlight India’s growth story as an ambassador of the world’s largest democracy. The efforts are consciously timed as the Indian economy retained its high growth, while several other economies around the world faced a slowdown.

“She has served in the Indian Foreign Service and is certainly using her diplomatic skills for this purpose. As a diplomat, she had been highlighting the achievements of India on foreign shores. As the Speaker, her role has changed but the mission remains the same,” said an officer in the Lok Sabha secretariat.

The CPA meeting in Kenya, scheduled between September 10 and 19 will primarily discuss about issues related to water and food in the world. Kumar has carefully chosen a group of young and experienced MPs to accompany her for this purpose.