KalingaTV News Network
Bhubaneswar: Dr. Iswar Chandra Naik, Associate Dean of KISS University in Bhubaneswar will represent India at the United States’ International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), starting from April 9, 2018.
Naik, lone delegate from India, will be a part of the 2-week long group project entitled “Accountability and Transparency in State and Local Governments”.
“I will explore the United States’ commitment to transparency, ethics and accountability at all levels of its government,” said Naik, who is scheduled to depart from here on April 6, 2018.
“I will also study the critical role that NGOs and media, particularly social media, play as ‘watchdogs’ to prevent corruption in the society,” he added.
Naik will visit various public establishments as well as meet local leaders during the international program.
IVLP, US Department of States’ most prestigious professional exchange program was launched in 1940. It aims to cultivate lasting relationship by connecting current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts through short-term visits to the United States.
Participants for the program are selected annually by the staff at US Embassies around the world and more than 200,000 international visitors have engaged with Americans through the IVLP, including over 300 current and former heads of government.
Naik, who hails from a small remote village- Katikhaman of Kashipur block in Rayagada district, completed his PhD in Sociology from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi in 2010.
Naik has been fondly called as “Neta ji” among the JNUites for his fiery speeches in social issues, particularly for the cause of SC, ST and downtrodden people. He was elected as the Student Union President of DAV College, Koraput in the academic session of 1999-2000.
In July this year, BJD supremo and Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik appointed Naik as the Secretary of Dalit Cell of the ruling party in the state.
Kalinga AI