Graduating senior Harneel Kaur Aujla's will be mentored by a member of the parliament of India as part of her LAMP Fellowship.
GENESEO, N.Y. -- Geneseo graduating senior Harneel Kaur Aujla has won a prestigious Legislative Assistants to Member of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship for 2016-2017 that will give her the opportunity to work for a year alongside and be mentored by a member of parliament in her home country of India. The program is designed to give young Indians experiences with policy-making at the national level.
Aujla is graduating this month from Geneseo with a bachelor’s degree in international relations with a minor in sociology. She previously studied political science and law from the University of Legal Studies at Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, before transferring to Geneseo. She also has had experience working for the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi and translated documents from Hindi to English for the Indiability Foundation through the UN Volunteers program, as well as the Punjab and Haryana High Court also in India.
At Geneseo, Aujla served as vice chair of the Academic Affairs Committee and secretary of the Campus Activities Board. She also participated with the Model United Nations, the Center for Academic Excellence, and the South Asian Cultural Club (Shakti).
Michael Mills, director of National Fellowships and Scholarships, said that Aujla’s fellowship is an indicative of the kind of high achieving and politically active international students that Geneseo attracts.
“Harneel is considering a career in law and most interested in issues related to human rights and specifically the rights of women worldwide,” said Mills. “The LAMP fellowship is quite competitive and will give her insights into the Indian political and legal processes that will help her in her work.”
According to the LAMP web site, “Fellows work full time with the assigned MP, from the beginning of the Monsoon session to the end of the budget session of Parliament. Throughout the 11 months, the LAMP Fellow works closely with the MP, providing extensive research support for his/her parliamentary work.” Fellows are given opportunities to “help the MPs fulfill their parliamentary duties such as asking questions, raising matters of public importance, participating in debates, writing speeches, drafting private member bills… LAMP Fellows will also engage with policy makers and experts from diverse sectors through participation in workshops on important policy and development issues… on subjects like Health, Education, Infrastructure, Public Finance, etc.
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