CHANDIGARH:It is not just the recent state budget that he presented. Haryana finance minister, Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, recently accomplished another feat and a first for a serving minister of any state in India. On February 20, the 47-year-old Hisar-based leader completed an Executive Management Course under the prestigious Owner President Management Programme at the Harvard University in the US and received his degree.
Taught in three-week sessions over three years, the degree programme brought together students (CEOs, presidents, managing directors and entrepreneurs) from across the globe. Singh says for him it was like re-living his student days. “It was a classroom experience with a difference as each batch of eight students comprised of students from different nations. In my group were students from Brazil, USA, Greece and UAE,” he says.
Though the experience was rewarding intellectually and culturally, it was also quite hectic, he says. Singh says the morning bell rang sharp at 5am and was followed by a tight schedule of group discussions, parleys and observing various innovative modules.
The students themselves used to draw an agenda for the day immediately after their breakfast which was served at 6.30am, says Singh. The crucial exercise session used to be over-an-hour long and regular classes were held from 9am to 5.30pm.
The three-year-degree course commenced in 2012 requiring attendance of three weeks every year to be eligible to get the degree. “I could not attend the classes in 2014 due to the Lok Sabha polls. But I made up for this when Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, allowed me to attend classes at Harvard to complete the course,” he adds.
As a student, the minister stayed in a dormitory which had small cubicles with a table, a computer, a chair, a bed and an attached washroom. After dinner, each group discussed different topics followed by individual studies. “It was a good experience for three weeks every year. This year I went on February 1 and came back on February 23,” Singh shares. “It was a great learning experience which I am going to put to best use as a minister,” he adds.
Quick Learner
Haryana finance minister, Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, completed an Executive Management Course at the Harvard University in the US.