MYSORE, India, August 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
"India is the only country in the world to exclude people on the basis of birth," lamented Shri. Jairam Ramesh, Honorable Member of the Parliament, Rajya Sabha and former Union Minister of Environment, while inaugurating the Devaraj Urs Centre for Development Studies at MYRA on July 30, 2016. "While India might have provided unique ID to its population, the unfortunate fact remains that the identity of caste, creed and religion has stuck to the people and we are far from moving away from such identities. Whether the GDP is 8% or more, what is important is to ensure that the 'excluded' are included," he said. "Politics has become very inclusive - where the excluded are in a majority now," he emphasized, "While Mayavati was inconceivable 50 years back, today she is a formidable political force."
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While lauding the contribution of Shri. D. Devaraj Urs, former Chief Minister of Karnataka, he said, "He was the champion who was able to bring about a social revolution sans violence within the democratic framework, a true champion to include the socially and economically excluded through his land reforms."
Watch video of Shri Jairam Ramesh here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKDpBT29Pvs
Quoting Dr. B R Ambedkar's concept of 'Educate, Agitate and Organize' he said, "one must first get 'educated' before one can 'agitate' for rights and begin the movement so that people can 'organize' and gain support." He urged the students to study the issue of exclusion in depth and to be aware of the process in the study of 'Development' as the field entails both a grasp of the concrete situations and the generalities of issues.
The Q&A session focused on the demand model for development rather than gift model. Answering a question about the Government's response to social issues, he emphasized that public outcry and demand; judicial intervention in addition to the executive is perhaps the best strategy. Citing the example of Nirbhaya act, he said that his UPA Government came up with this act in a record three days in response to the public outcry.
MYRA has established the 'Devaraj Urs Centre for Development Studies' (DCDS) with an objective of focusing the attention on the Development Challenges of the "excluded". Exclusion is of diverse types - caste, religion, gender, region, etc. The Centre is dedicated to the memory of Shri. D Devaraj Urs, a social reformer and champion of the backward classes.
For more details, visit http://www.myra.ac.in/events/eventdetail/157/
Dr. Shalini Urs, in her welcome address, outlined the context of the establishment of this centre - the Centenary Celebration of Shri. D Devaraj Urs and the focus of MYRA on the Triple Bottom Line (Profits, People and Planet) i.e., the inclusion of 'people' and 'planet' into the business development agenda.
Dr. Panini gave a detailed overview of the mission, objective and the action plan for the centre. He emphasized the fact that the Devaraj Urs Centre for Development Studies would be the fulcrum for both research as well as special activities relating to sustainable development.
Preceding the Centre inauguration, the symposium on 'Development - what it means to the excluded' began with a welcome address by Dr. Shrijay Devaraj Urs, Executive Director, MYRA School of Business, who outlined the context of the Centre and the Symposium to bring focus back to the development agenda to be inclusive and sustainable. Prof. Panini set the tone of the symposium by highlighting the importance of study of 'exclusion'.
The symposium was formally inaugurated with the traditional lighting of the lamp by Prof. B K Chandrashekar, Former Chairman, Karnataka Legislative Council, Former Minister Government of Karnataka, and an acclaimed academician. Prof. B K Chandrashekar highlighted the regional and social disparities in the development process.
Prof. P K Misra, Former Director, Anthropological Survey of India, Mysore and Dr. Tarun Chhabra, a practicing dentist and Founder & Managing Trustee, Edhkwehlynawd Botanical Refuge (EBR), enriched the symposium with their rich perspectives on the issues of the exclusion in development facing the country today.
All the speakers offered rich tributes to Shri. Devaraj Urs highlighting the reforms he brought in during his two tenures as Chief Minister to uplift the oppressed classes in the state - the silent social revolution he led; launching of the stipendiary schemes to help unemployed graduates; abolishing the practicing of carrying night soil by Dalits; spearheading the land reforms to equalize and redistribute land throughout the state. His support for the founding of Electronics City in Bangalore underscores his modern approach to Development. The speakers appreciated the visionary leader for ushering in revolutionary changes in society aimed at the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden.
Dr. Sudhindra Seshadri, Senior Associate Dean of the institution delivered the vote of thanks.
About MYRA:
The MYRA School of Business is a boutique Global B School located in the royal city of Mysore - an educational hub and a heritage city. MYRA's unique learning platform blends Indian and Western perspectives and teaching methods to add intellectual diversity in the classroom by bringing faculty from some of the top B Schools in the world such as Cornell, Kellogg, Cambridge, IIMs and others. MYRA's Study abroad program partners include W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, USA; Catolica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Portugal; The University of Washington, Bothell, USA; Dalhousie University, Canada; and the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany.
MYRA offers four academic programs- the two-year-AICTE approved, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDM); the one-year Post Graduate Program for eXecutives (PGPX); Customized Executive Education Programs and PhD (University of Mysore) program. MYRA's vision is to provide world class business education to young Indians so that they can deliver exceptional value to whoever hires them. It is committed to delivering "excellence" in all aspects -faculty, pedagogy, placements and campus.
For more details: http://www.myra.ac.in
Media Contact:
Deepa Jaganath
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