Dimensions of Federal Nation Building (March 1997)
Lokpal Legislation (April 1997)
Human Rights in Federal India (April 1998)
Free India: Retrospect and Prospects (August 1998)
Human Rights: Fifty Years After Universal Declaration (December 1998)
Nation-Building in India (March 1999)
Indian Federal Polity (October 1999)
Mobilisation, Participation and Development: Old Issues and New Challenges in Fifty Years of India's Constitution (March 2000)
Human Rights (December 2000)
Religion and Politics: Implications for Federal Nation Building
Environmental Law and Management: A Federal View (August 2001)
Federalism and Power-Sharing (September 2001)
The Nation and the Minorities (October 2001)
Contemporary Issues in Indian Federalism (March 2002)
Structure and Change: Indian Federalism (Dec.2002)
Union-State Relations in India (March 2003)
International Theme Conference on "Distribution of Responsibilities in Federal Polities", under the Global Project on Federalism in the 21st Century (November 2003)
Conference of the International Association of Centres of Federal Studies (November 2003)
National Seminar on Governance and Public Policy (March 2004)
Good Governance in A Federal Nation (jointly with the Inter-State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India) (March 2004)
Events/Programmes held
Diversity- Management only through Democracy: Aiyar
The Centre for Federal Studies organized a Symposium on Diversity, Democracy and Decentralisation on 22 February 2006. Inaugurating the Symposium, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Panchayat Raj, Government of India, emphasized that it is the blending of nationalism, pluralism and rule of law that is a viable guarantee for the future of democracy. One of the primary functions of a democratic state is to prevent the establishment of one ideology, one faith, one religion, one culture above all others, in a plural society. It has to safeguard a separate 'social space' for each of such groups and identities. Mr Aiyar pointed out that diversity needed to be managed constructively and democratically. The problem has to be attended to through constitutional engineering, institutional mechanisms and their networks and through active public policy interventions. A relative peace, order and harmony depend on the effectiveness of the state and society in managing the diversity, said Mr Aiyar. If society
concerns are negotiated by the state effectively, there is a greater possibility of peace and order. A better prospect of managing diversity may emerge only if a democratic space exists, and state is sensitive towards the grievances of the groups and communities.
Introducing the theme of the Symposium, Prof Akhtar Majeed said that plural diversity need not be seen as a threat to integration for the nation, but it may become a fertile ground for the same if the political system is not accommodative enough to let the articulation of diversities manifest. He pointed out that if power is properly shared and varied interests are accommodated, there need not be any threat to power. He pointed out that the issue is how people respond to various differences, and to apprehensions and consequent demands that accompany such differences in a plural society. Unless such apprehensions are not attended to, through mechanisms of power sharing, they are likely to exacerbate social and political conflicts. Ultimately, the task of identity is to challenge the difference in the domain of the state. He was of the view that the essence of equality is the accommodation of interests.
Copyright (c) Center for Federal
Studies, Hamdard University, New Delhi, India
The Centre for Federal Studies organized a Symposium on Diversity, Democracy and Decentralisation on 22 February 2006. Inaugurating the Symposium, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Panchayat Raj, Government of India, emphasized that it is the blending of nationalism, pluralism and rule of law that is a viable guarantee for the future of democracy. One of the primary functions of a democratic state is to prevent the establishment of one ideology, one faith, one religion, one culture above all others, in a plural society. It has to safeguard a separate 'social space' for each of such groups and identities. Mr Aiyar pointed out that diversity needed to be managed constructively and democratically. The problem has to be attended to through constitutional engineering, institutional mechanisms and their networks and through active public policy interventions. A relative peace, order and harmony depend on the effectiveness of the state and society in managing the diversity, said Mr Aiyar. If society
concerns are negotiated by the state effectively, there is a greater possibility of peace and order. A better prospect of managing diversity may emerge only if a democratic space exists, and state is sensitive towards the grievances of the groups and communities.