[Reader-list] Public Lecture, Aug-6; NGMA, Bangalore - Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shankar Singh (MKSS)

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

Azim                            Premji University Public Lecture Series
                      
  
                      
A                            talk on
                      
  
                      
FosteringInclusiveness,                            Plurality and Equal Opportunity
                      
                               
                      
Challengesfor                              India’s Imperfect Democracy
                      
  
                      
  
                      
Speakers:  Aruna                            Roy, Nikhil Dey & Shankar Singh, Mazdoor                            Kisan Shakti Sangathan
                      
Venue: NationalGallery                            of Modern Art, Manekyavelu Mansion, 49                            Palace Road, Bengaluru 560 052. (GoogleMaps                            Link)
                      
Date: Saturday,August                            6, 2011. 
                      
Time: 5 PM                            to 7 PM
                      
Registration:                        The                            talk is open to all. However, prior                            registration is required at www.apulectureseries.eventbrite.com/                            Enquiries: events at apu.edu.in
                      
About                            the Speakers
                      
Aruna Roy                          is a social and political activist                          and one of the founders of the Mazdoor Kisan                          Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). As a member of the                          Central government’s National Advisory Council                          she has played a key role in shaping the Right                          to Information and National Rural Employment                          Guarantee Acts. She has been awarded the Ramon                          Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the Lal Bahadur                          Shastri National Award for Excellence in                          Public Administration, Academia and                          Management. She and the MKSS Collective have                          also been awarded the Rule of Law Award in the                          World Justice Forum held in Barcelona, Spain                          in June 2011. TIME Magazine has listed her as                          one of the 100 most influential people in the                          world for 2011.
                      

                        
                      
Nikhil Dey was                          educated in India and the USA, and obtained                          his degree in law from the University of                          Delhi. He joined Aruna Roy and Shankar Singh                          in 1987 to found the MKSS). He has been                          involved in struggles of the poor for justice,                          including grass root struggles for land and                          the payment of minimum wages. He has also been                          a part of the organisation’s involvement in                          larger campaigns – most notably for the                          People’s Right to Information, and the Right                          to Work. He is also a member of the Central                          Employment Guarantee Council, which is                          mandated to oversee the implementation of the                          Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment                          Guarantee Act. 
                      

                        
                      
Shankar                                Singh is one of the                          founder members of the MKSS. Acknowledged to                          be one of India's leading figures in peoples                          theatre, he has combined over two decades of                          activism with the power of people’s                          communication through street theatre,                          puppetry, song, and drama to strengthen the                          voice of the poor. Through his uncanny,                          incisive wit and his keen political insight,                          he instinctively communicates complex issues                          in an idiom familiar to the people.
                        
                      
About                              Azim Premji University
                      
                      
Azim                          Premji University is an institution of                          excellence in teaching and research in                          education and allied development fields. The                          University has a clear social purpose of                          working towards a just, equitable, humane                            and sustainable society.  The University                          is committed towards developing outstanding                          professionals for the education and                          development sectors in India, conducting                          contextually relevant research in these fields                          and strengthening the capacities of existing                          professionals through high quality continuing                          education programmes. 
                      
  
                      
The                          University Public Lecture Series is intended                          to encourage public discourse and dialogue on                          critical issues around education and                          development.
                      
  
                      
More                            information: www.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/home.html                                
                      
             www.facebook.com/azimpremjifoundation
                      
About                            Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
                      
MKSS is a grass roots people’s                          organisation formed in 1990 with its                          headquarters in a small village in Central                          Rajasthan. Its name roughly translates into                          “Organisation for the Empowerment of Workers                          and Peasants”, and it is one of the growing                          number of organisations in India which see                          themselves as part of the non party political                          process. The MKSS works on the concerns of its                          primary constituents – peasants and workers,                          but also engages with wider issues of                          participatory democracy, and democratic                          struggle.