RONO HILLS, Aug 12: Rajiv Gandhi University’s Centre for Gandhian and Peace Studies (Department of History) and the Departments of Political Science and Social Work jointly organized a one day online international symposium on the theme ‘Revisiting Mahatma Gandhi’ here on Tuesday through the Google Meet platform.
RGU VC Professor Saket Kushwaha congratulated the three departments for the collaborative efforts in conducting the symposium and spoke on the ‘new normal’ of the education system during the pandemic which has resulted in dependency on online education, webinars etc. Talking about the New Education Policy 2020, the VC said its salient features are a replica of the Wardha Scheme of Basic Education 1937, which is also known as Nayi Talim or Buniyadi Talim, the main proponent of which was Gandhi and appealed both teachers and students to revisit his ideas. Pro VC Professor Amitava Mitra said although Gandhi was not an economist, his policies for the Indian economy like improving village economy, self-sufficiency and self-reliance, promotion of swadeshi goods like khadi still remain relevant.
Head, Department of History and Coordinator of the symposium Professor Sarah Hilaly informed the International Centre for Gandhian and Peace Studies established in 2018 is now an integral part of RGU and the department looks forward to more such events in future which would benefit both faculty members and students. Coordinator of the symposium and ICGPS Professor Shyam Narayan Singh highlighted the importance of adhering to the twin pillars of ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha (truth force), which he said have become more relevant for humanity gripped with Covid-19 pandemic. Head, Department of Political Science and Coordinator Professor Prashna Kumar Panigrahi spoke on the need to understand the nuances of Gandhi's political philosophy and social ethics. Head I/c, Department of Social Work and Convenor Dr. Kaushalendra Pratap Singh stressed on human values and ‘development of all’ concept propounded by Gandhi. The technical session comprised five presentations from the members of national and international academia which covered various facets of the theme. The five resource persons were Professor Pritish Acharya, Regional Institute of Education, NCERT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, Professor (Retd.) Srikrishnan, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, Mahadev Virodhi, President, Sarva Sewa Sangh, Wardha, Maharashtra, and Professor K. Vidyasagar Reddy, Head, Department of Political Science, Mizoram Central University, Aizawl. Professor Rupananda Misra, joined the session from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA and deliberated on “Gandhian Values and 21st Century Education: Some Relevant Insights”.

Convenor and Deputy Coordinator of the symposium Dr. Prasanta Kumar Nayak from the Department of History thanked all including the resource persons and scholars for their active participation. RGU PR

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
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