ICG ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The India@75 and Beyond: New Ideas for the Present and Future conference will bring together a group of scholars to present original papers on India’s achievements after 75 years of independence and the multiple challenges it faces to realize its true potential. To that end, the papers will propose new and sometimes contested ideas for 21^st century India as it seeks to play a bigger role in world affairs.

75 years after independence, India’s democracy continues to flourish. The country has also made substantial advances in terms of economic development and in improving the life chances of larger numbers of its people. As one of the largest economies in the world and one that continues to grow on the back of its large, young workforce, India has gained recognition in the international community as an emerging world power. Still, India’s future is not assured because of the myriad set of domestic challenges it faces to carry the ‘idea of India’ forward. There are today growing concerns and intense debates centred around among others, the nature of India’s democracy; centre-state relations; the rule of law; the proper place of religion; the role of the state, market and technology in economic and human development; individual and group rights; inequality, poverty and social development; public goods provision; social relations across ethnic groups; population growth and demographic dividend; gender relations; human rights; environmental issues and others. These ongoing debates have led to contestations on the very meaning of the idea of India. The country’s future prosperity will depend not only on addressing material and social issues but also on reconciling the different meanings of the idea of India.

The organizers of the India@75 and Beyond: New Ideas for the Present and Future conference invite one-page paper proposals on how new and old ideas can help India overcome its multiple internal challenges.