Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism

• Gandhi and the Gandhian way
• Socialism and Dr. Lohia
• Understanding 21st century Human Society
• Socialism in India: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• Dr. Lohia and Socialism
• India in 21st century
• Making of Modern India
• Samaj and Sahitya
• Understanding Gandhi
• Gender and society
• Fostering social Responsibility and Community Engagement

Activities –
1. Faculty Development Programmes – 16 Nov – 30 Nov 2022
2. International conference on – International conference on ‘Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations and The Gandhian Way on 14, 15 and 16th April 2023.

1. Topic: Ancient India Historical Dichotomy and What we inherit Today
Chief Guest –  Dr. Christian Bartolf , Eminent Gandhian Thinker & President , Gandhian Information Center , Germany
 Keynote speaker –
• Prof. Mahesh Vikram , Former Professor of History , M. G. Kashi Vidyapith ,Varanasi
• Discussant – Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist , India

2. “Gandhian way of Economics”.
• Chair – Prof. Anand kumar, Eminent Social scientist , JNU , New Delhi
• Keynote speaker – Prof Vibhuti Patel Former Professor, Advanced center for Women’s Studies, School of Development, TISS, Mumbai
• Discussant – Shri Sudhir Gandotra, coordinator, World Humanist Forum, Asian

3. Gandhi and Nationalism
• Chair – Shri K VIJAY RAO , Chief of Task force , Society for communal Harmony
• Keynote speaker -Professor Rajmohan Gandhi , Biographer, Historian and Research Former professor at the center for south asian and Middle Eastern Studies , University of Illinois , USA
• Guest- Prof Anand Kumar , Former professor JNU ,New Delhi
• Discussant – Dr. Sipra Sagarika , Assistant Professor ,Fakir Mohan University

4. Communal Society and Secular State in India: Debating the Indian Tradition
• Chair – Prof. Anand kumar , Eminent Social Scientist ,JNU
• Speaker – Prof. Ajit K Pandey , Former Head Sociology , BHU , Varanasi & Honorary Visiting Professor Giri Institute of Development Studies Lucknow

5. Topic – ‘Idea of De-growth and Sustainable development Goals “
• Chief guest – Prof. S. S. Bhakar, Vice Chancellor, ITM University, Gwalior.
• Speaker – Professor Jos Chathukulam , Center for Rural Management, Kottayam, Kerala Speaker –
• Dr. Gianluigi Segalerba , Eminent Philosopher, Italy and Co-Nurturer, Vishwaneedam center for Asian Blossoming ” Thought on Amartya Sen and Mahbub ul Haq

6. Topic – ‘ *Jyotirao Phule, democratic equality and critical decoloniality*’
• ‘ Chair : Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist, India Speaker
– Dr. Krishnaswami Dara, Assistant Professor. Jamia Millia Islamia. New Delhi.

7. – Topic – ‘ Mahatma Gandhi and Sanatana dharma ‘
• Chair : Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist, India
• Speaker – Professor Dr. Ravindra Kumar (Awarded Padma Shri and Former Vice Chancellor, CCS University) Meerut (India)

8. Topic – Justice Verma Committee : Quest for women’s security in India
• Chair : Dr. Ranjana Kumari , Director of Centre for Social Research (India)
• Speaker – Prof Vibhuti Patel Former Professor, Advanced center for Women’s Studies, School of Development, TISS, Mumbai

9. Topic – Remembering Anupam Mishra’s sadhana for Gandhian and Environmental movement
• Speakers – Shri Jayant Singh Tomar , ITM university Gwalior
• Shri Rakesh Dewan , Writer and Social Activist
• Shri Latant Prasun , Independent journalist and Social Activist

10. Topic – Electoral Democracy: An Inquiry into the Fairness and Integrity of Elections in India
• Chair – Anjali Bhardwaj ,social activist, Satark Nagrik Sangathan
• Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, Co-Founder, Association for Democratic Rights & Former Dean, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad
• Speaker – Shri MG Devasahayam IAS (Retd), Chairman, People-First Guests –

11. Topic – Revisiting Ram Manohar Lohia : Challenge to the theory and Practice of Alternative Socialism
• Chair : Prof. Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist Speaker – Dr A.RAGHU KUMAR , CONVENER ,CENTRE FOR SOCIAL DIALOGUE @ HYDERABAD
• Moderator– Randhir kumar Gautam , Assistant Professor , ITM University , Gwalior
• Chair : Prof. Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist
• Speaker – Prof. Aditya Nigam , Professor ,Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) , New Delhi
• Discussants -Dr. Gianluigi Segalerba ,Eminent Philosopher, Italy ,Dr. Raghu Kumar , Social Scientist Bangalore

12. Topic – ” Decolonizing Theory: Thinking Across Traditions “
• Chair: Prof. Anand Kumar, Eminent Social Scientist
• Speaker – Shri Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharda Prasad, Political Analyst
• Discussant: Dr. Alok Bajpai , Assistant Professor, ITM university Gwalior

13. Topic – Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan
• Chair: PROF. M J WARSI (James McLeod Faculty Award holder for the year 2012) , Department of Linguistics , Aligarh Muslim University, U.P
• Speaker – Prof. Harish Narang, Former Professor, JNU New Delhi
Guests –
• Dr Jernail S Aanand , Prof Meera , Prof Swaraj Raj , Dr Karatzogianni ., Prof ANANTA Giri ,
Gianluigi Segalerba

14. Topic – Literature and Commitment in the times of post-Truth
• Shri N. D Pancholi , Citizen For Democracy
• Shri Anil Nauriya , Writer on history and politics and Supreme Court Counsel ,
• Dr. A. Raghu Kumar , Convener, Center For Social Dialogue
• Dr. Suresh Khairnar , Ex President Rashtra Seva Dal

15. TOPIC – REMBERMBERING SHRI SHANTI BHUSHAN AND HIS LEGACY
• Speakers of the Event
• Prof. Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist
• Shri Ashok Panda , Senior Advocate , Supreme Court of India
• Shri N. D Pancholi , Citizen For Democracy
• Shri Anil Nauriya , Writer on history and politics and Supreme Court Counsel ,
• Dr. A. Raghu Kumar , Convener, Center For Social Dialogue
• Dr. Suresh Khairnar , Ex President Rashtra Seva Dal

16. Topic – Understanding Union Budget 2023: Impact on Economy and Society
• Prof Arun Kumar, Eminent Economist , India
• Prof Lekha Chakraborty ,Professor NIPFP and Governing Board Member, International Institute of Public Finance, Munich

17. Topic: Remembering Swaraj through Indian Tradition : The Legacy Dharampal
Chair – Prof. (Dr.) Gita Dharampal ,Dean of Research, Gandhi Research Foundation, Jain Hills, Jalgaon
• Shri Sunil Sahasrabudhey , Gandhian Scholar & Social Activist
• Shri Pawan Kumar Gupta , Environmentalist & Social Activist
• Shri Jayant Singh Tomar , ITM University Gwalior

18. Topic: ” Diaspora and Development “
• Prof. Ajailiu Niumai, Head, Centre for the study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy, University of Hyderabad
• Guests –
• Prof Meera Chakravorty
• Dr. Gianluigi Segalerba

19. Topic – *Idea of Swaraj and Contemporary Challenges*
• Chair : Professor Ananta Kumar Giri, Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming and Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
• Speaker – Shri S N Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K R Narayanan and is currently engaged in research reading and research on writings of Mahatma Gandhi.

20. Topic: ” Going beyond betrayal and hospitality narratives: India’s Tibetan conundrum
• Chair : Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist
• Speaker – Professor Dibyesh Anand, Head of School – Social Sciences, University of Westminster

21. Topic – *Challenges before Democracy in India*
• Chair : Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist
• Speaker – Prof Ravi Sinha, Educationist, Activist Scholar.

22. Topic – Formation of the Janata Party government in March 1977
• Chair: Shri Vijay Pratap , socialist activist, Senior fellow , Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
• Speaker: Shri Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharda Prasad, Political Analyst
• Discussant: Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

23. Topic – Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing
• Topic: ” Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing “
• Chair : Prof. Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist ,
• Speaker – Winton Bates , Australian economist
• Discussant : Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

24. Topic – Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo
• Chair : Prof. Anand Kumar , Eminent social Scientist
• Speaker – Professor Ananta Kumar Giri, Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming and Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
Discussant : Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

25. Topic – Cultural roots of ecological crisis
• Speaker – Dr. Tatjana Kochtekova, Associate Professor at Jindal Global University, Sonipat
Discussant : Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

26. Topic – Discussion on Democracy and Pluralism “
• Shri Vijay Rao , Society for communal Harmony Prof. Gianluigi Segalbera , University of Pisa
Dr. J S Anand , University of Ethics Dr. Raghu kumar ,Centre for Social Dialogue @ Hyderabad
Prof. Vikas Upadhyay ,Muzaffarpur , Dr. Dhananjay Rai , CSDS , New Delhi

27. Topic – Prof. Ranajit Guha and Subaltern Studies in India
• Speaker: Prof. Ajit K Pandey , Former Head Sociology , BHU , Varanasi & Honorary Visiting
Professor, Giri Institute of Development Studies Lucknow
• Dr. Rama Shanker Singh, Historian and ethnographer, Delhi
• Discussant: Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

28. Topic – Understanding Gandhian Constructive Programme
• Chair : Professor Ananta Kumar Giri, Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming and Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
• Speaker – Dr. Nishikant Kolge , CSDS , New Delhi
• Discussant : Dr. Alok Bajpai, Assistant Professor, ITM University

29. Topic: ” Remembering India’s Villages “
Chief Guest : Prof Anand Kumar , Eminent Social Scientist
Chair : Prof. Paramjit Judge , Former President Indian Sociological Society & Former Professor , GNDU , Amritsar
Speaker – Prof. Santosh K. Singh, faculty of Sociology and Dean School of liberal studies at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi.
Discussant : Prof. Jayant Tomar, HOD,GSDS,ITM University

Prof Anand Kumar – Emeritus Professor, Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism, ITM University

Prof. Anand Kumar is a prominent Social Scientist and an authority on Political Sociology, Globalization, Sociology of Development/Modernization, Social Theory and Social Movements, Gandhian Studies, and Media & Communication.

Prof Anand Kumar is an Emeritus Professor at the Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism at ITM University Gwalior. Prior to this, He was a Senior Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, New Delhi, and a Former Professor at the Center for the Study of social systems at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He also taught as India Chair in Germany (Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg) and GSP Scholar at Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany); he was Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Tufts University from January to May 2013. International Faculty at Innsbruck University (Austria), GSP faculty at FLACSO (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Visiting professor at NEHU (Shillong) and Kashmir University (Srinagar).

He completed his Ph.D. at Chicago University and has held several prestigious visiting fellowships worldwide. He has been a part of academic networks nationally and internationally and published widely in English and Hindi. Among the books are Understanding Globalization and Emerging India (2011) and State and Society in India (1989).

His long list of awards and honors includes Rotating Chair Professor, ICCR (New Delhi), Ford Foundation Short Term Grant, UGC Fellowship for Research Visit to France, DAAD Fellowship for Teaching, Member (National Committee for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Centenary), and First Prize at Inter-Cultural Learning Programme (BMW Foundation, Munich). He was also a former president of the Indian Sociological Society. Prof. Kumar also served as Chairperson of the university’s Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS). He also gave valuable insights into television programming from a sociological perspective.

Prof. Jayant Singh Tomar, HOD , Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism , ITM University Gwalior

Prof. Jayant Singh Tomar is HOD of the Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism of ITM University Gwalior. Prior to this, he nurtured the School of Mass Media and Journalism at ITM University Gwalior. Prof. Tomar has more than 25 years of Teaching and Research Experience. He also served as a professor of Sports Journalism at Laxmibai Physical Education University, Gwalior, and The Jiwaji University, Gwalior.

Prof Tomar is an accomplished Scholar in journalism and mass communication, Culture and Literature, and Social Movements. Originally from Madhya Pradesh, Jayant Singh Tomar, a resident of Krishnanagar in Morena district, received his early education and then secondary education in Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s ashram in Santiniketan. While staying there, he acquired knowledge of the Bengali language with an interest in culture. At the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism, Bhopal. After receiving a journalism education, Jayant Singh Tomar completed his degree in1995.

Prof Tomar served in the editorial department of various newspapers and also in the environment and environment. He received two fellowships from the Centre for Science and Environment on Local SelfGovernment (NEW Delhi) and Action Aid (Madhya Pradesh).

Jayant Singh Tomar is associated with Doordarshan and All India Radio and hosted a unique show there. He also continuously cooperated in the movements of the landless deprived and tribals. He holds the responsibility of chairman of the Department of Studies. In 2017, the Bihar government organized the champaran satyagraha centenary in Patna.

He also organized a National Seminar on Mahatma Gandhi 2019 Cooperation, where he took responsibility for transliteration and documentation of the entire festival proceedings.

He helped edition ten books focusing on Ram Manohar Lohia’s thoughts at ITM University Gwalior.

Dr. Alok Bajpai, Assistant Professor, Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism, ITM University Gwalior

‘Dr. Alok Bajpai is a faculty member in GSDS.

* He received his Ph.D. in History titled, ‘A Holistic View of Mahatma Gandhi’s Politics in Theoretical Realms’.

* He is a prominent member of Bipan Chandra school on Mahatma Gandhi, Indian National Movement and Modern Indian History.

* Some of the themes of his research areas include Satyagraha, Gandhian Non-Violence, Gandhi & Untouchability, Gandhi and Nehru, Gandhi & Congress, Constructive Programme and Colonial Science and Technology.

* He has been a Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, Teen Murti House, New Delhi (2009- 2011).

* He is awardee of prestigious Prof. P. S. Gupta Memorial Prize and J. C. Jha Prize in Indian History Congress 2011.’

*His areas of interest are Mahatma Gandhi and Indian National Movement.

Dr. Veronica Khangchian , Assistant Professor , Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism ,ITM University Gwalior

Dr. Veronica Khangchian is a faculty member at the Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism, ITM University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. She earlier taught in the Department of Sociology (Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi), and at Maitreyi College (Department of Sociology, University of Delhi). Prior to this, she was a member of research faculty at the Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi. Dr. Veronica is currently the General Secretary of Rongmei Scholars’ Association

(RSA), Delhi. She received her PhD, M.Phil, and Masters from the Centre for Study of Social Systems (CSSS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), School of Social Sciences (SSS), New Delhi, and B.A Honors in Sociology from Maitreyi College, University of Delhi.

Her research interests are, Sociology of Peace and Conflict, Gender, Ethnic Relations, Social Movements, Migration, Poverty, Polity and Society. She has written extensively on related themes in UGC-CARE listed journals including Social Change and Development, The Calcutta Journal of Global Affairs as well as various online magazines and print media such as, Uday India, Outlook India, Geopolitics, South Asia Monitor, Morung Express, and others. She has presented papers on these issues in both national and international forums in India and abroad.

Randhir Kumar Gautam , Assistant Professor , Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism ,ITM University Gwalior

Randhir Kumar Gautam is an Assistant Professor at Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism. Before this, He was the former head of Raffles University School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has teaching experience of more than seven years. He has worked with Sharda University Noida UP.

Randhir Gautam has completed his post-graduation in Sociology from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He is pursuing PhD from Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar). Randhir Kumar Gautam has mentored hundreds of civil service aspirants, several of whom have been successful. Besides this, he has worked with many NGOs and has done many projects. He was a chief program coordinator in the Delhi chapter of RAYS Global Foundation, USA, a global non-profit organization. Currently, he is an executive coNurturer of Vishwaneedam Centre for Asian Blossoming (Public Trust & Intellectual Think Tank) in Chennai, India, and Swadhayaya Sahachakra (Co-learning Circles of Self and Mutual Studies). He has organized over 400 online events, including webinars, conferences, symposiums, and Summer Schools. He has written more than 150 articles which have been published in blogs and newspapers.

He is also associated with the first batch of the UGC Master Trainers Training Programme for Community-Based Participatory Research under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. He also works with the Society for Communal Harmony, which is an organization to promote religious amity and communal harmony through various constructive programs. He received Azaad International Award in cosmic consciousness and Social Harmony at International Literature Summit, World Poetry Conference, Chandigarh in 2022.

He also coordinates THE ETHICAL UNIVERSE (INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF ETHICS) [ethicsacademy. co.in] [A think-tank of Poets, Philosophers, Thinkers, Scientists, and Social Scientists]

Areas of Interest – Sociological Theories, Socialist Movements in India, Social psychology, Political Sociology, Gandhian and Socialist Thought.