48th Memorial Lecture - 28th January, 2021

Theme: Atmanirbhar Bharat

Speaker: Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

The 48th  Lala Lajpatrai Memorial Lecture was delivered by Speaker, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha on Atmanirbhar Bharat on 28th of January, 2021. It’s a tradition at Lala Lajpatrai College to commemorate his birth anniversary on 28 January by organizing a lecture on current socio-economic and political issues where eminent scholars of high repute are invited to deliver lectures. This year owing to Covid -19 Pandemic the said the memorial lecture was delivered in the virtual mode that was even live-streamed on YouTube. The special guest for the memorial lecture this year was Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha who gave a very insightful lecture on Atmanirbhar Bharat. The said lecture was conducted online on 28th January 2020 from 7:00 pm onwards that had 750 registered participants. The said lecture was attended by Teaching and student fraternity across disciplines and countries. The lecture began with National Anthem followed by the welcome address of the Trust’s Chairman Dr. Kamal Gupta. He highlighted the issues of the policies, namely, a clear statement of objectives, a clear statement of priorities within the objectives, strategies used for objectives, and resource mobilization for objectives to achieve self-reliance without which Atmanirbhar Bharat cannot be possible. He showed his concern for Agricultural reforms not being up to the mark despite their potential. The presence of tax policies, criminal directorate, and corruption corrodes the system and brings down efficiency. Dr. Swamy made it clear that Agriculture is the key to securing employment hence it should be given its proper due and care as well.

The session was very interactive one where answering one of the questions asked whether Indian brands be able to face the competition with international brands. He answered it beautifully saying, Indians have the ability to compete and innovate but we Indians just need the right direction and push. Accordingly, the second question raised to him was whether, the entrepreneurial skills needed for India to be self-reliant, to which Dr. Swamy added that entrepreneurship is the key, and India needs to teach and motivate the new generation to take risks as that comes with huge rewards. He concluded his address by emphasizing to have a “never give up attitude in life”. The session ended with a formal vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Mohana Bandkar, the Convener of the event.