Enabling Social Integration: Seminar In Memory Of Sri Ramanujacharya and Dr Ambedkar

The Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Forum, in association with the Indic Academy will be organising a national seminar to commemorate the 1,000th birth anniversary of Saint Ramanujacharya and the 126th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar at the Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium in the MCTM school campus, Mylapore, on 16 June at 5.30 pm.

Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal, will inaugurate the seminar titled ‘India at 70: Enabling Social Integration’.

Why the seminar?

The seminar would be centred on deriving contemporary lessons from the lives of Sri Ramanujacharya and Dr Ambedkar, two scholars who worked tireslessly for the dignity of the downtrodden, especially Dalits, as also for their development in economic terms and their social integration.

Author Joe D Cruz, historian Ma Venkatesan and advocate Indira Gandhi Alangaram will be among the chief guests of the event which would feature speakers not just from India but from Sri Lanka, too.

For the encouragement of young Dalit achievers, the ‘Ambedkar-Ramanujacharya Awards’ will be presented on the forum. The selections would be made by a distinguished jury, and the awards would recognise contributions across the fields of entrepreneurship, social work, art and craft, social innovation and technology.

The awardees:

1. Annadurai

This auto-driver provides free WiFi, mobile charging point, 35 magazines, 10 newspapers, a TV and a Samsung Galaxy tablet to customers and has fans in over 35 countries.

2. R Rajangam

Has devoted his life for the betterment of the nomadic tribes of Tamil Nadu. Rajangam has championed the cause of education and employment of the nomads.

3. S K Thanigaivelan

Has trained over 1,000 youngsters from underprivileged communities in Chennai and empowered them to take up sports as a medium of instruction in schools and colleges.

4. Kalavathy Sridharan

A woman, a Dalit and an industrialist who has fought all odds. Today, she runs Shree Apparels in Guduvancherry. Kalavathy believes this is the only way she can give back to the community.

5. M N Sai Krishnan

He dropped out of school to support his family at the tender age of 14. Today, he is giving hundreds of children the gift of education by training youngsters from Chennai slums to appear for the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission examinations.