All India Essay Contest for College Students


THE 56th ALL-INDIA ESSAY COMPETITION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

1. The 56th All- India Essay Competition for College Students (2012-13) is sponsored by Jyoti Limited, Vadodara and conducted by the Forum of Free Enterprise, Mumbai, with the object of encouraging the youth to think and write on economic subjects. The subject: "THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA".

2. Eligibility for participation: Only full-time college students (graduate, post-graduate, full-time management and IIT students) are eligible to participate.

3. The essay should be presented from the following perspective :
India has been developing rapidly since 1991 and is aspiring to be a developed country within a generation. This will call for rapid economic development, involving inter alia, modernization and globalization of our economy. The focus will also shift towards urbanization. Sustainability and inclusiveness will be inevitable facets of this development process. For this purpose, India will have to consistently improve its overall governance - not just of the fiscal system, but also of administrative and regulatory institutions. Expanding and improving the entire infrastructural framework (both physical and social) will also come to assume top priority. This framework will have to cover not only transport and communication, but also education, medicare and the overall well being of the community.

In most of these fields economic and social development as well as in overall governance and institution-building, the role of the State has been found wanting and will become even more inadequate as we move forward. Illustratively, the State has failed miserably in delivering public services to the citizens; and there are issues and challenges of making the State and public administration perform their tasks effectively and with transparency.

Hence the role of civil society in the development of India will become increasingly important and relevant. The scope, coverage and spheres of activities and responsibilities to be performed by the civil society need to be well-defined. There has to be equitable and legitimate balance in the functioning of all the institutions of our maturing democracy for achieving the goal of sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic development.

Today's youth is tomorrow's future and the youth is the most dynamic segment of our emerging society and must increasingly assume this responsibility as it is their future which is at stake.

4. Rules of the Competition are :
. The length of the essay should not exceed 2,000 words and the number of words used should be indicated on the last page of the entry.
. The entry, duly typed or computer-printed (preferably 14 point-font) in double space on one side of the paper, with a minimum of one-inch margin on all sides on A/ 4 or foolscap size white paper, should be sent in triplicate.

. The student's name, course of study, residential and college addresses and e-mail ID should be given on the right hand top corner of the first page of the entry and it should carry the student's signature on the last page and the initials on all other pages.
. A student can send only one entry. There is no participaiton fee.
. The entry sent directly by the student should be accompanied by a bonafide certificate or it can be sent through his/her college. The entry becomes the property of the Forum.

. The entry (IN TRIPLICATE) should be sent to the address given below by registered post or courier before October 31, 2012.

The Director-General (56th All-India Essay Competition)
Forum of Free Enterprise, Peninsula House, 2nd Floor,
235, Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai 400001.


. The envelope bearing the postal cancellation mark of October 31, 2012 will be accepted even if received in November. Queries, if any, can be made at (email: ffe@vsnl.net) (telefax: 022- 22614253).

5. Panel of Judges: Ms. Sumaira Abdulali, Chairperson, Awaaz Foundation, Dr. Ratna Magotra, Cardiac Surgeon & Trustee, Public Concern for Governance Trust, Mr. Paramjeet Singh, IRS & President, Dharam Bharti Mission. All the panelists are eminent citizen activists.

The panel's decision will be final and binding in all matters, including as to how many and which prizes are to be given. No correspondence whatsoever will be entertained in this regard. The results are expected to be announced before the end of March 2013.

6. First Prize Rs. 8,000; Second Rs. 6,000; Third Rs. 4,000; Fourth Rs. 2,000 and up to four Consolation Prizes of Rs. 1,000 each.

S. Divakara
Director-General

Labels: ,