The Indian Chamber of Commerce, as part of its ongoing initiative to engage more with the different stakeholders of society, organised its 2nd National Debate in association with the Ladies Study Group. The debate was held at IMI Kolkata’s Dr. Rama Prasad Goenka Auditorium on April 29.
The debate was put together as a platform of prominent people from diverse backgrounds to exchange views on relevant issues. The topic was ‘Democracy in the country and its present form and culture of governance’. The team speaking for the motion ‘Indian democracy is often misused to delay development and hamper progress’ was led by Justice Asok K Ganguly, former Judge in the Supreme Court of India and former Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission and team; sportsperson and football commentator Kalyan Choubey; jewellery designer Eina Ahluwalia, theatre personality Renu Roy, social activist Urmi Basu and Prof. Swapna Bhattacharya. The team against was led by former Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar with a team consisting of Prof Om Prakash Mishra, designer Agnimitra Paul; designer Nil, Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand nephew Chandra Bose and IMI Kolkata’s Dr. Rituparna Basu . The debate was moderated by journalist Sumon Chattopadhyay.
Dr. Basu highlighted the positives of the India’s version of a democracy. She stood firmly for the Indian democracy and its performance globally. The debate ended with a vote that went in favour of the motion. All the speakers were felicitated, followed by an interactive dinner at The Taj Bengal - Sonargaon.