Tribute

PANEL FOR CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to celebrate the birth centenary of the country's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri - who coined the "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" slogan - on a scale befitting his stature. The year-long celebrations will begin on October 2 at a function chaired by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The culture ministry set up a 33-member committee, on September 27 headed by the Prime Minister, to draw up a calendar of events to mark the centenary. The Culture Minister, Shri S. Jaipal Reddy, is the vice-chairman and the former prime ministers, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Shri Chandra Shekhar, Shri V.P. Singh, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, Shri I.K. Gujral and Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, are members.

Other members include the Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the CPI(M) leader, Shri Harkishan Singh Surjeet, six Union Ministers and the Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Meghalaya and Delhi. Also included are Shastri's two sons - Anil and Sunil. n

Shastri Award for Ela Bhatt

NEW DELHI: The President, Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on October 7 presented the fifth Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Management & Public Administration to Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt, founder general secretary of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA). The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was also present at the function.

The award was presented to Smt. Bhatt in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cause of women in the unorganized sector, her unending struggle for their emancipation through self-reliance and self-employed, and for upholding the principles of simplicity, non-violence, sanctity of labour and human values. The award carries Rs. 1 lakh in cash, a citation and a plaque, besides an entitlement as a Lal Bahadur Shastri Fellow.

Smt. Bhatt said constant administrative reforms were needed to keep pace with the impact of the changing economies of world, and communities, when not fully literate, needed better management. Given the opportunity, the poor and working women could innovate and apply new management techniques to suit the ground realities.

She said she had admired the former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, since childhood, particularly his slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' and his Gandhian way of life. She had been influenced by the Administrative Reforms Commission he instituted to streamline public administration. n

Tributes to Mahatma, Shastri

KURUKSHETRA: The Kurukshetra District Congress Committee organized the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri here on 2 October. Congressmen present offered floral tributes by garlanding their photographs and vowed to follow the path shown by them.

Those present were DCC president, Shri Pawan Garg, general secretary, Shri Laxmikant Sharma, secretary, Shri Dinanath Arora, former MLA, Shri Sahib Singh Saini, Shri Mehar Singh, Col. Pratap Singh, Shri Rai Sahib Sharma, Smt. Soni Devi and others.

In district Pehowa also a function was organized to pay tributes to both Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Present were Shri Sardari Lal Passi, Shri Balbir Singh Mangana, Shri Jagganath Khedi and others.