Chief Minister Hemant Soren will deliver a lecture at the18th Annual India Conference at Harvard University to be held on Feb 19-21, 2021 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The CM has accepted the invitation in this regard sent by the organising committee and thanked it.
“Chief Minister Mr. Hemant Soren has been invited by Harvard University to deliver a lecture in February 2021. The Chief Minister thanked the organizers and accepted the invitation. The Chief Minister will give a statement on tribal rights, sustainable development, welfare policies and work done by the State government during the Corona transition period in Jharkhand,” stated the official Twitter handle of the CM.
Notably, the CM has been invited to the conference mentioning the 'commendable job done by CM to mitigate COVID-19 crisis and notes Hemant Soren as a distinct tribal and indigenious public figure who has merged indigenous rights and politics with a welfare State approach'.
The invitation letter sent on behalf of the organising committee by Suraj Yengde, PhD, Senior Fellow, Kennedy School states that the India Conference is the largest student-run conference in North America focusing on India, and one Of the world's leading forums for dialogue, debate, and networking around issues pertaining to contemporary India.
India Conference attracts over 1000 people from academia, industry, business leader, policy makers, and government. “We have a reach of over 5 million people through social media channels and have a general active engagement of over 3 million active social media users. We are particularly hoping to have a Chief Minister's panel (virtually) to discuss the issues Of governance, State-center relations, the impressive handling of COVID—19 pandemic, and the intersection Of how caste and tribal identities inform our current politics,” it stated.
“Mr Soren, your work in particular has been of keen interest to most of us as you merged a proud tribal indigenous politics with a welfare based development agenda. Your acumen in handling governance and politics by making it a people aspirational is important for strengthening democracy that is locked in caste and feudalistic nepotism,” it further stated.
“We are fortunate to have the Opportunity to leverage the resources and globally recognized platform that Harvard offers to foster dialogue and practical exchange towards the most relevant questions for India. We will be honoured to have your presence on a keynote panel,” said the letter.
The CM has been hailed nationally and internationally for taking various progressive steps right from the day he won the elections in December 2019. Several policy decisions of the government, especially the way it handled the COVID-19 crisis were appreciated by a large number of people, especially those belonging to the intellectual class.