On our persistent request, Shri Devendra Swarup agreed to give a series of lectures on the Historical Evolution of the Structures of Governance and Constitutional Framework of India. The Weekly Lecture Series was initiated on Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 13 Barakhambha Road, Delhi. The lectures were held regularly every Saturday, except Saturday, September 15. The first eleven lectures were held at the Barakhambha Road venue. From the 12th lecture onwards, the venue was shifted to Lala Diwan Chand Trust hall at 2, Jain Mandir Road, Connaught Place. The series concluded with the eighteenth lecture held on Saturday, November 30.

The series covered important historical developments and landmarks in the process of the evolution of our current structures of governance and the constitutional framework in the British period extending from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The series has provided a valuable and insightful historical background that is essential for any meaningful discussion on and fresh thinking about rearranging our systems of governance to make them more proper and effective instruments of nation building.

The series was attended by a large number of scholars, students and others interested persons. Every lecture attracted an audience of nearly 50 persons. It is estimated that about a 100 persons would have attended at least one of the lectures in this series and about 20 persons attended nearly all the lectures.

At the end of the series, it was strongly felt that though the historical background of the constitutional and administrative framework we adopted at Independence has been adequately covered in this series and that the alien nature of these structures has been vividly brought out, yet we need to continue the discussion in order to come to some understanding of the possible alternatives and remedies. Therefore, it was decided to begin such discussions again in the near future, preferably within 4-6 weeks. We hope to announce the details of the further discussions soon.

These lectures were organised by the CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES in collaboration with DELHI CITIZENS COUNCIL and  DIWAN CHAND INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS.

Summary Notes of the Lectures I to XVIII have been posted on this website. Audio files of all the eighteen lectures have also been uploaded on a public archives site and may be accessed at the links given below.

The audio may also be downloaded from this location. We are sorry that for some of the lectures the audio quality is not very good. But with some patience it is possible to listen to the entire talk and the discussion. We also hope to soon upload videos of these talks.

As promised towards the end of the series, we shall be meeting again soon to discuss the way forward in the light of the history of the evolution of the Constitutional and Administrative arrangements that we have learnt from Sri Devendra Swarupji.

Summary Notes                                    Audio Files

Other Documents

Letter of Invitation                        Topics and Periods to be Covered