UGC SPONSORED NATIONAL SEMINAR

ON

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE STATE: MYTH AND REALITIES

27-28 NOVEMBER, 2010

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL

Organized by

Department of Law, University of North Bengal

Raja Rammohunpur, District: Darjeeling

West Bengal, India

 UGC SPONSORED NATIONAL SEMINAR ON

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE STATE: MYTH AND REALITIES

27-28 November, 2010

A welfare state is a concept of government where the state plays a key role in the
protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based
on the principle of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public
responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.
The general term may cover a variety of forms of economic and social organization.

There are two main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state:

• A model in which the state assumes primary responsibility for the welfare of its
citizens. This responsibility in theory ought to be comprehensive, because all
aspects of welfare are considered and universally applied to citizens as a "right".
• Welfare state can also mean the creation of a "social safety net" of minimum
standards of varying forms of welfare.

According to the first model the state is primarily concerned with directing the resources
to “the people most in need”. This requires a tight bureaucratic control over the people
concerned, with a maximum of interference in their lives to establish who are "in need"
and minimize cheating. The unintended result is that there is a sharp divide between the
receivers and the producers of social welfare, between "us" and "them", the producers
tending to dismiss the whole idea of social welfare because they will not receive anything
of it. This model is dominant in the US.

According to the second model the state distributes welfare with as little bureaucratic
interference as possible, to all people who fulfill easily established criteria (e.g. having
children, receiving medical treatment, etc). This requires high taxing, of which almost
everything is channeled back to the taxpayers with minimum expenses for bureaucratic
personnel. The intended – and also largely achieved – result is that there will be a broad
support for the system since most people will receive at least something.

There is some confusion between a "welfare state" and a "welfare society", and debate
about how each term should be defined. In many countries, especially in the United States,
some degree of welfare is not actually provided by the state, but directly to welfare
recipients from a combination of independent volunteers such as corporations, non profit
organisations etc. This phenomenon has been termed a "welfare society". The term
"welfare system" has been used to describe the range of welfare measures that the
welfare state and welfare society mixes. The welfare state involves a direct transfer of
funds from the public sector to welfare recipients, but indirectly, the private sector is often
contributing those funds via redistributionist taxation; the welfare state has been referred
to as a type of "mixed economy".
The activities of present-day welfare states extend to the provision of both cash welfare
benefits (such as old-age pensions or unemployment benefits) and in-kind welfare services
(such as health or childcare services). Through these provisions, welfare states can affect
the distribution of wellbeing and personal autonomy among their citizens, as well as
influencing how their citizens consume and how they spend their time.

The concept of ‘Social Justice’ with which the Constitution of India is engrafted consists of
diverse principles essential for the orderly growth and development of every citizen. Social
justice is thus an integral part of justice and as such is inclined to translate itself to
‘distributive Justice’. It therefore is a species of the genus “Justice”. These principles can be
found in the Preamble and the Directive Principles of State Policy.

A person who is empowered by Social Justice and is able to meaningfully take advantage
of Fundamental Rights enshrined under Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 etc, is also empowered
to achieve economic and political justice. This is the ultimate welfare at the citizenry level.

A two day seminar is organised on 27-28 November, 2010 to critically assess the role of
the State and the Citizens in relation to a State driven by the principles of social justice and
welfare.

DEPARTMENT OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL

The Department of Law is prominently situated on National Highway 31 between Bagdogra

and Siliguri in the District of Darjeeling. The distance from Bagdogra is six kilometers and
from Siliguri is seven kilometers. The Department has its own campus in the south Block
of the North Bengal University. The sprawling campus of the University enjoys the pristine
beauty of the eastern Himalayas and is the intellectual hub of North Bengal. Siliguri is an
important sub-division of the district and commercial capital of North Bengal. Located at
the foot hills of eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is the gate way to North eastern India and land
locked countries like Bhutan and Nepal. It shares a huge and porous international border
with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It is well connected with all metropolis and major
cities by air and rail.
The Department of Law was formerly known as the University College of Law and was
established as such in the year 1974. It was upgraded as the Department of Law in the
year 2000. Presently the Department offers a B.A. LL.B. [Honours] 5 year integrated
course, LL.M. course and Ph.D. The intake at the LL.B. level is eighty, and the LL.M. course
which was started in 1993 has twenty five seats. The criteria of admission both at LL.B.
and LL.M. is on merit. The Department has a rich Ph.D. programme. It was started in 1999
and since then sixteen Ph.D. degrees have been awarded. Presently there are about
twenty five scholars engaged in doctoral research under various faculty members. The
Department attracts scholars and students from all over India and especially from Sikkim,
Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. It also attracts students
from Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. The self financing P.G. Diploma course on
Environment has presently been discontinued.
The Department was jointly selected by the British Council, Delhi, University of Warwick,
U.K., and the National Law School of India University to carry out the ‘Human Rights
Outreach Project’. It was also a partner institution with CEERA, National Law School of
India University for carrying out environment education for forest personnel, Tea Garden
personnel and judicial officers.
The Department has published Booklets in Human Rights, Environment Legislations in
Bengali and Nepali. Apart from the above, the faculty members of the Department have
been publishing a good number of text books and reference books on law and allied
subjects on regular basis. The Department has also been able to publish biannual law
journal, namely Indian Journal of Law and Justice. The Department has a Legal Aid Clinic in
collaboration with the State Legal Services Authorities. It runs a very successful NSS
programme.

REGISTRATION FEE:

Registration fee is payable by each of the participant individually and separately in cash
on arrival at the place of the seminar before inauguration.

i) Teachers/ academics/ Govt. officials/ advocates/ NGOs/ INGOs officials from India: Rs.
500 and Rs. 200/- for each accompanying person.

ii) Research Scholars and LL. M. students from India (Research Scholars and LL.M. students
of University of North Bengal are exempted to pay any registration fee): Rs. 200 and Rs.
100/- for each accompanying person.

iii) LL. B students who will present the paper can attend the Seminar (maximum 5 students
per institution) on payment of Rs. 150 each [However the students of B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) of
the Department of Law, University of North Bengal who will present the paper are
exempted to pay any fees].

iv) Teachers/ academics/ Govt. officials/ advocates/ NGOs/ INGOs officials from outside
India: Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500/- for each accompanying person.

v) Research scholars and students, both LL.B. and LL.M., from outside India: Rs. 500 and
Rs 250/- for each accompanying person.

CLIMATE:
In the concerned period of November, it will be mild cold weather at Siliguri, the
temperature varying between 15 0C and 20 0C. The delegates are therefore requested to
bring light woolen garments.

TIME LINE:
Submission of abstract: 5th October, 2010; Communication of acceptance of abstract: 12th
October, 2010;
Submission of full paper: 17th November, 2010; Seminar: 27th & 28th November, 2010.

UGC SPONSORED NATIONAL SEMINAR

ON
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE STATE: MYTH AND REALITIES
Department of Law, University of North Bengal

27-28 NOVEMBER, 2010

REGISTRATION FORM

NAME: ……………………………………………

DESIGNATION: ……………………………………………………

NAME OF INSTITUTION/ UNIVERSITY:

……………………………………………………………………………

ADDRESS: ……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

REGISTRATION FEE: ……………………………………………………………………

[NOTE: Registration fee is to be paid in cash on the day of the seminar]

CONTACT NUMBER: ……………………………………………………………………

e-mail: …………………………………......................................................

TITLE OF THE PAPER:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………..
 MODE OF ARRIVAL: ……………………………………………………………………

NUMBER OF PERSONS ARRIVING: ……………………………………………..

WHETHER ACCOMMODATION IS REQUIRED: ……………………………

FOOD HABIT: VEGETARIAN/ NON-VEGETARIAN [Please tick]

PAPER BEING PRESENTED: YES/ NO [Please tick]. If yes, please mention the
title…………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………….

[NOTE: Accommodation shall be in lodges or guest house arranged by the organizers. If

luxury class hotel is required, it shall be at the delegate’s own expenses and must be
intimated in advance]

Signature
Photocopy of Registration Form is acceptable.

UGC SPONSORED NATIONAL SEMINAR ON SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WELFARE

STATE: MYTH AND REALITIES

27-28 NOVEMBER, 2010

Organized by

Department of Law, University of North Bengal

REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION

From,

…………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………….. To,
………………………………………………………….. SEMINAR
CHAIRMAN,
………………………………………………………….. [PROF. B.P.
DWIVEDI]
………………………………………………………….. Department of
Law
 University of North Bengal
Raja Rammohunpur,
District: Darjeeling-734013
West Bengal, India

CONTACT DETAILS BY TELEPHONE:

1. Deparment of Law 0353-2776307, 0353-2776310

2. Prof. Gangotri Chakraborty 09434037671
3. Prof. Bishnu Prasad Dwivedi 09434152647
4. Dr. Rathin Bandyopadhyay 09434328537
5. Dr. Sujit Kumar Biswas 09434427710

CONTACT DETAILS BY e-mail:

1. gangotrichakraborty@rediffmail.com
2. bpdwivedi@indiatimes.com
3. rathinbanerjee@gmail.com
4. sujitkbiswas@yahoo.com
5. nbulawdepartment@gmail.com

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
 Prof. B.P. Dwivedi Head of the Department
and

Seminar Chairman

Dr. Sujit Kumar Biswas Seminar Director

Prof. Gangotri Chakraborty Member

Dr. Rathin Bandyopadhyay Member

Sub Themes:

I. Protection of eco-soc rights for social justice

II. Participation of the private enterprise

III. Distributive justice

IV. Role of the judiciary in promoting social justice

V. Right to social justice

VI. Social justice and welfare through land, agriculture and industry

VII. The next generation approach to social justice and welfare

CALL FOR PAPERS

Papers on various sub-themes, along with an abstract of not more than 200 words are invited
which may kindly be sent in advance to any of the members of the organizing committee.
Papers, if selected, will feature in ‘INDIAN JOURNAL of LAW and JUSTICE’ [IJLJ], a peer
reviewed refereed journal brought out by the Department of Law, North Bengal University

Note:

Due to paucity of funds we are unable to provide travel expenses to the delegates. The
delegates may like to seek travel expenses from their respective universities/ institutions.
However it will be our pleasure to arrange their stay, food and local hospitality. We are
unable to arrange for stay, food and local hospitality to the students of LL.B.