New Delhi, April 23: The Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has successfully organized the two-day National Conference titled “Socio-Legal Contours of Ageing and Gerontology: Issues and Challenges” on 20th & 21st April 2024. The conference was conducted in hybrid mode, the first day’s (20th April) proceedings took place at the Faculty of Law premises, and the second day (21st April) events were conducted entirely using digital mode.
Prof. Eqbal Hussian, Officiating Vice Chancellor, JMI presided over the intellectually stimulating inaugural programme along with Prof. A. P. Singh, Vice Chancellor, RMNLU, Lucknow as its Chief Guest. Prof. A. M. Khan, President, Association of Gerontology – India was the Keynote Speaker and Prof. Kahkashan Y. Danyal, Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI was the convener of the event.
In the presidential address, Prof. Eqbal Hussian advocated a life of autonomy and dignity for the elderly, and the need for robust socio-legal interventions that would cater to the vulnerabilities of the aged population. The keynote speaker of the session Prof. A. M. Khan emphasized on the notion of ageing as a natural phenomenon and its implication on the acceptance of graceful ageing.
The chief guest for the inaugural session, Prof. A. P. Singh, illuminated the enthralled audiences about the pathology of ageing and gerontology from a socio-legal perspective. Bringing the inaugural session to its logical conclusion, Prof. Ghulam Yazdani, Faculty of Law, JMI presented a formal vote of thanks to all the erudite speakers and the enthusiastic participants.
The latter part of day consisted of a Panel Discussion on the same theme, while the post-lunch proceedings comprised of two simultaneous technical sessions of paper presentations. The panel for discussion consisted of Prof. Mala Kapur Shankardass ,Former Professor, DU, Prof. (Dr.) Ashima Nehra ,Clinical Psychology Division, AIIMS, Prof. Manjula Batra, Senior Professor of Law, The NorthCap University, Gurugram and Former Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI, and Dr. Anupama Datta, Director, Research & Advocacy, HelpAge India. Prof. Nuzhat Parveen Khan, Faculty of Law, JMI moderated the event on behalf of the Faculty of Law.
The technical sessions had presentations from students and scholars, highly passionate about the theme expressing their holistic approach to elderly care through a socio-legal perspective. The papers were presented in two simultaneously running sessions chaired and co-chaired by noted academicians.
The second day (21st April) commenced with a thought-provoking panel discussion which had the presence of experts from varied fields. The panel consisted of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Muhamed Mushtaque, sitting judge, Kerala High Court, Dr. Zubair Saleem , Gauri Healthy Heart Project, Jammu & Kashmir, and Prof. Manisha Tripathy Pandey, Department of Sociology, JMI. The dialectal session was very efficiently moderated by Dr. Subhradipta Sarkar, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, JMI.
The latter part of the day was once again dedicated to exploring the various contours of ageing and gerontology through very well researched and articulated submissions made through a series of paper presentations. In the National Conference as many as fifty-five (55) papers have been presented over the last two days in around 7 technical sessions.
The two-day enthralling experience of co-learning concluded with a valedictory ceremony on 21st April, graced by Chief Guest Prof. (Dr) Manoj Kumar Sinha, Vice Chancellor, Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, Prof. (Dr) Kahkashan Y Danyal, Convenor- Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI, Prof. (Dr) Mohd. Asad Malik, Faculty of Law, JMI, and Dr. Momin Noorjahan Shamim Ahmad, Faculty of Law, JMI. Further, the report of the two day National Conference was presented by the Dean, Faculty of Law, JMI, during the valedictory ceremony of the conference.
The ceremony was concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. Asad Malik to all the guests, experts, members of the organizing team, presenters, and attendees.
