Department of Economics,

LSR
Union Election 2018
Nomination Form for General Secretary

NAME: Aditi Majumdar

YEAR: First Year

Nominated By:

Seconded by:

Q 1) Elucidate your contributions to the department in the past year (2017-18).

‣ Class Representative- Economics 1-B, 2017-18

Acted as a liaison between the association, faculty and the student body by:
• Deciding dates for internals and rescheduling for those who couldn’t attempt
them because of other commitments

• Rescheduling classes in case of a professor’s absence

• Ensuring all information passed on by the Union reaches the students

• Assisting in administrative procedures by preparing lists for the N-List ID for the
Library, collection of Generic Elective preferences, Examination forms, etc.

• Addressing the queries of the students

‣ Sponsorship Team
• Raised 33% of the total sponsorship for Econvista’18
• Confirmed the Associate Sponsor for the fest, Ad Factors PR
• Coordinated with the person in charge by initiating contact, confirmed
the deliverables, coordinated with the financial officer, reported
regularly to the sponsorship heads, etc.

• Was in contact with 17 companies through phone calls/emails

 • Helped on the day of Econvista by arranging the standees, attending to the

sponsors, asking students to attend the talks, etc.

‣ Awarded a Special Mention by IIM Bangalore for representing the Economics

Department of LSR as a part of their initiative with QUEst, Penbound

• Featured on their social media as a student of the department

‣ Decor Team
• Participated as a member of this team to help decorate the college during the
Green Cup.

• Helped put up the exhibition on the day of Econvista

‣ Design Team
• Contributed by making the poster for the Guest Lecture by Jean Dreze

• Contributed by making digital posters for Econvista

• Suggested designs for the logo of Econvista’18

‣ Participated in Trading Tables during Econvista’18

‣ Contributed to the Department Journal by submitting responses

Q 2) According to you, what does the responsibility of your job entail?

If I were to think of a metaphor, a general secretary is like the mid-fielder in a football

team — help the forwards in scoring goals while come to the aid of the defenders
when the opposition team is attacking. They knit the team together and acts a
bridge between the forwards and the defenders.

A general secretary’s most important job is to be the perfect mid-fielder —a helping

hand for everybody to get a job done. It involves working for the student body and
with them, helping a smooth communication between the faculty and the students;
making sure everybody works for a common goal, establishing link with the guest
lecturers and innovating, encouraging and coordinating with student clubs for
proper implementation of ideas.

Most importantly, a general secretary has to be approachable and always open to

new ideas so that students feel encouraged to showcase and develop their skills. A
participative culture needs to be built where the seniors and juniors feel free to interact
with each other and gain from each other’s wisdom. The channels of communication
needs to be strengthened so that grievances, if any, can be addressed in a fair and
equitable manner.

Q 3) Why do you wish to contest for the post of General Secretary? What skills
and qualities make you suitable for the job?

I remember walking through the gates of this college a year ago for the admission
process, buzzing with nervousness and excitement. A lot of people warn you about
potential “ragging” that could take place in college, and I’m not fearless. But instead,
in LSR, I found the General Secretary saying she would walk me to the next class
when I asked her where it was, and the President saying not to worry about knowing
nothing and that there are “no dumb questions.” And that was when I realised that
someday, that’s the kind of leader I want to be, someone who leads with a smile on
their face and always lends a helping hand.

A year later, I have realised that this is indeed the DNA of LSR, and it something that I
identify with fully. I’m an extremely motivated person, and I love taking initiatives and
seeing them through with the help of my team members. I have an open mind on
criticism and suggestions, and try to strive to be better in everything I do. I believe in
discussion and teamwork, and am a dedicated worker. Past experience, be it as a
member of the Prefect Body of my school three times, as the Class Representative or
even as the Campus Care Head for feeding the campus dogs, has made me confident
that I believe in leading by example. I recognise that I work with the team and not
above them, and I think that is one of my best qualities.

Q 4) How do you propose to increase the student involvement in the following

department activities:

Demonstration effect- Every event held by the Department needs proper publicity.
The more visible it is, the more people talk about it, and hence more people turn up.
The publicity will be both online as well as offline in the form of posters.

1. Guest Lectures
• Background reading material can be circulated as a message in point form
with links to the more intensive material

• Holding lectures targeting a specific Year to increase relevance

• Spacing out the lectures to increase attendance

• Collaborating with other Departments or Societies to expand outreach and

to facilitate exchange of ideas

• Holding Lectures on multidisciplinary topics

• Asking students what kind of lectures they’d prefer and trying to organise
them later in the year


• 2. Econvista (committed volunteers as well as audience)

• Incentives to volunteers can be given at a much earlier stage

• Combining lectures and formal/informal events will increase audience as

the lectures will be open to the contingents as well

 • First Years can be introduced to Econvista from the very beginning to

create an impression on them and increase their enthusiasm to make
it a much-awaited event, and not just during the GBM

• During the weeks leading to Econvista, publicity within the college should
increase exponentially to increase excitement and let other
departments know about the event

• Minimalistic, teaser-like posters can be put up to elicit curiosity

3. Sessions organized by the clubs

• Inductions to the club core teams can take place during both odd and even
semesters

• A brief background on the topic can be circulated before the event

• Year-specific sessions can be held

Q 5) State your vision for Econvista 2019 in one sentence.

To make Econvista a go-to event by making non-Economics students interested in
Economics and vice-versa.

Q 6) Do you think ECONVISTA needs to be redefined? If yes, then how and why?
If no, why?

Despite a successful Econvista and amazing events this year, I do think some things
about Econvista need to be redefined.

• Duration- Next year, the fest will be of only two days. The guest lectures and panel
discussions can be held on both days of Econvista, and can be open to
contingents. The informal and formal events can also be held on both days as this
increases the crowd and buzz about Econvista on the days of the fest.
• Attendance can be taken for the Guest Lectures for the students by the PR team,
and by any of their respective team heads for the duration of their duty to ensure
that no one misses out on attendance.

• Publicity of the fest can be improved. The excitement of Econvista should spread
through posters, decor, and online publicity. The publicity within the college is
crucial to get the students thrilled about the fest.

Q 7) Critically analyse the department activities that have happened throughout

the academic year 2017-18. Also mention the list of guest lectures attended by
you, expressing your thoughts on the same in not more than 30 words.

Department Orientation: It was well organised and informative, although the venue
was a bit cramped up. The clubs can perhaps be introduced in greater detail during
the orientation itself.

Club Activities:
BTC: The visits organised by BTC were varied in nature, but sessions such as the
iPolicy workshop as well as the trip to Seva Mandir had to be cancelled due to lack of
participants, which should be looked into.

TEC: TEC initiated a lot of interesting and important sessions this year such as the
Research Paper Writing workshop with Ms. Parul Gupta and the Study Abroad
Session.

FISCUL: The Thursday Post is very well written, informative and concise. However the
sessions that were held had very little attendance, and the Financial Literacy Week
could not be held due to logistical constraints.

BDR: BDR had very interesting ideas this year like “One Country, One Month” and
amazing social media presence. There can perhaps be some more Book Club
sessions.

MRF: Although MRF is a relatively new club and has made progress compared to the
previous years, there need to be more workshops for students to learn more about
research paper writing and more sessions conducted to train them this year. The paper
presentation could not be conducted due to logistical constraints as well.

Department Trip- The department trip was very impressive in terms of planning and
the students were comfortable throughout.

Guest Lectures:
This year was very impressive in terms of guest lectures. If I had to critically analyse it,
I’d say that there were perhaps too many in quick succession, which made it a little
difficult for students to keep up.

The lectures I attended are as follows:

Arvind Subramanian- “India, China and the changing balance of Global Economic
Power”
It was interesting and easy to understand even for First Years. However, the seating
arrangement could have been improved as there were more people than the USR
could accommodate.

Dr. Abhinash Borah- “Understanding the Psychological Underpins of Choices”

An enriching lecture that gave us insight into something we can potentially pursue, but
the venue could have been better as the lecturer was not very audible.

Jean Dreze “Interpreting and Changing Social Policy”

An engaging lecture in terms of subject matter, as it gave us a multidimensional view
of our discipline. The venue was relatively nicer as well.

World Bank Dr. Junaid Kamal

My favourite discussion of the year as it was relatively very interactive. The format of
discussion was conducive in urging people to participate in the discussion.

Panel Discussion- Ms. Yamini Ayar, Mr. Andreas Bauer, Professor Shreekant
Gupta and Mr. Ratin Roy
An interesting discussion with an eminent panel, however it was a difficult to
understand for for First Years who had very little knowledge of the subject matter.

Professor Ashwini Deshpande (Keynote Speaker)

One of my favourite lectures in terms of content. The lecturer was engaging and it was
clear that she was very knowledgeable about the field.

Policy Dialogue- Mr. Parth J. Shah, Dr. Geeta Gauri

The topic of discussion was very enriching and the panelists were eloquent, however,
the lecture was not very audible. The environment of the auditorium had become a bit
restless as well.

Research Paper Writing Workshop- Ms. Parul Gupta

Very informative, especially for first years who know very little about research paper

I also attended the performance by Slip of Tongue during Econvista.

Q 8)Critically analyse the working of the Economics Association of 2017-18.

Although, as a First Year, I don’t really have a benchmark to measure the performance
of the current Union. However, from what I have heard from most of my seniors, this
year’s Union has done a commendable job and I would have to agree.

The Union was warm and welcoming from the very first day. Like I mentioned earlier,
they were easy to approach and very pleasant, which made the process of settling in
so much better, and small initiatives like asking the First Years who have were nervous
about exams to meet them at Nescafe and always being available to answer the
smallest doubts are testimony to that.

The effort put in to organise Guest Lectures for the department was evident. The lists
of prospective internships was a very helpful idea.

With regard to Econvista, I heard that the functioning of the teams was very efficient
this year. I also think that incentivising the volunteers was a really great idea, though it
would have been even better if it had been told to them a little earlier.

A few areas that the Union could have looked into would be the publicity of Econvista
and other events. I think that unless you seem excited for an event, it is difficult to get
others excited, so constantly updating our social media handles and filling up the
college with posters and decorations could have gone a long way in increasing that
enthusiasm. I also think updates could have been regularly taken from the Clubs to
make sure they’re active throughout the year. Third, the proposal for Sponsorship
could have been improved as it had a few spelling mistakes. Lastly, I think the
interaction between the years, especially third years and first years was very low.

Overall, I think the Union did a great job and has definitely left big shoes to fill.

Q 9) What will you do if an international/national team backs out of participating

a day before Econvista? Note that they were participating in 5/10 events out of
which 2 events need all the selected teams to be present else the event can not
be conducted smoothly.

• The first thing I would do would be to reason with them and try to understand their
situation.

• If the reason they’re backing out isn’t due to some logistical constraints on their
end, I would try and convince the team to attend the event by outlining the perks of
participating in Econvista, it’s outreach, etc.

• However if there is a logistical constraint, I would do everything within my capability

try and work out a solution along with my team.

• If there is absolutely nothing that can be done on our end, we could try and contact
teams from local colleges that did not clear the previous round in case of formal
events and ask if they can attend.

• In case of informal events, we could open on-the-spot registrations.

A similar problem took place this year in case of Through The Looking Glass where
one of the teams did not turn up, in which case the last resort was to organise a team
from LSR itself.

Q 10)  Please attach your agenda for the year 2017-18.

 ADITI MAJUMDAR
AGENDA- GENERAL SECRETARY

1. ECONVISTA 2019
Vision- To make Econvista a go-to event by making non-Economics students interested in
Economics and vice-versa.
OVERVIEW
• Econvista 2019 will be a two day event.

• There will be guest lectures and panel discussions as well as formal and informal
events on both the days.

This will in work two ways:

Increase attendance for

guest lectures as Increase the buzz and
contingents and participants activity during Econvista
can attend them

Timeline- Theme, Team Heads, Events, Brochures and Proposal

October January
August
• Preparation of brochures and proposals Preparation of
• Selection of
for PR and Sponsorship events
Team Heads
• Process of sending them will start commence,
• Process for
immediatley publicity within
deciding theme
• Application process for event coordinators college

September December
Teams of Teams of event Mid January
Volunteers will coordinators Econvista 2019
be in place finalised

Events
• A clear demarcation of events can be laid out before applications are open

• In case only LSR students win an informal event, the number of positions
announced can be increased upto 4th

 TEAMS
SPONSORSHIP
• Decrease the number of heads to ensure
better coordination
the department, in case someone from
• Incentivising the volunteer from an earlier
stage so as to increase participation
• Encourage volunteers to make use of
LinkedIn, to use personal contacts, and to
call rather than to send emails
and coverage teams
• Division of the database prepared from
previous records among the volunteers
college by working with the decor team
• Preparation of the proposal by end of
September and ensuring it is concise
• Companies which sponsored for other
colleges can be approached
• Separate database of volunteers with
contacts
LOGISTICS
• To continue working the same with
regard to allotting volunteers and
venues for each event
• Make sure an estimate of the stationery
required by the event heads is done
before the winter break
DECOR
• To regularly update the Department
Board
• To make the best use of existing decor
material
• To maintain careful logs of expenses
incurred by the volunteers
\
DESIGN
• To familiarise the volunteers with easy
to use, free websites like Adobe Spark
and Canva for making the logo, digital
poster, certificates and badges
• Increasing the number of posters to
spread social media presence by
mentioning the past highlights of
Econvista
PUBLIC RELATIONS
• Opening the database to anyone from
outside the PR team has contacts
• Expanding online presence and
working in collaboration with the design
• Increasing offline publicity within the
• Ensure the brochures are sent on time
like this year for maximum participation
HOSPITALITY
• The selection process for the Hospitality
volunteers can be expedited so as to
have a team ready by the time most of
the Guest Lectures begin
• To select the venue for an event
keeping in mind the duration of the
event to avoid administrative
inconvenience
• To continue working the same with
regard to the POCs, payment of
security deposit to cafe, training of
volunteers, etc.
REPORTING
• Continue to offer constructive criticism
and feedback to each volunteer to
maintain a degree of responsiveness
and to familiarise volunteers with the
interview taking process
COVERAGE
• To work in association with the PR team
to prepare short videos of the
preparations, registrations, and decor to
upload on social media for online
publicity
• Make sure there is a regular flow of
content on the social media handles by
uploading teaser images
• Coverage of events can continue as at
present. Training of volunteers in the
basics of video editing should take
place.
 2. Clubs
‣ The autonomy of the Club coordinators will be maintained
‣ However, monthly meetings will be held for updates about the work done by the Club
and to discuss new ideas, where at least one coordinator must be present
‣ Inductions to the clubs will take place in both the even and the odd semester
‣ The process of venue bookings and calling guest lecturers will be explained to all the
coordinators so that they don’t shy away from holding sessions
‣ A more detailed introduction to the clubs can take place on the day of Department
Orientation itself so that students have an idea even if they can’t attend the Club Week

Aim- To avoid last minute cancellations of

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM CLUB trips and to increase participation.

‣ Emails to the respective organisations for domestic trips can be sent in June for
the odd semester, October for the even semester.
• This leaves enough time for the administrative procedures to take place
• Minimises number of classes missed
‣ A schedule must be presented to the students and rigidly followed.
This will give them enough time to:
• Make the necessary arrangements
• Ensure their availability during the particular dates
• Estimate the expense, etc.
‣ Coordinators can ask third years for suggestions as to where visits can take
place
‣ Besides attending seminars happening in the city and domestic trips,
coordinators should also try to organise an international trip that is planned well
in advance.
Suggestions for International Trips

Bangladesh- Jita
Creates employment opportunities for women at the BoP through a network of enterprises which are
connected to last mile distribution systems.
Phone No : +88029892972, +88029892986
E-mail: info@jitabangladesh.com

Nepal - Action Works

Aims to improve the livelihood of communities through innovative result driven programs moving
forward to peace, growth, and sustainable development.
Phone No :+977 1 4227730

E-mail: info@actionworksnepal.org

actionworksnepal.awon10@gmail.com


Singapore- Make the Change

On post-secondary levels, they connect and walk youths on a journey of self-discovery and
expression through courses, seminars and workshops. Their interactive programmes are based on
actual case studies and projects are implemented in real life.

Phone: +65 6337 5449

E-mail: info@makethechange.sg
 THE ECONWHIZ CLUB
Aim- Organising Year-specific sessions and
workshops

‣ Workshops and informal sessions organised keeping common topics of interest for the
targeted Year in mind. For example:
• For 1st Years, an introductory session on the stock market or on a few domains
of economics etc. can be held so that students can be familiarised and know what
their interest lies in, like the research paper writing workshop conducted this year.
• Relevant workshops and sessions for 2nd Years can be held in their fourth
semester to prepare them for placements. For example, a Case Study or
Analytics workshop or a session on how to tackle interviews will equip students
to assume the necessary skills they do not learn in a classroom, but require for
placements.
• a Resume building session can be held for all years (This may be organised by
the club; reference: https://uptowork.com/blog/how-to-make-a-resume)
• These sessions will be open to all years
‣ The club may work in collaboration with the Alumna Cell or the Placement Cell for holding
sessions
‣ Contingents of previous years can continue to be brought in touch with the current
selected contingents for necessary advice or training for a particular event before a fest.
‣ The work of the core team should continue as at present.

Aim- Prior planning to ensure the Financial Literacy

FISCUL
Week takes place

Aside from sessions on the basics of stock market and investments, Fiscul can do the
following:
‣ Prior planning should take place as far as possible to ensure that the Financial Literacy
Week for the academic year takes place
‣ Collaboration with NSS for sessions with the Bhaiyas and Didis to spread financial
literacy can be conducted
‣ The use of board games like Monopoly and popular fan-based culture (like Harry
Potter in 2017) can also take place to explain financial concepts as well as pique
interest of students from other disciplines
‣ The Thursday Post should also be compiled into a blog as well as to continue as at
present, with perhaps a common financial concept broken down briefly to be more
educational
 BOOKS & DOCUMENTARIES
 Aim- To increase the ambit in terms of the genres
REVIEW CLUB of books and movies reviewed

‣ Using popular culture to explain the relevance of economics will open up the discussion
to a larger audience and ensure participation.
For example, an article by Huffington Post titled What We Can (Seriously) Learn
About Economics From 'Game Of Thrones’ can serve as reference in organising a
session based on learning economic concepts through the popular TV show.
[https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/10/what-we-can-seriously-learn-about-
economics-from-game-of-thro_a_23023842/]
‣ BDR should continue initiatives like “One Country, One Month”, as well as “Book of the
Month" and “Movie of the Month” to maintain it’s social media presence
‣ To try and organise more Book Club sessions

Aim- To try to increase training provided to

MENTORED RESEARCH FORUM students

‣ Coordinators should push for a paper presentation each semester, planned in

advance to avoid last minute logistical constraints
‣ Aim for more workshops to train the students
‣ Hold introductions to the various domains of MRF so that students know what they’re
interested in
‣ Reducing the number of people per team to increase accountability
‣ Ensuring feedback for every paper to maintain a degree of responsiveness
‣ Target organisations like CCS for workshops [Contact number: +91-11-26537456]

3. Events
• Publicity of all events held by the department will take place with a digital poster
over the WhatsApp group as well as on the Department Board

• Proper coverage of all events held by the department will take place

• A short write-up on the events will be posted on the Facebook page

Formal Events
‣ Panel Discussions
• Faculty
Professors of various Departments can be contacted and brought together in a panel
discussion to help gain perspective on a particular, perhaps controversial, topic.

eg. “Does a quota for women work in corporate India?”

“Universal basic income- has the time come?”
“How can India break free from jobless growth?”

• Students
Panel discussions open to students of all years can take place, with a representative
from each department on a relevant topic of interest.

‣ Guest Lectures
• A poll can be conducted in the beginning of the year to ascertain what kind of
topics the students would like lectures on, which can be held later on in the
academic year

• Lectures can be spaced out a bit more to increase attendance

Prospective speakers

• Sanjeev Sanyal- Principal Economic Advisor, Government of India

Contact- sanjeev.sanyal@nic.in

• Rajiv Kumar- Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog

Contact- vch-niti@gov.in

• Amitavh Kant- CEO, Niti Aayog

Contact- amitavh.kant@nic.in

• Nandan Nilekani- Chairman, Infosys & Former Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of
India

Contact- nandan@nandannilekani.in

• Rama Bijapurkar- Management & Market Research Consultant

Contact- rama.mail@bijapurkar.com

• Shyam Saran- Former Foreign Secretary

Contact- saranshyam46@gmail.com

Informal Events
Department Orientation
• A presentation to introduce the various facets of the department.

• A more in-depth introductions to the clubs during the orientation itself, as a lot of
people are unavailable during Club Week

• Introduction to the faculty and a speech by an alumna, if they are available.

• Election of CRs

• Mentor-Mentee system: Second and Third years willing to be part of the system
will sign up a sheet.

• Students will be assigned a mentor from the Second year as well as Third year in
order to increase conversation among the various Years. (This is subject to the
number of people who volunteer to join the system.)

Formal Fresher’s
• Held in August

• Theme decided by polls

• Organising committee consisting of the Union and the event heads

• Interactive, ice breaking games like “sing your favourite song in the worst possible
manner”, tug-of-war, etc.

• Photo booth with props and theme-based decor

• Food and drinks

• Titles will be awarded

Farewell
• Theme will be decided by polls

• Hand-made tokens will be gifted to the seniors

• Photo booth with props and theme-based decor

• A movie can be made to showcase their journey in the college with the help of a
few volunteers and the coverage team

 4. Department Trip
The main department trip can be held in the odd semester, and a day trip can be held
in the even semester.

Main Trip (Odd Semester)- A few options are:

1. Heritage sites and National Parks

Jaisalmer Kumbhalgarh-Panna
• approx. Rs. 6-6,500
• approx. Rs. 6-6,500

• 1 night camping in sand dunes, • Kumbhalgarh Fort and Panna

1 night spent in heritage resort National Park

2. Hill stations

Manali Dalhousie
• approx. Rs. 6000
• approx. Rs. 6000

• Trekking, off-beat places, old • Dainkund peak, Chamera Lake

Manali

3. Beaches

Goa
Others: (approx. Rs. 6000)
• Ground package- 3 nights, 4
days for Rs. 5950
• Kufri- Chail

• (2 meals, 3 nights stay, 1 day full • Bhopal-Bhimbetka

sight seeing included)

• Travel open
*Renuka Sharma
(+91 9999445789)
from Incredible Routes (organiser of last
year’s trip) has been contacted and the
above information has been confirmed.
Day trip (Even Semester):
A poll can be held to decide the dates and location.

A few suggestions are:

1. Neemrana Fort Palace (122 kms from Delhi)

2. Agra (3 hr 15 min drive)

3. Manesar (55 km)

4. Amusement Parks, etc.

5. Miscellaneous

‣ Merchandise
• One department T-Shirt for summers and one department sweatshirt/hoodie for the
winters.

• All students of the Department can submit a design

• A poll will be conducted to shortlist the final design

Prospective vendor: Groves

[Contact: Shivang Groves +91 99991 87197 (Vendor for Projekt merchandise 2017-18)]

‣ Guidance on MOOCs and internships

• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to
enrol.

• MOOCs from Harvard, MIT, and other top universities and institutions in subjects like
Politics, Psychology, Data Analysis, etc. can be pursued to enhance skills.

Prospective websites are:

• https://www.edx.org/

• https://www.coursera.org

• A list of prospective internships will be circulated this year as well

• A few Second and Third year students can share their experience at the places where they
have interned for first years to get an idea of the kinds of internships they can aim for

‣ Department Journal, Ecolloquial

The Editorial team will be selected in January as at present and submissions will be accepted
till March.