About IDIA
Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA) started out as a student-run movement in 2010 from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. Founded by Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer, the movement seeks to empower underprivileged students and help them transform into leading lawyers and community advocates by giving them access to quality legal education.
About the Essay Writing Competition
This year, the essay writing competition is dedicated to the memory of Prof (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer. A true legal luminary, Prof. Basheer was the founder of IDIA and built it from the ground up. He touched countless lives by bringing the law to the doorstep of every scholar and striving to make legal education accessible to all, back when such institutions were only the playing field of the rich and the English-speaking minority.
For Prof. Basheer, a lawyer was the most important contributor to society, a harbinger of change. Hence increasing diversity in legal education was a must since diversity is the biggest contributor to innovation.
A mentor and a guide to all of us at IDIA, Shamnad sir was our biggest cheerleader and supporter, always inspiring us by his words and actions and inculcating a culture of leadership and responsibility in his teams.
With his death, a light seems to have gone. Shamnad sir himself, in his inimitable style, however, would have reprimanded us for even thinking such a thing. To him, his work would continue until every child has an opportunity to pursue their dreams of legal education and every law school is a hotpot of various cultures, classes and castes. And for the millions whose hearts he touched, he shall forever live on.
Objectives
- The primary objective of this competition is to encourage the law students across various states in India, through a quality competition, to develop original and creative thinking on some of the important contemporary issues relating to the Indian Constitution.
- To raise funds for the IDIA Charitable Trust. All the proceeds collected shall be fully applied towards funding the day to day operations of the Trust. [A minimum registration fees will be charged from the participants.]
Nature of the Competition
Forum: The competition will be conducted online, where all communications between the organizers and participants, including the registrations and submissions, will be made online through emails.
Theme: The theme of the competition will be – “Contemporary Developments in the field of Constitutional law in India”.
Awards and Prizes
- Certificate of participation shall be given to all authors and co-authors.
- Prize cheques (1st Prize- Rs. 8000; 2nd Prize- Rs. 5000; 3rd Prize- Rs. 2000), Medals and Certificates of merit shall be awarded to 3 best essays.
- The winner will be provided with an opportunity to work under a leading lawyer.
Important Dates
- Date of Notification: 5th September 2019.
- Last date for registration: 15th September 2019.
- Last date for submission: 5th October 2019.
- Result Declaration: 2nd December 2019.
Contact Details
For more information, please write at idiachhattisgarh[at]gmail.com
Official Links
The official link is here.
For the brochure, IDIA Brochure
For the registration form, click here.
