Academic Opportunities at NCDS

Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS)

(an ICSSR institute in collaboration with Government of Odisha)

E.mail: ncds_bbsr@dataone.in, Tel: 0674-2300471, 2301094

Academic Opportunities

Date of Advertisement: 01/May/2017

Last Date: 29/May/2017, 5.00 pm (India time)

NCDS invites applications for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors in different disciplines/specializations.

Table 1: Academic Opportunities across Disciplines for Different Positions at NCDS
Disciplines	Positions
	Professor	Associate Professor	Assistant Professor
Development Studies or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Sustainable Development {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization -Political Philosophy/ Political Economy, {Unreserved}]	2 (Two) [desirable specialization -Tribal/Dalit Studies, {Scheduled Tribe}], [desirable specialization -Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies {Unreserved}],
Economics or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Public Policy, {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Applied Development Economics, {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Poverty and Human Development, {Unreserved}]
Anthropology/ Sociology or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Sociocultural, {Unreserved}]	-	-
Population Studies/ Demography or allied/relevant		1 (One) [desirable specialization - Public Health, {Unreserved}]	-
Notes: The content in round parenthesis (...) indicates the number of vacancies in that position for that discipline in words, the content in square brackets [...] indicates the desirable specialization in that position for that concerned/allied/relevant discipline, and the content in braces {...} indicates if the post is reserved for a specific category of population as per statutory requirement mandated by reservation policy of Government of Odisha, or, is unreserved. Applicants with evidence of work on desirable specialization from core/allied/relevant disciplines can apply.  For instance, in Development Studies the work on the desirable specialization indicated may come from different social science fields while not being limited to them. Similarly, the work on the desirable specialization of Public Health may also come from some other relevant disciplines and this may hold for other desirable specializations too.

                                                            

1. Eligibility Criteria and Qualifications:

The eligibility criteria and qualifications should satisfy University Grants Commission (UGC) Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, Regulations, 2010, and its subsequent amendments. The relevant API score (category III) of 4th amendment (at p.25-26) is applicable. Further, as permissible under UGC Regulations (see Clarification on FAQs), NCDS has additional qualifying standards as also desirable conditions without deviation from the minimum qualifications prescribed by UGC. The eligibility criteria and qualifications for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors are elaborated below.

1.1. Professors

A.(i) An eminent scholar with PhD qualification(s) in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline and published work of high quality, actively engaged in research with evidence of published work with a minimum of 10 publications as books and/or research/policy papers.
(ii)  A minimum of ten years of teaching experience in University/College, and/or experience in research at the University/National  level Institutions/Industries (this experience of teaching/research will be at the post-PhD level equivalent to that of Assistant/Associate Professor of which it would desirable if at least two years should be equivalent to that of Reader/Assistant Professor stage III/Associate Professor), including experience of guiding candidates for research at doctoral level (evidence of at least two candidates having successfully obtained PhD degree under the guidance of the applicant is to be submitted with the application). 
(iii) Contribution to educational innovation, design of new curricula and courses, and technology – mediated teaching learning process.
(iv) A minimum score of 400 points as stipulated in Academic Performance Indicator (API) based Performance Based Appraisal System (PBAS) in category III  as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010. An API score proforma (attached to the application form to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores) along with a curriculum vitae that provides all the information used to compute the API score and all relevant self-attested documents to validate the same should be submitted with the application form.

(v) The minimum of 10 publications indicated under [1.1. A. (i)] above should count towards her/his API score indicated under [1.1 A. (iv)] above. Further, from these 10 publications, at least five should be refereed publications from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit copies of these five refereed journal articles with the application.

(vi) Evidence of being the Project Director/Principal Investigator/Team Leader for at least one research project at the national level, or, as one of the team members for a research project at an international level. 

(vii) It would be desirable if the candidate would have received fellowships and awards from national/international bodies at a post-PhD level.

OR

B. An outstanding professional with established reputation in the relevant field, who has made significant contributions to the knowledge in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization, to be substantiated by credentials.

1.2.  Associate Professor

(i)     Good academic record with a PhD Degree in the concerned/allied/relevant disciplines.

(ii)   A Master’s Degree with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed).

(iii) A minimum of eight years of experience of teaching and/or research in an academic/research position equivalent to that of Assistant Professor in a University, College or Accredited Research Institution/Industry excluding the period of PhD research with evidence of published work and a minimum of eight publications as books and/or research/policy papers.

(iv) Contribution to educational innovation, design of new curricula and courses, and technology-mediated teaching learning process with evidence of having guided doctoral candidates and research students (evidence of at least one candidate having successfully obtained PhD under the guidance of the applicant is to be submitted with the application).

(v)    A minimum score of 300 points as stipulated in the Academic Performance Indicator (API) based Performance Based Appraisal System (PBAS), in category III as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010. An API score proforma (attached to the application form to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores) along with a curriculum vitae that provides all the information used to compute the API score and all relevant self-attested documents to validate the same should be submitted with the application form.

(vi) The minimum of eight publications indicated under [1.2. (iii)] above should count towards her/his API score indicated under [1.2. (v)] above. Further, from these eight publications, at least four should be refereed publications from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit copies of these four refereed journal articles along with the application.

(vii) It would be desirable if the candidate would have received fellowships and awards from national/international bodies at a post-PhD level.

1.3. Assistant Professor

(i) Good academic record with at least 55% of the marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) at the Master’s Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign University. However, relaxation of 5% marks, that is, from 55% to 50% is allowed for candidates having PhD degree and those who passed their Master Degree prior to 19 September 1991.

(ii) Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared in the concerned/allied/relevant subject/discipline the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited by the UGC like SLET/SET.

(iii) Notwithstanding anything contained in [1.3. (i)] and [1.3. (ii)], candidates, who are, or have been registered for their PhD after 11 July 2009 to 04 May 2016 and have been awarded a PhD Degree from an Indian University in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards for the Awards of PhD Degree) Regulation, 2009, and so adopted by the concerned university, shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor. Provided further, the award of PhD degree to candidates registered for the PhD programme in India prior to 11 July 2009  shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions: (a) Ph.D. degree of the candidate awarded in regular mode only; (b) Evaluation of the PhD thesis by at least two external examiners; (c) Open PhD viva voce of the candidate had been conducted; (d) Candidate has published two research papers from her/his PhD work out of which at least one must be in a refereed journal; e) Candidate has made at least two presentations in conferences/seminars, based on her/his PhD work. And, (a) to (e) as above are to be certified by the Vice-Chancellor/Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Dean (Academic Affairs)/Dean (University instructions). In addition, candidates who have been registered for their PhD on or after 05 May 2016 and have been awarded a PhD Degree from an Indian University in accordance with the UGC (Minimum Standards for the Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2016, and so adopted by the concerned university, shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor. Besides, PhDs from accredited foreign universities would also be exempted from the requirement of NET/SET/SLET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor.

(iv) A relaxation of 5% may be provided at the Graduate and Master’s level for the Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Differently-abled (Physically and Visually differently-abled)  categories for the purpose of eligibility of educational qualification and for assessing good academic record during direct recruitment to teaching positions. The eligibility marks of 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) and the relaxation of 5% to the categories mentioned above are permissible, based on only the qualifying marks without including any grace mark procedures. Rounding off of marks to make it to 55% or 5% is not permissible.

(v) A minimum of one refereed publication from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit a copy of this refereed journal article along with the application. If the applicant so desires, she/he can also submit two additional refereed publications along with the application.

2. Other Conditions

2.1. Evidence of research, teaching and other engagements in the specialization indicated will be desirable. These should be evident from the selected publications submitted, the statement of purpose, and other details provided in the application.

2.2. Applicants desirous of applying to multiple positions should submit separate applications for each position.

2.3. The application form duly filled in by the candidate must be supported by self-attested copies of all required documents.

2.4. NCDS may request soft copies of some of the documents at a later date.

2.5. Applications received incomplete in any respect are liable to be summarily rejected and no correspondence on that score shall be entertained.

2.6. Applications received after the last date will not be considered.

2.7. Merely fulfilling the minimum qualification does not entitle a candidate to be necessarily considered or shortlisted for the subsequent stages of the selection process, or, if considered or shortlisted for the subsequent stages it does not entitle a candidate to be necessarily selected to the position.

2.8. No deputation allowances shall be paid.

2.9. No Travelling Allowance (TA) or Dearness Allowance (DA) will be paid to attend the different stages of the selection procedure or to join at NCDS after selection.

2.10. Canvassing in any form by or on behalf of the applicants will be considered as disqualification.

2.11. Applicants who are not Indian citizens will have to satisfy additional requirements by Government of India/Government of Odisha and subject to other rules and regulations, as mandated by law, if selected.

2.12. NCDS reserves the right to not fill up any of the vacancies advertised if the circumstances so warrant.

2.13. Notwithstanding, anything mentioned above, NCDS reserves the right to reject any or all the applications received without assigning any reason thereof.

2.14. The applicants are required to deposit a non-refundable application fee of Rs.1000/-(Rupees one thousand) only either through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) to (Account No.450501110050004, IFS Code: UBIN 0562602) and submit necessary proof or by Demand Draft/crossed Account Payee cheque of  any nationalized bank in favour of “Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies” payable at Bhubaneswar. For reserved posts candidates are required to deposit a non-refundable application fee of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five hundred) only. Hard copies of application forms not submitted before the deadline and not enclosed with requisite application fee or its proof  will be summarily rejected. 

3. Salary

Table 2: Scale of Pay across Different Positions at NCDS
Positions	Scale of Pay + Academic Grade Pay (AGP)
Professor	Rs.37,400-Rs.67,000/- + AGP Rs.10,000/-
Associate Professor	Rs.37,400-Rs.67,000/- + AGP Rs.9,000/-
Assistant Professor	Rs.15,600-Rs.39,100/- + AGP Rs.6,000/-
Note: Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA) and other allowances are admissible as per NCDS rules.

4.  Age of Superannuation: 60 Years

5. Application Procedure

5.1. Application form may be downloaded from NCDS website http://ncds.nic.in at Opportunities and the duly filled in form send to Secretary, Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar-751013 by Speed Post/Registered Post so as to reach by 29/May/2017 before 5.00 pm (1700 hours), India time. The institute will not be responsible for any delay in receipt of applications.

5.2. The envelope containing application should indicate "Application for [Position applied for] in [Discipline/Specialization]".

5.3. The last date for receipt of application form complete in all respect is 29/May/2017 before 5.00 pm (1700 hours), India time.

5.4. Forwarding of application by the employer (if employed) to be received on or before the date interview.

5.5. Applicants who are in service can send their applications as advance copy.

6. Checklist of Documents to be Submitted by the Applicant

6.1. Filled in application form with relevant self-attested documentary evidence.

6.2. A five-hundred word 'statement of purpose' conveying why the applicant is the best suitable for the position applied for and also briefly explaining the plans/activities that the applicant would like to take up, if selected (format included, as part of the application form).

6.3. For Professors and Associate Professors only: API score in category III as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010 with relevant self-attested documentary evidence. An API score proforma to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores along with necessary pages from the 4th Amendment is attached to the application form.

6.4. A curriculum vitae providing details of research publications, research projects, fellowships/awards, invited lectures/papers in seminars/conferences, and any other academic activities. This can be used by applicants for the position of Professors and Associate Professors to provide all the information used to compute their API score in category III as per 4th Amendment.
6.5. Applicants should submit discipline/specialization-specific selected refereed publications: five for Professor, four for Associate Professor and one for Assistant Professor. The applicant for Assistant Professor can submit two additional refereed publications if she/he so desires.
6.6. Non-refundable application fee by Demand Draft/Crossed Account Payee Cheque or proof of payment by NEFT.

Link to Short Advertisement in PDF, in the Samaj, TNIE.

Link to Detailed Advertisement in PDF

Link to Application Form in PDF
Link to Application Form in Word 

Right and Wrong

The moment,
I came into this world,
I was taught that,
This is right, and
This is wrong.
It took time,
For me to realize,
That the right thing,
Did not lead to reward;
That the wrong thing,
Did not lead to punishment.
But, don't know why,
I am still stuck with,
What I was taught.
And, this reminds me,
Of a quote,
Or, something like that.
Even if everyone concurs,
It can still be wrong;
Even if no one adheres,
It can still be right.

Also available in wattpad at http://w.tt/2jDq5Gr

Joule's heating, demonetisation and measuring health of economy

I was reading with my daughter (not sure whether I was helping her or she was helping me) about heat (H) being dependent on the resistance (R) to the flow of current as that would create some friction, the flow of current (I), and the length of time of the flow of current (T). Or, as Joule's heating principle indicates,

(1)     H=RI²T.

My wondering thought took me to compare this with the health of the economy (h) being dependent on the resistance (r) to the flow of transactions as that would create additional activities because producer consuming the produce will lead to zero or no transactions while the selling of the produce to a trader and then to an aggregator and then to a wholesaler and then to a retailer and then to a consumer will have five different economic activities, the items (i) or the quantum of goods and services being transacted per unit time, and the length of time (t). The relationship is indicated in, 

(2)     h=rit.

For ease of analysis, we restrict ourselves to t=1 for each period. Further, we state that the volume of economic activities or transactions is v=ri. Besides, we would also like to introduce a correction factor, a, for v to address concerns that some of the transactions per unit time are not captured (a>1). For the sake of completeness one can also use a to address double counting (0<a<1), which we will discuss later. Having said that, we now have,

(3)     h=av.  

Now, let us use equations (2) and (3) to analyse the impact of demonetisation on the health of economy.  We will divide our discussion into multiple one-week time periods: prior to demonitisation (2-8 November 2016), immediately after demonitisation (9-15 November 2016), and then after the immediate impasse (16-22 November 2016 or perhaps with some time lapse say, 4-10 January 2017) and refer to them in our notations through subscripts of 1, 2, and 3, respectively.  

Resistance to the flow of transactions like the analogy from Joule's heating has a positive connotation on the economy by increasing the number of activities. In this sense, demonetisation, reduced the number of activities leading to a reduction in resistance in the second period. There was some increase in activities in the third, but not reached the level of the first period. The number of goods and services transacted per unit time also reduced on account of demonitisation and its subsequent revival in the third period has been tardy and it is reasonable to assume that it has still not reached the pre-demonitisation scenario.

(4)     r₁>r₃>r_2,

(5)     i₁>i₃>i_2, and

(6)     v₁>v₃>v_2,.

The possibility of some transaction not being captured (and perhaps one of the reasons for demonitisation) will be a larger problem in a pre-demonitised situation. Not being able to capture transactions is likely to be non-existent immediately after demonitisation. And, this might have continued in that state or it is possible that some transactions might get double counted in the third period. Thus, 

(7)     a₁>a₂≥a_3. a₂≈1.

Even if one would disagree with taking an analogy from Joule's heating principle, it would be reasonable to state that r and i, as also v are positively related to h. It follows that

(8)     h₁>h₃>h_2.

This implies that the health of the economy has reduced. The various estimates about the economy growing at a positive (but, at a lower) growth rate is in that sense optimistic. This can happen only slowly, as there is a shift towards cashless transactions and new ₹500 notes are being infused into the system. That is meant for future analysis.

Getting back to equation (8), it is possible to state from a measurement perspective that the health of the economy in the third or for that matter in the second period is better or equal to that in the first period. This is possible because we do not have a measure of a. In the absence of that it would be considered as unity, â=1. Such an assumption would be closer to reality for the second (or, under certain assumptions in the third) period, but not for the first period. Hence, an estimate for the health of the economy for the first period will be, 

(9)     ĥ₁=(1/a₁)h₁=v₁.

It follows that if h₃>ĥ₁ then one could get into an illusory impression that h₃>h₁. Let us assume that a₁=1.25, that is, about one-fifth of the economy is not captured - it can also serve as a guestimate for the black economy before demonitisation. However, if calculations use â₁=1 then if four-fifths (â₁/a₁=4/5) of the actual transaction of the first period would get recorded in the third period through cashless mode then that would give an impression that we have already attained the situation where the health of the economy is equivalent to that of the first period.

Now, if a small proportion of the economy that was earlier not being captured comes into the fold then the health of the economy would look better. That, in fact, has been the purpose behind demonitisation, that is, to get the reality into our books. In other words, the purpose is to get the one-fifth of the economy (or whatever that figure) to be part of the economic accounting. Well, as implied earlier, this can be possible if either the economy has transited into a cashless transaction or if  new ₹500 notes are back in circulation and with the assumption that the demonetisation exercise has not dented the production base.

There is also another way, that is, by increasing the number of transactions virtually and without increasing the actual exchange of goods and services. This is nothing new. The financialisation of the economy with transactions through the stock market or trading in commodity futures have been taking this mode. They have also been in existence in cashless transactions through credit and debit cards, mobile phone and other e-wallets. Let me elaborate on this.

In a cash transaction, goods or services are paid for at the point of sale. In a cashless transaction the money payment is done at the point of sale to a third-party service provider who in turn makes the payment to the seller pf the produce. This is done electronically through real time and may give the impression of a single transaction, but in practice there are two transactions. Besides, the third-party service provider may also charge for its services (the current discussion on levy of Merchant Discount Rates by banks on card transactions would imply a third transaction). Further, taxes levied on account of these transactions could lead to an additional transaction. Some of these could lead to double counting. Or, â₃=1.  

It follows that ĥ₁<h₁ (a type I error because something that is healthy will be identified as unhealthy), ĥ₂≈h₁, and ĥ₃>h₃ (a type II error where something that is unhealthy will be identified as healthy).  Hence, even when the reality is closer to equation (8), one may still end up estimating that ĥ₃>ĥ₁. In fact, there are already statements being made that the tax revenue by the Government in December 2016 has been higher than the previous months to convey that the health of the economy has improved. All one can say is that one should be cautious and careful.

Some of my earlier blogs on demonitisation are:

Demonetisation: one paise view

Demon-et-ise: 2K view

Appointing a General is the Government's Prerogative, but ...

Selecting and appointing a Chief to any country's Army or to any wing of its forces should be the prerogative of the Government. This position can be defended by invoking Chanakya or Machiavelli. But, one could even invoke Rawls' justice. In particular, the first part of the second principle of justice by Rawls conveys that selection of people to positions of power should be based on merit after provisioning for equal opportunities. Hence, India cannot be an exception to that.

One may question my invoking Rawls' principles meant for a democratic polity to the selection of an Army Chief. I agree that a democratic polity by, for and of the people is more about peace and prosperity. Nevertheless, it is a bitter irony that war-preparedness has become an important aspect of statecraft, democratic or not. In fact, in a federal structure like the United States of America with states having a larger say in domestic matters (more than that of India) one of the three most important roles of the American President is on defence (defend sovereignty for America and its allies and also to maintain 'global' order); the other two important roles being external affairs (diplomatic relationship with the committee of nations as also multilateral agencies or one may say to retain one-upmanship) and the treasury (common money unit, dollar, which in some sense also happens to be a 'global' currency). Though, Rawls is cautious and avoids extending his analysis across countries, one has to concede that defence cannot be dealt in isolation in any country and the selection of an Army Chief ought to be considered as an important feature even in a democratic polity and one ought to go by merit.      

The Government of the day has to do the selection of the Army Chief keeping in view its requirement. General Bikram Singh has put it succinctly that "the Chief designate would be well placed to deal with all operational contingencies, even in the worst possible two-front scenario, wherein both China and Pakistan may pose conventional threat to our territorial integrity" and according to the Ministry of Defence "had an edge owing to his vast experience in the asymmetric operations in the Kashmir valley, our north eastern states and the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo." 

The core question that comes into the selection of Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat as the Chief designate of the Indian Army is the supersession of two other contenders (Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi and Lieutenant General PM Hariz) who were senior to him. This becomes a questionmark if the basis of seniority was based on their merit-based selection to their current positions and not because of their date of induction into the Indian Army or by their age or some such criteria. 

It goes without question that a professional organisation like the Indian Army promotes its cadre based on merit at all levels. It is for this that the public ought to know the basis of current seniority and that there was a technical reason that came in the way and Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat could not have been elevated to the position of Lieutenant General before Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi and Lieutenant General PM Hariz.

If there is no technical reason that defines the current seniority then it is necessary to explain the reasons that led to the current hierarchy and the change in requirement between then and now. Even if there has been no change in requirement, it is necessary to know current requirement and the experience details that the three officers or all the contenders (five senior most officers) have had. Unfortunately, there is not much in the public domain that I could lay my hands on. I leave that aside for someone who could lay their hands on those details. Instead, I will read between the lines and raise some possible conjectures on the requirement by the Government.

My first conjecture is as follows. If making Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi as Chief designate would have meant that the person next in succession would have been Lieutenant General PM Hariz, a  Muslim, and the Government wanted to avoid that. Further, preempting that now rather than act on that after Lieutenant General Bakshi's tenure would have raised greater concerns later and the Governent wanted to avoid that.

My second conjecture is as follows. It is quite possible that elevating Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi and Lieutenant General PM Hariz in succession could have led to shorter tenures for two successive Chiefs and the Government wanted to avoid that. 

My third conjecture would on the requirement of the Government today will draw from General Bikarm Singh's above-mentioned post where he mentions that the advantages of the Chief designate will "not only allow the continuity in our counter proxy war and counterinsurgency operations, but also give the government options to up the ante along the Line of Control (LoC), should that be necessary." This has to be read between the lines.

In General Bikran Singh's write-up, a case is being articulated on 'continuity' and also in providing option to 'up the ante'. Are these signs of an impeding war? One is aware of its ramifications on patriotism and its implications on polity when ante are upped close to the elections (for instance Iraq war and its impact on American polity). Will there be a war-like scenario in the near future in India? Is this in anticipation of what our neighbours are likely to plan or will it be necessitated by an electoral calculation? Will there be an implicit unspoken collusion by leaders across the boarder, as it would be to their domestic political advantage? All these need to be answered in due course.

Whether selecting the next Army Chief in India is about facilitating peace and prosperity or it is about a tacit war-like scenario has a thin line differentiating the two and only time will tell. But, let us be forewarned and work towards a peaceful and friendly co-existence with our neighbours and also within the country with ourselves. Let me paraphrase Pope Francis' Christmas message of 2016 to convey that we need to free ourselves from the hostage of materialism and from that of indifference. 

I completely agree and defend the position that appointing a General is the Government's prerogative, but in a democratic-polity by, for and of the people there should be concern and engagement, as in its absence democracy itself will be at bay.