Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Gandhian L.C. Jain passes away

(In addition to many other honorable assignments, LC Jain was the
vice-chair of the World Commission on Dams, which published its
ground-breaking report ten years ago today. We remember his passion, wit
and wisdom with gratitude. International Rivers)

Gandhian L.C. Jain passes away
The Hindu, November 15, 2010
www.thehindu.com/news/national/article886494.ece

Well-known Gandhian and Magsaysay Award winner L.C. Jain passed away on
Sunday following prolonged illness.

He was 85.

An economist, organiser, commentator and activist, Mr. Jain spent more
than six decades of his life as an impassioned crusader for what Mahatma
Gandhi called India's second freedom struggle — the fight against
socio-economic oppression.

Known as a fierce opponent of overwhelming state control and an ardent
advocate for social action, his efforts to keep alive the legacy of the
freedom struggle through the intervention of civil society led to him
being awarded the Magsaysay Award in 1988.

Mr. Jain is survived by his wife and two sons.

Much of the first phase of his entry into public life was spent working
on cherished Nehruvian projects, but it was Gandhi who remained a beacon
throughout his career, guiding and illuminating his responses.

It was this association that led him to accept one of his few forays
into official life, as High Commissioner to South Africa, where he was
plunged into that country's own struggles to build an inclusive society.

Mr. Jain subsequently became a member of the Planning Commission, where
he served from 1989 to 1990.

The last years of his life were spent in documenting some of the
struggles he had been associated with in a book called /Civil
Disobedience/, which will be released on December 13. Mr. Jain also
studied the growth of the Bhoodan movement.

While working on the book, he also put up a courageous fight against
cancer. The cremation will take place at the Lodhi crematorium at 7.30
p.m. on Sunday. — PTI
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