On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups (AIPSG) held a seminar titled “The Indian Constitution at Fifty” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston on October 1, 2000.  

The seminar formally launched the discussion on the theme “The Time is for India” and took up for elaboration the thesis on the Indian Constitution given by Hardial Bains three years ago on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of independence.  This thesis is contained in a paper titled “The Last Reform- Breaking with the Past”, which was presented in Delhi at a public meeting of the Committee for People’s Empowerment (since then Lok Raj Sangathan) on August 15, 1997, shortly before the author passed away. 

At the MIT seminar, Mr.J.Singh read out excerpts of the paper that dealt with its core thesis - that India needs a renewal of all its institutions so that it can make a final break with the colonial legacy.  Following this, different aspects of the paper were discussed and elaborated by Sandra Smith of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) along with representatives of the AIPSG and IPSG, Boston.  A broad range of subjects were touched upon in the discussion and audience participation that followed, including the issues of stability, decentralization, draconian laws, the judiciary, constitutional models, the “divide and rule” policy and the compulsions behind the current Constitution Review. 

According to the AIPSG, the 21st century is poised to find India and South Asia at the centre-stage of world developments.  The people of India and South Asia have a big stake in determining whether the new century will be a century of wars or a century of progress.  In order that the future is not left to chance, the people of the region have to set their own program for opening the door to progress.

 The AIPSG is in the midst of working out its program to sum up the experience of the political and economic system that was established by British colonialism and adopted by the present constitution. The aim of this program is to go into the working of the political and economic system and draw out the content of the program for democratic renewal. Renewal, for one thing, does not mean a covert or overt 
 refurbishing of the past to make the past continue into the future in new forms; renewal refers to a fresh beginning by consciously discarding what does not work for the people. 

 It is a fact that it is not just in India where the system of state, government, polity, rights, and economy established along the lines of 19th and 20th century European institutions do not work for the people.  They also do not work anywhere else, including the countries where they were born. This means that renewal is the demand of the time on the world scale. Rulers everywhere are doing everything possible to keep renewal out of the agenda by spreading disinformation, using violence and depoliticizing people in general. According to the AIPSG, the decision to launch this initiative is dictated by the need to make people the decision makers of society.