T he tenth edition of the Madurai Symposium, a biennial event that lays focus on development issues, was held at the headquarters of the DHAN Foundation in Madurai in the month of October. The tone for the 2021 theme, Community Swaraj, was set by speakers at the inaugural session of the five-day event.

Madurai Symposium 2021 brought several development stakeholders together to take stock of the Community Swaraj in the national agenda of Inclusive growth and development. The contributions of the communities individually and collectively have been monumental in charting the course of development in the country and there have been many anonymous and unsung illuminating icons of communities who gave direction to the course of development since independence. It is a matter of gratification that the nation has been increasingly recognizing such communities.

This augurs well for the community-led development and nation-building and achieving the goal of Community Swaraj. The host of development programs run by stakeholders reinforce the participation and ownership of the community and brought to fore several dimensions and aspects of Community Swaraj.