The Fifth Annual Retreat of the Foundation for Agrarian Studies (FAS) was held at the Peter’s Park Cottages, Yelagiri, on March 30-31, 2019. The proceedings on the first day began with an hour long presentation by Sandipan Baksi, the Director. He reported on the work of the Foundation in 2018-19 and made suggestions for the work programme for 2019-20. The Director’s report ended with felicitating the three senior most employees of the Foundation, Pinki Ghosh (in absentia), Arindam Das, and J. Jayamary.

This was followed by a presentation by Arindam Das, head of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI), who discussed the work done by his team. Deepak Johnson made a presentation on the online presence of FAS, followed by a report by Divya S. Devadiga on the work by the Administrative department. The report on the Accounts department was presented by Sandipan, on behalf of Pinki Ghosh, the Accounts Coordinator. Riya A. Cherian, the Editorial Coordinator presented a report on the recent publications of the Foundations, particularly the Review of Agrarian Studies.

The next session was dedicated to a focused discussion on the on-going research projects at the Foundation, led by the respective project incharges. This was followed by an almost two hour long  general discussion on all the reports presented during the day. Many critical points were raised during the session, which would go a long way in shaping the work plan for 2018-19. The day ended with a very well curated cultural programme, which included a skit, group and solo singing, and dance performances, poetry recital, and a fine rendition on the Tabla and Guitar.

The next day started early with a game of treasure hunt. The first session for the day began with a critical evaluation by Parvathi Menon of the style of writing in the publications of the Foundation. This was followed by an engaging SWOT session conducted by Noopur Verma, Honorary Consultant, Human Resources, FAS.

In the post lunch session each employee made a presentation on her work over the past year as well as plans for the forthcoming year. This was followed by the vote of thanks.

Special thanks are due to the organising committee for the Fifth Annual Retreat – led by Divya and Tapas Singh Modak, and ably supported by Ritam Dutta, Riya, and Sudha N. – for making it a success.