In 1966, the Indian Chamber of Commerce set up the Ladies Study Group (LSG), in order to create a platform that encourages women to mobilize their talents and help them participate in issues related to social development. Ms Padmaja Naidu, the then Governor of West Bengal, launched the Organisation. LSG started as an experiment, became an innovation and is now an established presence. LSGโs objectives are to spread awareness through interactions and analyses, understand the ramifications of national issues, be involved in devising and carrying out action plans for improving the quality of life in our society, open up opportunities for expression, and felicitate endeavours towards excellence. LSG has helped stimulate consciousness in its members. Programmes on empowerment of women, cultural activities and interaction with the corporate sector have led to social awareness and professional and literary development. It has also undertaken social welfare projects for the upliftment of the underprivileged. Indeed, the world has been LSGโs oyster. Political bigwigs like Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Tara Ali Beg, Madhav Rao Schindia, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Omar Abdullah, Shiela Dixit, Maneka Gandhi and many others have shared their views with LSG members. Celebrities, media personalities and entrepreneurs like the Bachchans, Nargis and Sunil Dutt, Shirley McLaine, Cliff Richards, Dev Anand, Maharani Gayatri Devi, Shiv Khera, Shubha Mudgal , Malika Sarabhai, Kushwant Singh, Mark Tully, Dr Pronoy Roy, M J Abbar, Barkha Dutt, Dominique Lapierre, artists Paritosh Sen, M F Hussain, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Edmund Hillary, Satyajit Ray, R.K. Lakshman, Shobhaa De, Yash Chopra, Shabana Azmi, Mira Nair, Dr Kiran Bedi, Russi Mody, J R D Tata, Mr. Kurien, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Sunil Mittal, Dr Mosaraf Ali, Rahul Bose, and a host of other socially conscious personalities have graced LSGโs events. This list of eminent individuals is ever growing. Every event, over the decades, has been a source of knowledge and learning. As LSG looks to the future, its focus is to increase and diversify its activities, ranging from developing entrepreneurial awareness and social consciousness, to make a positive difference to the society at large.
