RONO HILLS, 14 Dec: The 22nd annual conference of the North Eastern Economic Association (NEEA) organized by the Centre for Development Studies, department of economics, Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) began here on Tuesday.
In the two-day conference, topics like migration, development, pandemic and the economy will be discussed and around 120 research papers will be presented by the scholars from different universities and colleges of the country as well as abroad.
Speaking at the inaugural day, RGU Vice-Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha urged the scholars to go in depth to understand the causes of migration and its impact on society and the economy. He stated that around 15 crore people migrated during the pandemic period as there had been huge reverse migration. He opined that the migration from rural areas to urban areas is inevitable, leading to an aging population in the villages for whom proper care and social security measures are needed.
He expressed concern over the phenomenon of flight of human capital from the country to other countries of the world for better education and employment opportunities. He expressed concern over loss of economic opportunities due to inability to adapt to technological changes.
“We need to understand the dynamics of technological change and monitor technology to protect our industries from foreign competition,” he added.
Earlier, RGU HoD economics Prof Vandana Upadhyay shared a message from CM Pema Khandu, wherein he stated that the NE region has huge natural resources and conducive agro-climatic conditions for horticulture development but the region still lags behind other regions of the country. He hoped that the two-day deliberation would come out with strategies to cope with the effect of the pandemic.
NEEA president Prof Homeswar Goswami in his address stressed the importance of merit goods and social sector investment for enhancing the quality of human life and economic development. He opined that “access to education, health, nutrition and sanitation is the basic and fundamental rights of the people and so the state must provide these goods and services for the well-being of the people and enhance the level of development.”
He stated that higher public investment in the social sector is needed for faster economic development of the region. He also raised concern for the low level of social sector development in the region and urged the scholars to carry out research in order to understand the various dimensions of social sector in the north eastern region.
The conference was also attended by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Prof Deepak Kr Mishra, Indira Gandhi Institute of Research and Development, Mumbai Vice-Chancellor and Director Prof S Mahendra Dev and lead economist, World Bank Prof Dilip Ratha.
