RONO HILLS, 1 Nov: Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) Vice Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha released a book and four working papers in the university’s economics department here on Tuesday.
The book, titled Memoirs of a Half-Baked Economist, authored by RGU Pro-VC Prof Amitava Mitra, is a biography of himself, “which throws light on the author’s trajectory in life, from being born in a middle-class family to his educational and professional attainments,” the RGU informed in a release.
Prof Mitra superannuated on 31 October, 2022, after serving in Arunachal Pradesh for 40 years.
Prof Kushwaha thanked Prof Mitra “for his immense contribution both in the field of academia and in administration,” and highlighted Prof Mitra’s “enormous contribution to the building of the academic ecosystem in the Northeastern region as a whole and Arunachal Pradesh in particular.”
Prof Kushwaha also released four working papers published by the economics department’s Centre for Development Studies (CDS). The working papers released by the VC were ‘Commercialisation of Agriculture in Arunachal Pradesh’ by Dr Lijum Nochi; ‘Estimating the Economic Impact of Tourism on a Mountain Tourist Spot: A Study of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh’ by Dr Ashi Lama; ‘The Changing Context of Women’s Work in Rural India: A Study on Arunachal Pradesh’ by Vandana Upadhyay; and ‘Functioning of Agricultural Labour Market in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam’ by Anup Kumar Das.
The CDS has so far published 11 working papers on various issues confronting Northeast India. The working papers were based on the research projects carried out by the faculty members of the economics department. The projects were funded by the CDS.
The VC congratulated the CDS and the authors “for bringing out the research output in the form of working papers,” and advised the department to “create wider publicity of the research output and dissemination of knowledge.”
He also advised the department to “formulate a five-year plan of the activities of the CDS and come out with policy documents by pooling various micro studies which can be used by the policymakers in formulating appropriate policy for the economic development of the state.”
Prof Mitra expressed appreciation for the CDS for bringing out the working papers, and advised the economics department to “publish future research outcomes as policy papers which can be used by the government in formulating policies for the overall socioeconomic development of the state.”
Prof Vandana Upadhyay, who is the Economics HoD, also spoke.
The function was attended by faculty members, scholars and postgraduate students of the university.
