‘Integrating The North East India With Asean Economy: Myth Or Reality’
Date: Thu May 09, 2013 - Thu May 09, 2013
Location: Asian Confluence Centre, Shillong , Hosts: Asian Confluence
Location: Asian Confluence Centre, Shillong , Hosts: Asian Confluence
Dr. Bibek Debroy, a noted economist and faculty at Centre for Policy Research (New Delhi) was invited by the Government of Meghalaya to address a select audience at the Asian Confluence, Laitumkhrah on Thursday.
Dr. Debroy spoke extensively about India’s growth story and reflected upon various schemes like MNREGA. He said if India’s economy was in order, politically engineered schemes like MNREGA would not have been required to alleviate poverty. He deliberated on two key themes: India’s growth story and integrating the North East with East Asia. “States which were slack have registered rapid growth after the first decade of economic reforms. This also results in grave income inequalities,” Debroy said. He suggested that Nandan Nilekani’s AADHAR card will solve all problems relating to the actual identification of the poor in order to transfer subsidies. He added that “if the poor are not identified through a suitably defined criteria they will never benefit from the government”.
Drawing parallels with South India and its integration with Sri Lanka, Dr Debroy suggested that Meghalaya could register rapid growth in the short term if its economy is integrated with that of East Asian countries. Additionally Meghalaya needs to identify its growth engine whether it is “manufacturing, agriculture, educational services or tourism that could trigger the Big Bang growth for Meghalaya’s economy”.
Later at an interactive session, Dr Debroy put forward his views on the subsidies provided to the poor stating that “no one who is in the working age group should be given subsidies. If at all anyone is it to be subsidised then it should be children and poor women in female headed households.”
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