Srinagar: A two-day national seminar on Growth and Development in North-Western Region began at the University of Kashmir on Wednesday.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Khurshid Iqbal Andrabi presided over the inaugural session and emphasized that development and economic growth cannot be attained without ensuring equal opportunity and participation of all.
He said development must be all inclusive so that the economic progress made in the country is reflected in the broader spectrum benefiting the common masses.
The seminar titled Growth and Development in North-Western Region: Issues and Perspectives has been organized by the Universitys Department of Economics and sponsored by the ICSSR.
Prof Andrabi said: It is necessary that equal opportunity is ensured, then only we can reap the benefits of economic growth and development; otherwise we will continue to have huge disparity and income inequality which is not good for the long term progress of the country.
Referring to data presented by several speakers on disparity between different states of North-Western Region, the Vice-Chancellor said: This happens because we still believe development is only an increase in per-capita income when it is a multitude of interrelated socio-cultural and normative relationships. And unless our policies and programs are not designed in tune with the requirements of a diverse population at grassroots, we will not achieve the results and this disparity will continue to haunt us.
In his keynote address, Prof SS Gill, former Director CRRID, Chandigarh said to ensure parity in economic development, it is high time we shift from existing GDP as a criteria for growth, to Human Development Index (HDI) parameter which gives the real picture on ground and fairly a good idea of the overall well-being of citizens, states and that of the country as well.
Earlier presenting a comparative analyses of various states of North-Western region of India including Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, Prof R L Bhat from Central University Jammu said: There is lot of heterogeneity than homogeneity amongst these states of North-Western region of India as far as various macro parameters are concerned.
Head of KUs Economics Department, Prof Effat Yasmin, delineated the aims and objectives of the seminar, organized as part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the department.
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