Shillong, March 23: The Department of Economics, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong is hosting the 19th Annual Conference of the North East Economic Association (NEEA) & National Seminar on the 23rd to 24th March, 2018. The two broad.
The themes for the seminar are, Entrepreneurship and Campaigns of Skill India, Start-Up India etc., and Structural Transformation of the North Eastern Economy. The inaugural function was held on the 23rd March, 2018 at11:30 am at the Multi-Use Convention Hall, NEHU, Shillong.
Dr. Shamika Ravi, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and Director of Research and Senior Fellow of Governance Studies Program, at Brookings India and Brookings Institution Washington D.C delivered the keynote address. Prof. S. K. Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, NEHU was the Chief Guest on the occasion. More than 150 delegates and invitees from the region and other part of the country are attending the conference.
In her address, Dr. Shamika Ravi emphasised on the role that universities and research institutions have in contributing to improving government capacity and in generation of good and innovative ideas to address the various development constraints facing the region. Talking about Meghalaya, she highlighted the different challenges facing the state in the area of health and education such as below national average life expectancy and high dropout rates.
Dr. Ravi emphasised on the importance of quality education and health as a way forward for the state and region. Speaking about the new government in the state, Dr. Ravi underlined the need for the government to set out clear policy priorities for the state and involvement of all stakeholders in this exercise. Another area of concern which Dr. Ravi highlighted is the lack of attention to monitoring and evaluation of government programmes and policies which is required to improve public service delivery. While emphasising upon the importance of development of infrastructure in the north east region, she also referred to the advantage that the region has in soft infrastructure which could be leverage for the development of the region.
Besides the 19 technical sessions, the other programmes of the conference include a panel discussion on the theme ‘Infrastructure and Economic Development in North East India with the following panellists: Mr.Ram Muivah, IAS, Secretary NEC; Prof. Amar Yumnam, Manipur University; Prof. M.P. Bezbaruah, Guwahati University and Ms. Patricia Mukhim , Editor, The Shillong Times and to be moderated by Prof. B Panda, Dean, SEMIS, NEHU-Shillong.
There are also three invited lectures to be delivered by: (i) Shri Debashish Mohanty, Executive Vice President, UTI (Mutual Fund) on ‘Capital Market and Economic Development in India; (ii) Shri Yeshi Tsering, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Meghalaya on ‘Challenges to Development in Northeast India’, and (iii) Anirudha Barooah, Regional Head and Chief Manager, NER, EXIM Bank on ‘Promoting and Facilitating India, and Bangladesh Myanmar Sub Regional Cooperation’.
