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Economic students told not to fudge

— PHOTO: H. Vibhu

NEED FOR dedicated involvement: Planning Board Vice - Chairman Prabhat Patnaik, arrives at St. Teresa’s College on Monday to inaugurate a function to mark the Sapthathi celebrations of the Economics Department at the college.

KOCHI: Vice-Chairman of the Planning Board Prabhat Patnaik has called upon students of economics and aspiring economists to speak the truth and to look at everything critically.

“Economists should not fudge,” Mr. Patnaik told students and teachers attending a function organised to mark the Sapthathi celebrations of the Economics Department of St. Theresa’s College.

He said this re-dedication to the cause of the ordinary people was needed because even economists appeared to have lost sight of the fundamentals. People were being swayed by the ‘India Shining’ campaign while on the ground, high growth rate was not co-terminus with higher employment rates and faster reduction in poverty, said Mr. Patnaik.

The celebration of the high growth rate, he said, reminded him of the age of mercantilism when all that mattered was the power of a nation driven by the urge to accumulate wealth.

There was an obsession today with India becoming a powerful country while what was needed was to ensure that ordinary people had better living conditions.

Over the last 60 years, India had performed poorly in poverty reduction. This, however, remained hidden. The percentage of the rural population in the country in poverty was 87 per cent during the 2004-05. The percentage of the rural poor was much lower at 73 per cent during 1973-74. Here poverty was taken to mean an intake of less than 2,400 calories per person per day. Even Ethiopia had less of malnutrition than India, he said.

The urban-rural divide had been accentuated and agriculture and peasantry were under severe stress.

Level of unemployment was higher than before as higher growth rate failed to absorb the reserve labour force, he said.

Opening up of the Indian economy had resulted in changes, adversely affecting agriculture. Appreciation of the rupee had also impacted agriculture which was already reeling under withdrawal of subsidies.

Mr. Patnaik said his endeavour would be to keep the ‘Kerala model’ of development alive.

The ‘Kerala model’ of development flourished when Kerala economy stagnated. It was under severe duress at a time when growth rate had increased significantly, said Mr. Patnaik.

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