NEEA conference: Critical role of information stressed
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 14 2020: Stressing on the critical role of information and data in today's society, Manipur University Administrator Jarnail Singh has exhorted all those concerned to exploit the information and data from conferences and seminars for efficient policy making.

Speaking as the chief guest during the inaugural session of the two days 21st Annual Conference of North Eastern Economic Association (NEEA) held under the theme "Sustainable Development Goals" at Manipur University Centenary Hall today, Jarnail Singh said that all the matters discussed and the conclusions reached during conferences should be analysed and shared with Governments.

"Governments should use these information and data while they make policies.

The findings must not remain only in papers and end up in university campuses", he added.

NEEA conference: Critical role of information stressed

Stressing on the importance of economics and its dynamics in the society, he said that macro and micro economics, finance and accounting, quantitative techniques in policy analysis and decision making, are important aspects of economics in public administration.

He asserted that a person having adequate knowledge of economics can make fast decisions which will be good for the society and public welfare, apart from adding lot of values to the said decisions.

The MU Administrator further observed that lack of knowledge concerning economics in decision making in a Government system, will only lead to clumsy and inefficient administration.

Informing that the Indo-Myanmar (Manipur) trade has not increased and has stagnated, Jarnail Singh narrated that when he was the Chief Secretary of Manipur from 2004 to 2008, he found that the trade value remained at Rs 4 and 5 crore.

Opining that the huge barrier in the Indo-Myanmar trade is the barrier of currency values and not a physical barrier, he said that the Myanmar currency was fixed arbitrarily and overvalued.

Someone who has good knowledge of economics can immediately make out the disadvantage, he explained.

On the other hand, delivering presidential speech, NEEA president, Downtown University Professor Homeswar Goswami, noted that NEEA has been focusing on lots of North East issues, including Look East/Act East Policy, during its conferences.

He further stressed on how a population can be a component of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a far sighted vision for the future generations.

Saying that development cannot be initiated at the cost of the future generations, the Professor said that this aspect is an integral part of sustainable development.

Population is such an important issue in the system for development and it contributes a lot to the growth process.

Population issue has been a topic of debate for a long time with many trying to answer how population can help in economic development, he said.

Saying that population size and economic development are related, Homeswar Goswami said that whatever the pace of development achieved, will be all wasted if the population is not checked.

The function organized by the Department of Economics, Manipur University, was also attended by Bodoland University Vice Chancellor Professor L Ladu Singh, Manipur Technical University Professor N Mohendro Singh and Professor Ksh Jhaljit Singh.

Apart from the release of a souvenir, many academicians and experts also presented papers on various topics during the technical session which was held later.