Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

24-January-2012 18:53 IST

Lok Sabha Speaker Emphasises on the need to balance growth with Equity and inclusiveness; Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Indian Economic Service Concluded

The Speaker of Lok Sabha, Ms. Meira Kumar has said that the key policy challenge was that poor and downtrodden should partake gains of globalisation and economic growth. She said that we must bridge the wide gap between existing social infrastructure and aspirations of the masses. She was delivering the Keynote Address at the finale of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Indian Economic Service (IES) held here today. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha was the Chief Guest on the occasion. She said while the economy has taken rapid strides in growth terms, our position in terms of Human Development Index (HDI) still stands at 134th rank in the World, so this is our one of the major challenges. She expressed the hope that we need real time policy coordination for just, fair and sustainable pattern of growth and appreciated the Indian Economic Service (IES) for their diligence and dedication in formulating policies and public development programmes.

In his opening remarks, Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Kaushik Basu recalled the events that were held as a part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the IES so far and indicated that two outstanding books were to be released that characterised two important qualities – remarkable intelligence and goodness.

Shri R.Gopalan, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance recalled that in a fast changing economic environment, day-to-day monitoring of the events is important for informing policy decisions and indicated the key role of the IES played in this regard. He stated that the IES officers should treat learning as a never ending process, which is a fulfilling experience in itself.

Shri Sumit Bose, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance enumerated the challenges that we face in the current economic scenario and opined that there was a great requirement for economic analysis and planning at the State level as well.

Today’s events were marked by distinguished lectures by Shri Nitin Desai, Honorary Professor, ICRIER and Ms. Usha Thorat, Director, CAFRAL and the release of two books “on the Turnpike: Indian Economy since 1947 and Indian Economic Service at 50” and “A Critical Decade – Policies for India’s Development”. The first publication was authored by Shri TCA Srinivasa Raghavan of Hindu Business Line and brings artistic flavour both contemporary and classical, tracking the economic events gone by and the progress in the Indian Economic Service seeking to intertwine the two. The second publication is a collection of articles on the development policies authored by the officers of Indian Economic Service and edited by Shri Rajeev Malhotra, Economic Adviser in the office of Union Finance Minister. This book is a compendium of articles/essays on the themes of urgent concern to India as it consolidates its development momentum in the current decade and aspires to join the ranks of developed nations in the not too distant future. The volume seeks to inform the political and decision making process on some of the important recent developments and the thinking on creating a more effective policy response to address them. At the same time, it seeks to disseminate to the larger public the achievements, failures and the prospects that the Indian economy faces during this critical phase in its development.

Later, the Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Meira Kumar gave away prizes to the winners of the essay completion which was also held as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of IES.

The Indian Economic Service (IES) is celebrating its 50 years in 2011-12 and today’s event marked the culmination of the events. The celebrations began on August 29, 2011 with inauguration by the Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee and speeches by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Dr. D. Subba Rao, Governor, RBI. This was followed-up by the distinguished lectures by Dr. Bima Jalan, former Governor, RBI and Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) on September 29, 2011. A series of other events like the release of the Calendar (Hand sketched with artist’s impression of Keynes and other Nobel laureates), Essay competition, launch of knowledge portal Arthapedia and launch of IES website were also held to mark the celebrations.

DSM/SS/GN

Equitable growth emphasized; calls for real-time policy coordination and strengthened economic analysis to inform public programs. Priority on balancing economic growth with equity and inclusiveness is emphasised, identifying the principal policy challenge as ensuring the poor and marginalised share the gains of globalisation and growth. The address calls for real-time policy coordination, sustained economic analysis and planning to produce just, fair and sustainable growth and recognises the Indian Economic Service for its role in formulating policies and providing day-to-day monitoring to inform policy decisions.