TN Governor inaugurates 101st annual conference of IEA

VELLORE: The Centenary Second Conference and the 101st Annual Conference of Indian Economic Association – one of the most prestigious organisations working towards the economic growth of India began at Vellore Institute of Technology.

Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Tamil Nadu, was the Chief Guest and inaugurated the conference. He also released a special souvenir on the occasion and the first copy was received by Dr G Viswanathan, Founder and Chancellor of VIT and President of the Centenary Second Conference. The three-day Conference is being organised by the Department of Commerce of School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT.

Over 1,700 noted economists, academicians, experts in the field, research scholars and young researchers and students are taking part in this conference. Dr Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President of VIT, welcomed the distinguished gathering at the inaugural function held at Anna Auditorium whereas Mahendra Dev, President of IEA, outlined the objectives of the conference.

In his Presidential Address, Dr G Viswanathan, Conference President, said that he was immensely pleased that people from over 22 States of India associated with the field of the economy were taking part in this conference. The participation of this delegation of economists will pave the way for economic growth and development.

Viswanathan further added, "With a population of 136 crores, India's share of the world population was 18 percent, occupying just 2.5 percent of the world's area and having only four percent of the world's total freshwater resources." He feels that India is now at a stage when both land and water resources have to be conserved and protected.

Further, if one has to identify a developed nation, it can be seen by looking at the number of financial resources allotted to education out of its total Gross Domestic Product. In India, only 4 percent of India's GDP was spent on education and the situation had remained mostly unchanged for the past 70 years.

On the occasion, Purohit also released a book Trade-Led Economic Growth which was received by Tanya Sharma and Professor Tapan Kumar Shandilya. Later, the Governor handed over the Second Kautilya award to Professor A Kanagaraj, Founder and Chairman Jaya group of Institution, Professor Brahmanand Academic Excellence award to Dr Swargesh Kumar, NSE award for best thesis in Financial Economics to Dr Pratap Chandra Pati and Lifetime Achievement award to Dr Anil Kumar Thakur, General Secretary and Treasurer, IEA.

In his address, Purohit said that he was happy to be taking part in the 101st Annual Conference of IEA at VIT. He said that for the past 100 years, IEA has rendered tremendous contribution to the country. He said India had the largest and most advanced economy between the 1st and 18th centuries while being economically integrated with the world, with high levels of trade, investment, and migration. Even during the Mughal Empire, India was the world leader in manufacturing, producing 25% of the world's industrial output.

The decades after Independence witnessed the transformation of India into an economic power and the first four decades after independence saw industrialisation focused on self-sufficiency and import substitution. He said the deliberations will go a long way in guiding the formulation of economic policy for the coming years.

Sankar Viswanathan, Vice President, Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr S Narayanan, Dean of School of Social Science and Languages Professor Velmurugan were among others who took part in the inaugural function. Anil Kumar Thakur, General Secretry of IEA, delivered the vote of thanks.