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S.R. Raghunathan

Sustaining growth: (From left): Dr Raja J. Chelliah, Chairman Emeritus, Madras School of Economics (MSE); Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu; Dr C. Rangarajan, MP and Chairman of MSE; and Mr D.K. Srivatsava, Director, MSE, at the annual day celebrations of the institute in Chennai on Tuesday. —

Our Bureau

Chennai, Sept. 23 Economic growth and social development are fundamentally not opposed to each other, Rajya Sabha member and Chairman of the Madras School of Economics (MSE), Dr C. Rangarajan, has said.

Delivering the presidential address at the second Annual Day celebrations of MSE, Dr Rangarajan said the objective of economic growth is to raise the quality standards of people and therefore, “I do not see a conflict between economic growth and social development.”

But growth by itself will not generate social development. It is necessary to have a growth rate of 8 to 9 nine per cent per annum for not just one decade but three decades. Then it is possible for the benefits of growth to percolate to every segment of society.

Growing at 3 or 4 per cent for decades will not help, he said. It is only economic growth that would generate the kind of resources to support overall growth.

Though he was confident of such growth rates, he expressed concern over infrastructure, especially in power.

He urged the students passing out to be “well-rounded economists” focusing on the overall development of the country.

Higher education is at crossroads today. Some statistics show that India has lowest percentage of educated population in 15 to 24 years group. Therefore, there is certainly a need for expanding educational facilities, especially at the higher level.

At the same time there are other concerns including people not getting adequate opportunities in tandem with qualification.

Unless there is affirmative action it is not possible to sustain growth, he said.

The IT sector faces constraints in the supply of talent. Therefore, quality coupled with equity and efficiency is vital in education, he said.

MSE would soon get deemed university status, he added. Currently it comes under the purview of Anna University.

Delivering the inaugural address, the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, Mr N. Ram, said economics is relatively neglected, especially in the South, though there is remarkable proliferation of technological institutions.

The four southern States have more than 1,000 engineering colleges, which help create centres of excellence. However, in the area of social sciences the presence was not significant, Mr Ram said.

In this backdrop, the emergence of MSE in a focussed way helped not only to fill the gap but make a clear difference, he said.

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