“A multipronged approach needed for India’s all-round development”: Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran
GoI Chief Economic Advisor leads plenary session on ‘Challenges in Generating High Employment in the Era of Rapid Technology Development’ at CPP Conference on Public Policy & Management
28 August, 2024, Bengaluru: “In order to boost employment in India, both short- and long-term solutions are necessary as well as a focus on both manufacturing and services sectors. As a country, we cannot make this trade-off – one cannot be chosen over the other. Moreover, academia and industry need to work hand-in-hand to ensure that the lessons imparted by the educationists are aligned to the needs of the industry. Learning outcomes ought to be improved through skilling, including vocational and soft skills, and more”, observed Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, during a talk at IIM Bangalore, earlier today.
Dr. Nageswaran led the plenary session on, ‘Challenges in Generating High Employment in the Era of Rapid Technology Development’, on Day Two of the XIX International Conference on Public Policy & Management, being hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) at IIM Bangalore from 27 to 29 August 2024. The session was moderated by Prof. Manaswini Bhalla, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management and PGP in Business Analytics, and faculty of the Economics area of IIMB.
The CPP conference on Public Policy & Management is an interdisciplinary conference, which draws scholars representing diverse perspectives on public policy issues and provides a forum for showcasing the latest developments in policy research and practice. The themes for the 2024 conference include: Emerging Technologies and Policy Implications; Policies on Climate Change and Sustainability in Industry and Agriculture; Policy Challenges in Gig and Platform Economy, and Innovations in Public Policy.
A roadmap to boost employment
Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran’s talk provided an outline of India’s growth plan and prospects. Regarding the role of technology in creating a huge impact on the job market, he shared that it was too early to decide how fast and how far the impact would be, whether positive or negative. “There are sectors like mental health, counselling, tourism, medical services, education, etc., where human presence is needed, therefore skills of the heart become vital. In any country and especially in India, we need carpenters, masons, painters, as well as high-end services from geologists, biologists, etc. We should not rule out the importance of human touch, or any skill arena.”
“Another focus area should be ensuring that we keep in good physical and mental health. By doing that, we can stay fit and employable in multiple ways. Loss of self-esteem or self-worth can be prevented as well.” His talk also covered various government initiatives for job creation.
Prof. Manaswini Bhalla summed up the talk stating that India’s growth plan required a multipronged approach, unemployment issues needed to be looked into in different ways where both short- and long-term measures have to be adopted, and all stakeholders needed to join hands for all-round development.
Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran’s talk was followed by a Q&A session, during which he highlighted the importance of striking the right balance between technology and labor, drive and effort, which he added, may also be influenced by external factors. “There is a limit when it comes to policy outcomes. As policy makers, we need to focus on things within our ambit. There is a huge element of luck as well.”
Responding to a query from Prof. Anil B Suraj, Chairperson, N.S. Ramaswamy Pre-doctoral Fellowship as well as the Committee on Diversity & Inclusion and faculty of Public Policy at IIMB regarding Government incorporating data related analysis and decision making, Dr. Nageswaran said that there were ample opportunities to use data for policy making. “The Government is using data extensively, working on updating databases, on the way incorporating recent advances in data collection and analysis.”
The conference so far and what is in store
The 19th CPP conference on Public Policy & Management kicked off with the pre-conference Prof. M. R. Krishnamurthy Memorial Lecture on 26 August on, ‘Understanding and Harnessing Linkages between Sustainable Transport and Livability for Building Brand Bengaluru’, led by Prof. Ashish Verma, Transportation Systems Engineering, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. On the same day, Prof. Arpit Shah, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB, led a pre-conference workshop on, ‘Research Using Spatial Data’.
Day One of the conference featured the inaugural address on, ‘Reaping India's Demographic Dividend’, delivered by Mr. Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog. Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Executive Director, World Bank, led the plenary session on, ‘Public Policy: The Challenges of Implementation and Approaches to Address Them’.
The conference will conclude on 29 August with Prof. David Van Slyke, Dean of Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, leading the plenary session on, ‘Partnership and Relational Contracting: Rethinking the Governance of Innovation’. S. Mahendra Dev, Editor, Economic and Political Weekly, will deliver the valedictory address on, ‘Future of India: Challenges and Policies for Growth, Inclusion and Sustainability’.
For registration and other details of this year’s conference, please visit: https://www.iimb.ac.in/CPP-XIX-2024/
To register for individual sessions, please click: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
For a detailed schedule of the conference, please click here.
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