106th IEA Conference Concludes Dr. Achyuta Samanta Conferred Lifetime Achievement Award
The 106th edition of the Indian Economic Association (IEA) Conference concluded on 29th December, 2023 at KIIT Deemed to be University. Addressing the gathering, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, eminent economist and Former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India emphasized the need for sustained economic growth, pinpointing an annual growth rate of 7.5 percent to 8 percent. Ahluwalia stressed the urgency of consistent growth for 25 years. He underlined the imperative need for growth in numbers and the quality of growth.
Dr G Viswanathan, Chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology and former president, IEA drew attention to critical concerns such as economic disparity, advocating for research comparing India’s progress with developed nations’ progress. He emphasized the need for a concerted focus on education and health, citing the lower gross enrolment ratio (GER) and budget allocation in these sectors compared to other countries.
In his address, Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT and KISS lauded Odisha Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the rapid development of the State. On this occasion, the IEA conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award upon Dr. Samanta for his contribution to the field of education and development of Odisha.
Among others, Dr. Tapan Kumar Shandilya, Associate President of IEA; Prof A D N Bajpai, VC, Atal Bihari Vajpayee University; Dr. Ajit Kumar Sinha, VC, Ranchi University; Prof Dr. S Mahendra Dev, former president of IEA; T N Sahu, VC, Jharkhand State Open University; Prof Kumaresh Singh, former VC, B R A Bihar University; Prof Biswajit Chatterjee, Conference President, IEA; Prof Shyama Roy, VC, Munger University; Dr Devendra Awasti, Vice President of IEA; Prof. J N Mohanty, Registrar, KIIT DU and others also spoke at the concluding session.