Minutes of Departmental Seminar on “Structural Reforms, Globalization and Development Experiences of India”
(25/08/2023)
Department of Economics, Damdama College organized a departmental seminar on
“Structural Reforms, Globalization and Development Experiences of India” on 25th
August, 2023. Dr. Alaka Hujuri, was invited to deliver a lecture on the above-mentioned topic.
She is an Associate Professor from the Department of Economics, B.P.C. College, Nagarbera.
A welcome ceremony followed by felicitation for the Invited guest was initiated by Mr.
Rajib Mahanta, HoD, Department of Economics, Damdama College. Mr. Rajib Mahanta then
addressed the audience and talked about the purpose of the meeting and handed over the agenda
to Dr. Suranjan Sarma, Principal, Damdama College. Dr. S. Sarma gives a warm welcome to
the invited guest and requested her to deliver the speech.
The lecture of the invitee was divided into three parts. The initial part of the lecture was
about the conceptual framework of economic development, where she highlighted that
Economic development, traditionally measured by per capita GDP, has been influenced by
changes in production and employment structures, with agriculture's share declining and
manufacturing and tertiary sectors increasing. Policy measures often prioritize industrialization
over agricultural development. Economic development is a broad concept that is challenging
to measure or quantify. Development aims to improve education, health and nutrition, reduce
poverty, create a clean environment, increase opportunity, and promote individual freedom.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) emphasizes that development goes
beyond the expansion of income and wealth, focusing on the welfare of people. Amartya Sen
views development as a tool that empowers individuals to reach their full potential through
freedom of action in economic, social, and family aspects.
She, then talked about development experiences of India during pre and postindependence. She emphasised that India's economy, based on agriculture and handicrafts, was
prosperous before independence. However, low per capita income led to a setback in the 1980s.
The crisis was primarily caused by fiscal imbalance, a fragile BOP, and accelerating inflation.
The result was the 1991 Economic Reforms in India. India was granted 2.2 billion dollars in
1991 under the IMF's Structural Adjustment Facility (SAF), a lending facility for low-income
countries. The IMF provided concessional assistance, conditional on policy change programs.
The government implemented large-scale economic reforms in July 1991, following guidelines
from the IMF and the World Bank.
Lastly the lecture was concluded by the discussions on structural reforms and
globalization. The 1990s 'First Generation Reforms' aimed to open the economy to foreign
producers and investors, focusing on macro-economic stabilization through demand
management and structural adjustments like trade and capital flows reforms, industrial
deregulation, disinvestment, and public enterprises reforms, led by Prime Minister P. V.
Narasimha Rao. Further, Globalisation has led to faster international trade, increased capital
flow, erosion of national sovereignty through international agreements, development of global
financial systems, increased global economy share by multinational corporations, and
increased role of international organizations like WTO, WIPO, and IMF. SAF/SRs have
significant effects on workers, including suppression, ban on strikes, lack of job security, labor
law violations, foreign exchange drain, domestic capital divergence, reduced subsidies, tax
increases, lifted price control, and higher cost of living. The Indian economy has experienced
rapid growth due to reforms, liberalization, and globalization. However, concerns remain about
whether this growth has helped address poverty and inequality issues or improved social
indicators like health and education.
The seminar also involves question answer sessions. The queries and concerns by the
faculties and students were answered by the invited guest. The departmental seminar then
ended with the concluding remarks from the Principal as well as HoD, Department of
Economics. Mr. Rajib Mahanta also offered Vote of thanks to the Principal, Faculties and,
students involved in organizing the event and the invited guest.
