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The
20th century goes into the history of
mankind as an era of great material
accomplishments when scientific and
technological advances came thick and fast
leading to unprecedented improvement in
human life. But this rosy picture has a
flip side to it. All these accomplishments
have brought an ominous disharmony between
man and nature on the one hand and between
ethical values and prosperity on the
other. The mechanical pursuit of
development without human sensivities has
led to a complex matrix of problems such
as environmental degradation , poverty
amidst plenty cruel disparities among
nations, global terrorism to mention a
few. One witnesses a growing public
cynicism about established institutions
and loss of mutual faith and trust in
society with a chaos- like situation
prevailing every where. And this is not
peculiar to any particular country or
region; this is a world wide phenomena
with no exception.
The
new world order founded on the WTO regime,
driven by the brute force of technology
and fuelled by the market economy has
further aggravated the problem. Terms like
globalization, liberalization, market
economy, democracy and development have
acquired different meanings and
connotations for different people. A
rudderless and confused world is
desperately looking for alternative models
of development that is in harmony with
nature and human values.
India,
with her rich and ancient civilization,
spiritual wisdom, abundance of precious
resources and her capable people can show
the way to the world in this hour of
crisis.
The
Madhya Pradesh government has taken an
initiative of hosting a national level
seminar to discuss an alternative strategy
of sustainable development. Reputed
experts of the country would discuss
alternative development strategies at the
seminar being organized by the R.C.V.P.
Narohna Academy of Administration and
Management here.
The
seminar would be inaugurated by no less a
persons than the President of India, Dr.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who himself is a great
scientist and thinker. He is credited to
have come out with practicable alternative
models of development after delving deep
into the subject of alternative
development paradigm. His book "India
2020- A Vision for the New
Millennium" offers a great vision in
this direction. He is all for material
prosperity with spiritual and mental
development. His views on development are
quite different from the Cartesian
philosophy that laid the foundation for a
mechanistic worldview. This found material
expression in Issac Newton's mathematics
and experiments. In this book Dr. Kalam
remarks "A nation's progress depends
upon how its people think . It is
thoughts, which are transformed into
actions. India has to think as a nation of
a billion people. Let the young minds
blossom - full of thoughts, the thoughts
of prosperity".
Madhya
Pradesh government has worked out and
executed a strategy christened Pancha-j,
to put to optimum use five vital recourses
of people, water, land, forest and animals
for more equitable and decentralized
development with active community
participation. In a way, Pancha-j can be
termed as the Madhya Pradesh model for
sustainable development, conservation of
natural resources, poverty alleviation,
community empowerment and above all
creating adequate opportunities for people
to realize their full potential and to
bequeath a prosperous and developed Madhya
Pradesh to the posterity. The Action
Agenda to be condensed at the
deliberations of the seminar would
complement the Pancha-J strategy of the
state government.
The
President, Dr. Abdul Kalam would
inaugurate the national seminar on
Alternative Strategies for Development on
August 10 at new Vidhan Sabha auditorium.
The Governor, Dr. Balram Jakhar and the
Chief Minister, Sushri Uma Bharti would
also speak on the occasion. The
valedictory session on August 12 would be
graced by the Union Minister for Human
Resources Development, Shri Arjun Singh.
The
three-day national seminar would feature
eight technical sessions in which leading
luminaries would share their views and
make suggestions. On August, 10 the
session on Emerging Development Needs:
Identification and Strategies would be
chaired by noted scholar and former Union
Minister, Shri Arun Shourie. Former Human
Resource Development Minister, Dr. Murli
Manohar Joshi, Dr. V. Kurien , IRMA
Chairman Anand and Dr. Montek Singh
Ahluwalia , deputy chairman of the
Planning Commission of Inda would be the
key speakers. The session on Food
Security: Strategies for Self-Sufficiency
would be chaired by Prof. Madhav Gadgil.
Dr. Devinder Sharma would be the key
speaker.
On
August 11, noted economist, Shri L.C. Jain
would chair the session on Employment
Generation with Special Emphasis on
Non-farm Sector. Dr. S.P. Gupta , Shri
Sandeep Dixit and Dr. C.A. Varghese would
be the key speakers. Shri Vinay Saharsre
Buddhe would chair the session on
Upgrading Rural Technology and Dr. Mahesh
Sharma, Prof. V. Arunachalam and Prof
Madhav Gadgil would be the key speakers.
Dr. Mahesh Sharma wold chair the session
on Role of Local Wisdom and Indigenous
Knowledge in Development to be held on
August 11. Prof. Udipi Srinivasan , SUTRA
, IISc , Banglore and Prof. Anil Gupta of
IIM, Ahmedabad would be the key speakers.
Sustainable development in a global
economy would be the topic of another
session to the chaired by Prof. Ksusumlata
Kedia at which Shri Arun Shourie and Shri
S. Gurumurthy would be the key speakers.
On
August 12 , the
session on Modernization of Agriculture
would be chaired by Prof. Udipi Srinivasan
at which Dr. Sompal and V. Arunachalam
would be the key speakers. The session on
Development and Governance: The Ganchian
Perspective would be chaired by Prof . V.
Arunachalam , at which Shri L.C. Jain and
Prof. Kusumlata Kedia would be the key
speakers. All these sessions would be
followed by open house for floor
interventions.
D.K.
Malviya
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