Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya on Monday said India should focus on employment generation and education for the development of the country. True empowerment of people can be achieved only when their income level goes up, he added.
Inaugurating the three-day Odisha Vikash Conclave here, he said the best way to enable people to increase their income is to empower them with quality education.
“The successful countries focused on creating employment for their people and imparting education. We should take it on a mission mode to achieve 100 per cent literacy in next 10 years,” said Panagariya
Citing the instance of Odisha, he said while the contribution of agriculture sector to GSDP was 18-20 per cent, about 56 per cent people are employed in this sector.
“Whereas, industry sector in Odisha does better that other States. The contribution of the sector was 27-28 per cent to GSDP. But, only 11 per cent of the workforce is employed in Odisha. This is a national problem,” he said.
Stating that Odisha made significant progress in poverty reduction in the last few years and achieved higher economic growth rate in recent years, Panagariya said this tempo should be maintained.
Speaking on the occasion, Union petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in order to empower the people the State should think of a sustainable economic model instead of relief centric model.
Relief centric model can bring temporary happiness but it cannot bring out sustainable development, Pradahan added.
State Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak urged the Central Government to allocate adequate funds to ensure addressing several problems of the State.
Social activist Jagadanand presided over the meeting. Nalco CMD Dr Tapan Chand gave vote of thanks.
A set of recommendations would be submitted both to the State and Central Governments with specific suggestions to augment development process of Odisha after the three-day deliberations.