A two-day national conference was organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Institute of Technology here on March 30 and 31.
The theme of the conference was “Health, public policy and human development: A way forward to address SDGs” which was attended by eminent personalities across India.
The conference was inaugurated by Professor Pulin B Nayak, Delhi School of Economics and former VC of Utkal University Professor Binayak Rath. The patron of the conference Professor Animesh Biswas, Director NIT Rourkela said, “The conference is one of its kinds and will surely address many issues concerning health, public policy and human development”.
A panel discussion was held during the conference on the role of public policy in human development. The key speakers were Prof Barendra K Bhoi, Prof Binayak Rath, and Professor US Mishra, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum.
Professor Bhoi signified the importance and mechanisms of fiscal and monetary policy on the overall process of public policy. Professor Rath pointed that, “It is very necessary to know that 97 per cent of water is salty on earth and only 3 per cent water is pure and pure water is getting polluted day by day leaving just on 1 per cent to be used by the common man”. Professor Mishra said that the public policy should be framed based on people’s needs. Professor Nayak chaired the session and summarised the whole discussion by saying that, “The human development is an evolutionary and continuous process and not a static one”.
A round table discussion on human development in Odisha and SDGs was organised in collaboration with UNICEF Odisha. Various renowned academicians presented papers on issues and challenges related to the theme. Various technical sessions were also held on different topics such as tribal health and human development, mental health, maternal healthcare services, access to healthcare by all, climate change, environmental health and sustainable energy, gender equality and social inclusion, healthcare financing, data challenges in health research and SDGs in Odisha.