The Government of India’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr Arvind Subramanian said Bihar is amongst the few States in India that can leapfrog in terms of development. Speaking at the Economic Survey Outreach Session here on Friday, he said Bihar is bound to benefit from the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations about the devolution of funds from the divisible pool of taxes. ADRI and IGC India-Bihar jointly organised this programme.
Talking about why it’s not a prudent move for the poorer States to attract financial aid in huge caches, Subramanian said the history of financial and foreign aid is witness to the fact that development and growth cannot occur in such States in such a scenario, and States in order to surge ahead must strengthen their institutions and retain human capital.
The Centre this year is disseminating information on the Economic Survey to a larger audience possible and spread across the country, with the purpose of making more and more people aware of the state of India’s economy, said Subramanian. “Before Bihar, the Centre has conducted ‘Outreach Sessions’ in a few other States,” informed Rabi Ranjan, an Indian Economic Service officer with the Finance Ministry.
Opening the session, Dr Shaibal Gupta, Member-secretary, ADRI, in his welcome remarks said, “This initiative of Dr Subramanian will help us, amongst other things, in fine-tuning the preparation of annual Bihar Economic Survey that the Centre for Economic Policy and Public Finance (CEPPF) has been preparing for the last nine years.” Dr Gupta is the Director of CEPPF — a State Government unit hosted by ADRI. Dr Gupta in his remarks appreciated the academic contributions of Dr Subramanian.