Speakers: Prof. Surajit Mazumdar, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. Partha Sen, former Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics; Prof. Farzana Afridi, Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute and Visiting Senior Fellow, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore (joins from Singapore); Prof. Vikas Rawal, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Dr Zakaria Siddiqui, Visiting Fellow, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram (joins from Canberra)

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies and Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Working Group on Alternative Strategies

Is there any reasonable prospect of the Covid pandemic marking a transition from industrial stagnation to industrial revival? Post-Covid the bottom end of the income distribution is struggling. What is the macroeconomic policy framework? In this is there a role for pro-poor growth? Has the allocation for public health and public education increased? What is the state of employment in India? Is India facing a crisis in its labour market? The agricultural sector continues to remain in a neglected catastrophic mess: agriculture’s share in India’s economy is less than 15% but two-thirds of India’s families depend on rural incomes and the majority of India’s poor live in rural areas. Is chronic hunger widespread in India? Do statistics on hunger and food insecurity correctly capture the Indian reality? Why do Indian children continue to suffer from malnutrition? What is the evidence from National Family Health Survey-5?

(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies)