Onus on emerging economies to speak up for inter-connected

President Ram Nath Kovind today called upon emerging economies, including India, to speak up for an interconnected world with a fair and growing trade, in the wake of some countries turning protectionist.
He also said imaginative policy-making was required to overcome the social and economic inequalities between different sections and regions.
The president was delivering the inaugural address at the centenary conference of the Indian Economic Association at the Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) here.
"We face a situation where many societies that had so far advocated the cause of a liberal trading order are turning protectionist. The onus is on emerging economies such as India to speak up for an inter-connected world where fair and growing trade helps the largest number of people," he said.

"The human society is at a turning point. Many of the realities the world has lived with for the past several decades, especially since the end of the World War II, are giving way. The discipline of economics has not been left untouched by these changes," he said.
On the Indian development experience, the president said while growth was necessary, it was not sufficient.

"Tackling inequalities in our society and overcoming the social and economic inequalities between different sections and regions require imaginative policy-making," he said.
Expressing concern over a significant number of citizens still living in poverty or being very close to poverty line, Kovind said it was vital to address the issue in order to achieve the dream of a "New India".

"They have insufficient access to healthcare, education, housing and civic amenities," he said.
This was particularly true for the traditionally weaker sections of the society such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs), segments of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and women, he added.
"Addressing these issues is necessary in order to achieve the dream of a New India by 2022 when our country commemorates the 75th anniversary of Independence," he said.
Kovind said investment in health and education should be treated as an investment in human capital which was a critical building block for the economy.
"Many issues I mentioned are in the state list of the Indian Constitution," he noted.

Kovind said addressing such issues at the local and the state-level with an appropriate policy mechanism and rollout would drive forward the Indian development experience in an era of cooperative federalism, and particularly after the implementation of the report of the 14th Finance Commission which has transferred more funds to the states.
"There is a lot of responsibility and hope that rests with our various states," the president said.
Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, former RBI governor C Rangarajan, Nobel Laureate and Bangladesh Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, Indian Economic Association (IEA) president Sukhadeo Thorat, ANU Vice Chancellor A Rajendra Prasad and others attended the event.

The president released a special issue of the Indian Economic Journal on the occasion.
Earlier, the president arrived here from Hyderabad and was accorded a warm welcome by the governor, the chief minister and the state ministers at the Vijayawada airport.
The president later flew in a special helicopter to ANU for the IEA conference.
Meanwhile, the president's wife, Savita Kovind, visited the rose show being organised at Swarajya Maidan in Vijayawada and later visited Indrakeeladri, the hill shrine of Goddess Kanaka Durga, the presiding deity of Vijayawada.
AP's tourism and culture minister Bhuma Akhila Priya accompanied her.