Growth with equity sought

India's economic growth will almost be confined to mega cities if the governments at the state and central level did not come out with proactive policies to constitute viable centres of economic growth in different parts of the country, according Roger Noll, a professor at the Stanford Center for International Development (SCID).

Speaking at the inaugural session of a symposium on "Growth with Equity: Policies for Andhra Pradesh," Roger Noll said that each state should establish facilities for development of business enterprises in more than one city.

The two-day symposium is being jointly held here by Satyam Computer Services Limited and SCID. The objective of the seminar is to examine whether Andhra Pradesh could succeed in achieving high level of economic growth while simultaneously ensuring that the benefits of growth were available to all, including rural population.

Giving a "hi-tech perspective" on development, Keshav Prasad, general manager (global development) of Applied Materials, said that the government, in partnership with the private sector, should step up investments in education, technology and infrastructure sectors.

He said that if India had to compete with China in the area of high skill manufacturing, there should be an improvement in quality of technical education and quality and quantity of research. This apart, there should be renewed focus on skills needed for manufacturing.

Delivering the keynote address, state principal secretary to panchayat raj and rural development, M Samuel, said that devolution of powers to panchayat raj institutions to ensure growth with equity was expected to be completed in a couple of months.