Southern States
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Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram
'Adopt pragmatic approach to globalisation'
By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 28. The Governor, Sukhdev Singh Kang, has stressed the need for developing nations to adopt a pragmatic approach to globalisation instead of trying to resist it.
Delivering the inaugural address at the 25th Indian Social Science Congress here today, he said ideological opposition should not impose restrictions on taking advantage of the positive aspects of globalisation.
Mr. Kang said developing nations like India could not afford to turn a blind eye to globalisation. ``We cannot ignore or fight it. We must study and analyse it, understand the pitfalls and try to exploit the opportunities for economic growth,'' he said.
The Governor said the concept of globalisation was based on the free movement of resources between the developed and developing nations. He noted that there were covert and overt restrictions impeding the movement of people and services from the Third World to the developed nations and information and technology in the reverse direction.
Mr. Kang cited the example of China to illustrate the utilisation of globalisation for economic growth. He said China had opened up its economy in 1978 without any ideological inhibitions, paving the way for economic progress. ``India, however, has been clinging to the past,'' he said.
Mr. Kang said the failure in planning was responsible for many problems faced by the country in various sectors. In the scramble to set up big industries, agriculture and small-scale industries were neglected.
While the over-emphasis on university education had weakened the primary education sector, the neglect of the agricultural sector resulted in slow growth. The emphasis on agricultural technology came too late. Unscientific watershed management, agricultural practices and shrinking landholdings have combined to create problems in food security.
The Governor said starvation deaths like the ones in Orissa were caused not by scarcity but because the people did not possess purchasing power. He said the slump in price of cash crops was a direct impact of globalisation.
The vice-president of the Indian Academy of Social Sciences, A.K. Therian, presided over the inaugural function. The general secretary of the academy, N.V. Chaubey, the Kerala University Vice-Chancellor, B. Ekbal, the Syndicate member, Koliyakode Krishnan Nair, and B. Bhaskaran Nair also addressed the meeting.
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