New Delhi : The Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) organized a National Symposium on Population and Development (online) on 15th December, 2022 under the aegis of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Department. Prof Asheref Illiyan, Head, Department of Economics, JMI welcomed the eminent speakers and participants. He briefly introduced the theme of the symposium.
In his opening remarks Prof. Asheref Illiyan announced that this symposium is the last programme under the banner of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Department and expressed his deep sense of gratitude to Prof. Najma Akthar, Vice Chancellor, JMI and Prof. Nazim Husain Al-Jafri, Registrar, JMI for their unflinching support and guidance towards the smooth organisation of various programmes under it.
Dr. Srinivas Goli, Demographer and Public Health Researcher and Associate Professor at International Institute of Population Studies(IIPS), Mumbai was one of the keynote speakers in the event. He elaborately spoke on the topic ‘World of 8 billion: Focus on indiscernible challenges of mankind. He started his presentation by trying to answer complex questions like, Is earth capacity overshooting? What is the optimum and sustainable population size? How does population influence economic growth? Is the population the reason behind crises like poverty with narratives from academic texts and new world puzzles. He interestingly showcased the position of Asia and India in the case of population and problems likely to be faced due to the surge in population and the distribution of wealth and suggested a few ways forward. He also touched upon the ageing problems and shortage of productive population in various countries and challenges they are facing out of it. He also shed light on the caregiving activities and budget constraints which many counties are likely to face in near future.
Dr. Tanmay Mahapatra, Team Lead, Concurrent Measurement and Learning at CARE India Solutions for Sustainable Development, Patna was another keynote speaker of the event. Taking a case study of Bihar, he demonstrated the “Role of population level evidence in health system strengthening in Bihar (Learning by experience)”. He commenced the talk by explaining the demographic features of Bihar. Further, he explained the focal areas such as neo- natal mortality, maternal mortality, contraceptive use and anaemia during pregnancy etc. and also explained about the strategic focal measures like ensuring implementation and close cooperation with government etc.
Dr. Tanmay showcased the timeline of new born child health programmes from 2011 to 2018 under Integrated Family Health Initiative and Technical Support Unit (TSU) Phase I and II. He emphasised quality of health management, role of public health centres and its facilitation towards the objective of better health. He also shared the success story of neo- natal mortality rate reduction in the state. He concluded his talk by detailed explanations of the action plan, follow ups and corrections and further areas of targets and improvements.
The lecture was followed by a fruitful discussion wherein comments and questions were raised by faculties, research scholars and students. The session was concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Vasim Akram, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Economics, JMI.
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