‘Greater technology use and education will pave India’s path to higher growth’

It was a packed audience that attended the lecture titled ‘Fault Lines: India in the World Economy.’ Clearly, there is great public interest in such subjects, judging from the size of the audience.

The lecture was organised by the New India Foundation.

Perhaps the crowds were lured by the presence of star intellectuals. The lecture was based on the premises of Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, the latest book authored by Raghuram G Rajan, who serves as Eric J Gleacher distinguished service professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in the US. He was also, formerly, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. Rajan was among the few to predict the global economic meltdown of 2008-09.

Charting out a course that was high on optimism, Rajan said, “The Indian economy will grow, as a greater share of workers enters the labour force. India needs to improve productivity in each sector.” The audience at the Satish Dhawan auditorium in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) listened keenly, and asked the professor for clarifications on and elaboration of some his arguments at the end of the lecture. What would steer India’s growth? “Use of technology and emphasis on education will help India’s growth,” the professor said.

Among the earnest young listeners were also other renowned figures. Infosys chief mentor NR Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), historian Ramachandra Guha, and the pioneer of low-cost air travel, Capt GR Gopinath, were present as members of the audience.