Embrace globalisation with vigour -- Prof Amartya Sen

Embrace globalisation with vigour -- Prof Amartya Sen
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, FEB 20: Organisers of Sir Dorab Tata memorial lecture had a surprise in store on Tuesday as thousands of Mumbaiites stormed the Tata Theatre to hear Noble laureate in Economics, Prof Amartya Sen in person. They were all there: diplomats, corporate honchos, Members of Parliament, economics students, bureaucrats and even school children.

And they were not disappointed when Prof Sen in his characteristic wit, said he is used to people listening to him sitting on staircases and floor and welcomed the gatecrashers. The trouble began when the 700-seat capacity Tata theatre closed its doors on hundreds of visitors who wanted to hear Bharat Ratna Prof Sen first hand and banged the doors even after the lecture began. Despite repeated pleas by Tata group chairman Ratan Tata to calm down, Mumbaiites took positions in every nook and corner of the hall to hear what the Professor has to say.

``I am delighted to see the enthusiasm of the people to hear me,'' Prof Sen would remark later. Prof Sen was in Mumbai to deliver a lecture on "India and the world". ``Globalisation is neither new nor a folly, but a global movement of ideas, people, technology and goods from one region to others, benefiting the people at large,'' he said.

``Globalisation is evident in the history of the world and India has been an integral part of the globe in the most interactive sense. Even Indian ancient literature has warned that we should not become a frog in the well but expand our horizons,'' Sen said.

``India has been both an importer and exporter of ideas in the world and has been successful in producing a good deal of what the economists call ``value added'' to its identity. ``Be it mathematics, science or even literature,'' Sen said.

``However, an inadequate recognition of this two-way process of exchanging ideas and technology sometimes lead to rather redundant controversies and conflicts,'' said he citing the examples of recent protest in Davos, Washington and Seattle over globalisation.

Prof Sen cautioned that India must be careful in addressing its difficulties arising from the globalisation, by removing the limitations in domestic public policy. The "shameful" neglect of primary education and infrastructure were two important examples of domestic handicap, he said. ``It's shameful that in India we have stressed on higher education like IITs but have failed to provide basic primary education to its people... this has led to wastage of precious human resources,'' he added.

``There were a variety of other issues to be addressed within India for us to be fair to ourselves, and also to flourish in the world economy. The issues that need greater attention are basic health care, land reforms, development of micro-credit and empowering of women,'' he said.

``Indeed, India's placing in the world is just as much determined within the country as it is abroad,'' he said.

To identify the phenomenon of global spread of ideas with an ideological imperialism would be a serious error in a somewhat similar way that any European resistance to eastern influence would have been at the beginning of the last millennium, he said.

Prof Sen said the forces of similar ideological separatism might be strong in India right now, as they were elsewhere, but they militate against not just the global history of the world but also against India's own heritage.

Over thousands of years, global interactions have shaped the progress of the world through trade, travel, migration and the spread of ideas and knowledge and art and culture. ``We have reason enough not to opt out of that process,'' he said.

Laced with praise for Sir Dorab Tata and the contribution of Tata group in Nation building, Prof Sen said global economy can provide global prosperity and people of the world are now not ready to face inequality as in the past.