[Asked if the rising intolerance impacted India’s onward economic march, Prof Dreze said: “Tolerance is a value in its own right, we don’t have to justify it by arguing that it has economic returns. Still, I think that Raghuram Rajan had a point when he said that open debate and enquiry foster economic progress. This is not primarily because investors are put off by intolerance - investors care about profits, not communal harmony and that sort of thing. It is because economic progress depends on human creativity, innovation and initiative, all of which benefit from freedom of thought and expression. All this, of course, is a little speculative, and that’s another reason for valuing tolerance for its own sake rather than as an economic asset”. (Excerpted from, and highlighted in, the report at sl. no. II below.)]
I/II. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151107/jsp/nation/story_51949.jsp Dreze gets a call in train New Delhi, Nov. 6 (PTI): Economist Jean Dreze, ex-member of the erstwhile National Advisory Council led by Sonia Gandhi, was dropped from the list of speakers at the Delhi Economics Conclave, organised today by the Union finance ministry and inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Jean Dreze Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, who had sent the invitation to Dreze, said its cancellation had nothing to do with Dreze's "views" and that the economist was welcome to attend the conference. But Dreze, a co-author of several books with Amartya Sen, said he had been told he "would not even be allowed to attend". Twitter bristled with indignation at the treatment of Dreze. The controversy comes amid a debate on the growing intolerance to dissent being shown by the Sangh parivar and its allies. ***In an email to PTI, Dreze said he had been informed of his name being dropped from the panel of speakers two days ago. "I am deeply disappointed, and also concerned that the conclave has turned into a mutual appreciation society with everyone on the same side," he said.*** [Emphasis added.] ***"On the train to Delhi (two days ago), I received a call from a functionary from the ministry of finance who explained, with some embarrassment, that I had been dropped from the programme and would not even be allowed to attend. No reason was given."*** [Emphasis added.] Dreze has had the speech he had prepared uploaded on a news portal. He said that since he had been denied entry to the conclave, he was sharing his views with the public. Subramanian blamed the cancellation of the invite on "last-minute adjustments" to the event schedule. "As soon as we had decided, we informed Jean Dreze about it. (I) just want to make clear, this has nothing to do with (Dreze's) views," he said. Subramanian cited how "the finance minister (Arun Jaitley) himself personally called the Kerala chief minister" - Congress politician Oommen Chandy, with whom Jaitley would have differed on many matters - to invite him to the event. Dreze was to speak on "political economy and states' perspectives and preparedness". His uploaded speech pointed to the pitfalls of the government's push for the so-called JAM trinity as a foundation for social policy. "JAM" is acronym for Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile - which are together meant to enhance direct transfers of welfare cash to beneficiaries' bank accounts, weeding out middlemen. ***Dreze argued that the JAM infrastructure was not in place and was unlikely to be ready anytime soon. He also opposed the idea in principle. He cited the failure of "recent experiments with high-tech cash transfers in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Puducherry and elsewhere", and the disruption caused by a hasty, top-down transition to bank payments of rural job scheme wages.*** [Emphasis added.] II. http://www.businessworld.in/economy-india/economist-jean-dreze-dropped-speakers-list-government-conference Economist Jean Dreze Dropped From Speakers List At Government Conference In a surprising turn of events, renowned academic and activist-economist Prof Jean Dreze was asked to stay away from the Delhi Economics Conclave 2015 after being invited to the event by none other than Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian. The conclave was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ministers of the Union Cabinet and Chief Ministers like N Chandrababu Naidu and Raman Singh. Prof Dreze was initially asked to address a session on “Political Economy & States’ Perspectives and Preparedness”. He was sent an invite by Subramanian on September 22. “This is the invitation I received and accepted some time ago. On the train to Delhi, two days ago, I received a call from a functionary from the Ministry of Finance who explained, with some embarrassment, that I had been dropped from the programme and would not even be allowed to attend. No reason was given. I am sure that this was not the Chief Economic Advisor’s doing - we are on good terms and I don’t think that he would be afraid to hear my views even if he disagrees with them. Needless to say I am disappointed, and also concerned that the Conclave has turned into a mutual appreciation society with everyone on the same side,” Prof Dreze told BW Businessworld. Prof Dreze is a known champion of issues like food security, and right to information. He is a former member of the UPA Government’s National Advisory Council, and many of his views would be found to be unpalatable by the present Narendra Modi government. Prof Dreze has, however, quite appreciated the food security programme in BJP-ruled state of Chattisgarh. While none from the government was ready to speak on this faux pas, questions were raised if this was yet another sign of rising intolerance “of the other view” in the country. ***Asked if the rising intolerance impacted India’s onward economic march, Prof Dreze said: “Tolerance is a value in its own right, we don’t have to justify it by arguing that it has economic returns. Still, I think that Raghuram Rajan had a point when he said that open debate and enquiry foster economic progress. This is not primarily because investors are put off by intolerance - investors care about profits, not communal harmony and that sort of thing. It is because economic progress depends on human creativity, innovation and initiative, all of which benefit from freedom of thought and expression. All this, of course, is a little speculative, and that’s another reason for valuing tolerance for its own sake rather than as an economic asset”.*** [Emphasis added.] Asked to compare the economic thrusts of the Modi government and the Manmohan Singh government, Prof Dreze said: “I don’t see much difference in their economic policies. This is not surprising since the interests behind these policies remain much the same. I do see some difference in the field of social policy. The UPA government accepted, by and large, that social policy is a shared responsibility of the central and state governments. The NDA government seems inclined to palm off social policy to the states”. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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