Education, skills important for development of Muslims: Shariff

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The 4th Dr KR Narayanan Memorial lecture, organized by the Dr.  K.R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia was delivered on March 16 by Dr.  Abusaleh Shariff, chief economist of National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), on the theme: “Inclusive development paradigm for India: Modified Human development framework.” The programme was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Najeeb Jung.

Focusing his attention on the lack of durable policy to address the socio-economic disparity, Abusaleh Shariff said: “It is a challenge for the Government of India to provide level-playing fields for the diverse masses of people.”  He substantiated his point of view with data, including that of 64th round NSSO, and discounted the dimensions used in UN’s HDI and GDI indices, which he said are inadequate to highlight the exclusive characteristics of India.  Shariff listed reasons behind this disparity.

Explaining about the importance of education and skills in development, he displayed in a table the ratio of the share of GDP to the share of labour, which depicted an unfavourable result in case of SC/ST. Fortunately, he added, despite low education among Muslims, the GDP-labour ratio was better as a large number of workforce from the community are good at vocational skill development.

Praising the efforts of the Government and the people who have made India an economic power on the sheer basis of internal demand and supply, unlike China which has its growth depended on export around the world, the chief economist of the NCAER said the disparity is not just based on caste and religion, but it is visible even among States and rural and urban setups.

Shariff started his lecture with the life history of the first Dalit President of India, Dr KR Narayanan, who did not bow before the pecuniary constraint of his family, and carved a niche for himself.