AGRICULTURALISTS and representatives of NGOs from India and abroad gathered in the city on Monday to deliberate on pro-poor globalization issues. On how poor can have their say in policy making, Valter Angell, a senior researcher from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs said that poor can influence policy making fairs said that poor can influence policy making when they are united because individual voice has no meaning. “Voices of poor become even stronger if it’s related to any political party,” he added.
These discussions are a part of the two-day national meet on ‘Globalisation and India Voices from the Ground,’ that began on Sunday. Network of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (NEED) Lucknow in collaboration with CUTS (Consumer Unity & Trust Society), Centre for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CITEE), Jaipur have organised this meet.
Speaking on the occasion, secretary, women and child development, Balwinder Kumar said that the Indian Economy is growing continuously but until this growth percolates to the grassroots, its results will not be visible in the society. “For rapid economic growth, it is important that all government programmes are implemented in the true sense and benefit the target groups,” he stated.
Meanwhile director CUTS CITEE, Bipul Chatterjee said that a pro poor growth policy has a greater impact on reducing poverty than growth per se. He also informed that CUTS programme on ‘Grassroots Reachout and Networking in India on Trade and Economics’ (GRANITE) broadly works towards policy coherence between trade and national development policies to reduce poverty.