Lucknow : “This is India’s decade of development. The country holds immense potential and will soon emerge as the world’s third-largest economy—and in the next two decades, the second-largest,” said Padma Shri awardee Prof. Nirupam Bajpai from Columbia University. He was delivering a special lecture on “India@2047 – Experiences and India’s Future”, jointly organized by the Department of Economics and the Population Research Centre, University of Lucknow.
Prof. Bajpai lauded the Modi government’s comprehensive approach towards building a developed India, saying, “Unprecedented strides have been made in areas such as education, skill development, financial inclusion, direct benefit transfer, Aadhaar linkage, and improvements in mortality rates.”
Presiding over the event, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof. Arvind Mohan, offered a nuanced perspective, stating, “While we speak of a developed India, we must also address the serious concern of jobless growth. The slowing of our demographic dividend is another pressing challenge.”
He acknowledged the positive momentum in key sectors like the Defense Corridor, manufacturing, and healthcare, but emphasized the need for sustained and inclusive growth.
Senior Vice President of Lucknow Management Association, A.K. Mathur, who was the special guest, underlined the importance of collective efforts. “A developed India is not the responsibility of the government alone—it calls for a united endeavor from all stakeholders,” he said.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. Vinod Singh, Head of the Department of Economics. The proceedings were conducted by Dr. Shashilata Singh from the Economics Department.
The event witnessed participation from several eminent academicians including former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Arvind Awasthi, Prof. Manoj Agarwal, Prof. Ashok Kumar Kaithal, Prof. V.K. Sharma, Prof. Kamal Kumar, Prof. Rakesh Dwivedi, Prof. M.M. Verma, Prof. Durgesh Srivastava, Prof. Dhruvasen Singh, Prof. D.R. Sahu, Prof. A.K. Singh, Prof. Omkar Nath Upadhyay, Prof. Vimal Jaiswal, Dr. Alpana Lal, Dr. Preeti Singh, Dr. Kamna Sen Gupta, Dr. Suchitra Prasad, Dr. Shachi Rai, Dr. Vipin Pandey, Dr. Dinesh Yadav, and Dr. Harnam Singh. Numerous faculty members, research scholars, and students of the university also attended the lecture.
