Global Summit on Changing Bihar 2012, beginning in Patna from February 17, would discuss strategies for the state’s development. Nepal Premier, Baburam Bhattarai would inaugurate the event. “The summit is being organised for ensuring the state’s development with justice by holding extensive discussions on the subject and not merely mobilising investments” said Deputy CM, Sushil Kumar Modi.
The summit would give an opportunity of exchange of views with experts for ensuring development and what more could be done for achieving all-round growth, he said. Several NGOs, entrepreneurs, researchers and plan experts from across the globe are expected to exchange views during the summit, being organised by Institute for Human Development, Bihar Foundation and Asian Development Research Institute. The invitees and participants would be non-resident Biharis from across the world and those interested in the development of Bihar. Delegates from China, Japan and other Buddhist countries from South East Asia would participate in the summit.
The inauguration function will be held on 17th February 2012 at 3 pm in SK Memorial Hall, wherein the Prime Minister of Nepal will deliver the inaugural address as the chief guest of the summit. The 3 day summit would be spread over six plenary sessions, 11 thematic workshops, pre event presentations and valedictory session, held at Hotel Maurya, Patna. About 1000 delegates from India and abroad are expected to participate. Experts of national and international repute would attend the summit which would have threadbare discussions on various issues. Some of the prominent confirmed names are: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, D Subba Rao, Nicholas Stern, Lord Meghnad Desai, UK Sinha, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Javed Akhtar, MJ Akbar, Prakash Jha among others.
A special plenary session would be held on February 17 on “Strategies for mainstreaming less-developed regions in the inclusive growth process”. It would have a special reference to Bihar. Former bureaucrat and JD(U) MP N K Singh would be its moderator. The participants include former Prime Minister of Japan Kan Naoto and London School of Economics professor Lord Nicholas Stern.
RBI governor D Subbarao and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia would be among the key speakers. The session would be held at 5 pm at S K Memorial Hall, the venue for the event.
Over the next two days, five plenary sessions would be held on various subjects. One would be on “Transforming Bihar: Achievements, Opportunities and Challenges”. While the session would be moderated by the chairman of the Institute for Rural Management, Yoginder K Alagh, the speakers include Lord Meghnad Desai, Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen. One plenary session would focus on “Forging Partnership for Development of Bihar”. While the panelists for this session are SEBI chairman U K Sinha and Cobra Beer, UK, chairman Lord Karan Bilimoria, the moderator is former foreign secretary Muchkund Dubey.
Three other plenary sessions would be held on Sunday. One would be on “Accelerating industry and services in Bihar”. Chief economic adviser to the Union ministry of finance Kaushik Basu would be its moderator while the panelists include Housing Development Finance Corporation chairman Deepak Parekh, Infosys chairman K V Kamath and CMD of Brahamputra Iron & Steel Company Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
The fifth plenary session would focus on “Bihar’s tradition of culture and philosophy and its contemporary relevance”. This session would be addressed by Chinese National People Congress’s foreign affairs committee head Li Zhao Xing and former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The last plenary session would deliberate on “Vision for Bihar’s development and emerging agenda for action”. The speakers for this session have not been finalized yet.
Besides, an interactive dialogue on “Role of Cinema and Television in Cultural Renaissance” would be held on Saturday evening with Doordarshan director-general Tripurari Sharan as its moderator and panelists like lyricist Javed Akhtar, filmmaker Prakash Jha, actors-cum-politicians Shatrughan Sinha and Shekhar Suman besides some prominent anchors of TV channels.
All the 10 workshops would be held on Saturday at a hotel. The topics include “Overcoming the constraints on faster agricultural growth”., “Strategy for urban development”, “Building industrial capabilities”, “Developing Bihar as an attractive tourist destination”, “Raising and managing resources for a stronger Bihar”, “Strengthening educational and training institutions”, “Creating a more effective healthcare system”, “Extending socio-economic and political roles of women”, “Strengthening institutions for inclusive and equitable development and ushering in a socio-cultural renaissance”.
The moderators and panelists of these workshops include ex-chairman of Special Task Force on Bihar S C Jha, Chief Secretary Navin Kumar, Indian Trust for Rural Heritage Development Chairman S K Mishra, RBI deputy governor Anand Sinha, former Assam Governor Gen S K Sinha and ADRI member-secretary Shaibal Gupta.
The summit is being jointly organized by the Bihar Foundation, the Institute for Human Development and ADRI. Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar is the Chief Patron, whereas the Dy CM of Bihar, Shri Sushil Kumar Modi is the Patron of the summit. Summit Coordinator is Dr.Alakh Sharma, who is also the Director of Intitute of Human Development (IHD).
