Panel Discussion 'Arthashastra' on Budget 2008 Held at XIM, Bhubaneswar

Panel Discussion 'Arthashastra' on Budget 2008 Held at XIM, Bhubaneswar

XFIN, the finance association of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) held Arthshashtra 2008, a panel discussion to review the Annual Union Budget for 2008-09. The distinguished panelists who shared their views on the budget were Mr. Jagadananda,

an eminent social activist, Mr. Trilokya Jena, Commissioner, Income Tax, for the State of Orissa, Mr. Abani Kumar Mahapatra from Infosys and Mr. Sridhar Giridhar of the Standard Chartered Bank. The discussion was presided over by Mr. Nageshwar Pattnaik, Chief Correspondent for the Economic Times.

The forum was opened for discussion by a presentation by the XFIN highlighting the key features of the budget and the relevant questions to be discussed upon by the panelists.

Amongst the key features that came through after the discussion were issues relating to the upliftment of the poorer sections of society and why, inspite of being the fastest growing economy in the world, we held the 128th position in the Human Development Index. Other than that, the level of health care available to the poor sections were considered in the light of PPP as mentioned in this year's budget.

Towards the end of the discussion, Mr. Jagadananda highlighted the fact that the poorer sections did not have a strong lobby to monitor their development and advancement, and how the social activists needed to step in and lobby for their cause. He mentioned how by being 'active citizens', we can help the cause of the rural poor. The problems were attributed to the fact that the budget was more of an outlay mechanism rather than outcome based where bodies would actively monitor the outcome and not the outlays. The discussion was ended with a plea by Mr. Trilokya Jena to the students on how they should take up the cause and help the state government with projects and give suggestions on how to structure the resources for the planned expenditure and not just discuss the budget which would be forgotten in a short span of time.

The discussion was followed by a Question-Answer Session where the panelists answered to the student's queries regarding the budget.

Concluded.

Contributed by -
Team Illuminatix,
Media & PR Cell,
Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.

MBA Alumni \| MBA Students \| MBA Aspirants \| MBA Forums