Respected Member,
Greetings!
I take this opportunity to inform you about the activities of the Association in the past one year as well as apprise you about the future plan of actions.
Annual General Meeting
It is indeed a great pleasure to share that the annual general body meeting held on
15 th December 2021 in Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar unanimously agreed to the
proposal by Department of Economics, Tripura University to host the 23 rd Annual Conference
of NEEA. The last 22 nd annual conference was hosted by Department of Economics, Rajiv
Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh during 14-15 December 2021. In the 23 rd
conference two themes were adopted (1) Fiscal Issues and Considerations in the NER
states, (2) India and her neighbouring Countries and (3) Researchers’ forum. Since the 22 nd
conference was during the period of covid it was done in the blended mode while the 23 rd
conference was purely in offline mode.
The inaugural session of the Conference was graced by Prof. Ganga Prasad Prasain, the Vice Chancellor of Tripura University. Two keynote speakers Dr. R Kavita Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and Shri Gautam Mukhopadhyay former Ambassador of India to Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar were also present as Guests of Honour. Prof. Amitava Mitra, president NEEA and Dr. M. Hemanta Meitei, secretary NEEA were also present in the inauguration. The valedictory address was delivered by Prof. Ajitava Raychaudhuri, Professor Emeritus and Head of Department of Economics, Adamas University, West Bengal.
The late Dr. Gopal Bordoloi lecture "Epitomizing Inflation and Growth: Lessons from India" was delivered by Dr. Charan Singh, CEO and Founder Director, EGROW Foundation.
The conference accommodated two panel discussions (1) India and her neighbouring countries and (2) Fiscal Issues in Northeast India. The first panel discussion was held in collaboration with Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development (OKDISCD), Guwahati.
The conference witnessed the Best Paper Award won by Ms. Tanushree Baruah, Asst. Prof. Cotton College, Guwahati among the competitors.
Altogether there were 116 abstracts submitted in the conference.
ICSSR, Delhi and Shillong, NABARD and Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission (TRLM)
indeed supported the conference. I am grateful to the Department of Economics, Tripura
University for coming out generously to host the conference successfully.
North Eastern Economic Review
There has not been much progress in terms of the North Eastern Journal of
Economic Review due to the poor response of submission of the papers. In last year only
one paper was submitted for publication (by the President of NEEA) in the North Eastern
Economic Review an E journal. A serious reconsideration of the North Eastern Economic
Review (NEER) is demanded for immediate attention of all the concerned. It seems unless
the NEER comes under the fold of the UGC CARE list, the fate of NEER may not be able to
come out of the present situation.
Website
There has been a constant effort to upgrade the website of NEEA and as a result in
the forthcoming the 24 th annual Conference it is scheduled to launch. A committee has taken
the responsibility of this upgrade.
Executive Committee Meetings
Three Executive Committee meetings were held since November 2022. The first EC
meeting of NEEA was held on 5 th March 2023 online which discussed the issues of
transactions of the account in the SBI, Chinikuthi Branch, Guwahati, reorganisation of the
website of NEEA and 24 th Annual conference of NEEA to be hosted by SB Deorah College,
Guwahati (identification of the themes). The meeting discussed the requirements put by the
bank to conduct the KYC at the earliest.
The second EC meeting was held on 24th Sept 2023 at 3.00 pm online which approved the minutes of the meeting of 5 th March 2024. The agenda of the meeting focussed on the organising the 24th NEEA conference which was proposed to hold during 9-10 February 2024. This meeting discussed the inclusion of the pre-conference workshop under the aegis of the Young Scholars Initiatives. The meeting also discussed the modalities of the Best Paper Award. The speaker of the Dr. Gopal Bordoloi Memorial Lecture was discussed and the name of Prof. Pulin Nayak was suggested for the same. The automation of membership of the NEEA was also discussed on experimental basis.
The third EC meeting was held on 10th January 2024 at 3.00 pm online which approved the minutes of the meeting of 24th Sept 2023. The meeting further discussed the issues of the bank account at the SBI, Chinikuthi. The meeting also discuss to take up alternative measures. It also approved to hold Pre-conference Workshop on 8th Feb 2024
The Next Conference:
The 24 th Annual Conference of NEEA is being organised and hosted by the SB Deorah
College, Guwahati during 9-10 Feb, 2024. This time the annual conference is able to include
the pre-conference workshop on research methodology on 8 th February 2024. The themes
for the conference are –
With Best Wishes
Dr. M. Hemanta Meitei
Secretary, NEEA