E-Paper
New book highlights Covid impact on Punjab’s economy
Titled “Covid-19 Pandemic and Economic Development — Emerging Public Policy Lessons for Punjab”, the book has been edited by three agriculture economists from Punjab
A book on the economic impact and lessons to be learnt from Covid-19 pandemic was released by Punjab’s former information commissioner and veteran journalist PPS Gill here on Saturday.
Titled “Covid-19 Pandemic and Economic Development — Emerging Public Policy Lessons for Punjab”, the book has been edited by agriculture economists Prof Sukhpal Singh of the IIM, Ahmedabad; Prof Lakhwinder Singh Gill, who retired as the chairperson of economics department at Punjabi University, Patiala; and Prof Kamal Vatta of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
The book comprises more than 25 chapters written by leading personalities working in the fields of economics, and includes studies covering issues related to governance, agriculture, agriculture markets, industry, service sector, labour, diaspora, gender, environment, state revenue, Centre-state relationship and public policy. It also suggests some policy measures for the state government.
“The Punjab government has set up a committee led by Montek Singh Ahluwalia to suggest a road map for the revival of the state economy during the post-Covid period, which submitted its interim report in July 2020. It is expected to submit the final report anytime soon, though it missed the December deadline. But you can well assess the state of affairs of this committee as it was not having any economist from Punjab,” said Prof Sukhpal.
He said the book tries to study how Covid-19 impacted various sectors and what can be done by the state government to improve these sectors. Meanwhile, Prof Gill said that Punjab needs a medium- and long-term strategy to rejuvenate its economy following the pandemic.
