Association of Asia Scholars organized a Seminar on the theme "URBAN POVERTY AND GOVERNANCE IN ASIA: With case studies of Delhi, Bangkok and Shanghai" on January 09, 2008 at the India International Centre, in collaboration with the Centre.

Dr. Swaran Singh, Dr. P. Hoontrakul, Mr. Jagmohan and Ms. Arti Mehra Hon'ble Mayor of Delhi.

Dr. Swaran Singh, President, AAS welcomed the distinguished guests and participants and spoke about the objective of the Association.

Participants during the Seminar.

The Seminar was chaired by Shri Jagmohan, former Union Cabinet Minister, Govt. of India.

Mr. Jagmohan introduced the theme of the Seminar and spoke about the importance of the governance in ensuring delivery of public services to the poor. He said that, unless there is committed leadership and political will, the problems of governance can only become more complex.

Participants during the Seminar.

The Inaugural Address was delivered by Ms. Arti Mehra, Hon'ble Mayor of Delhi. She said that it was important that every citizen of the country shouldered the responsibility of contributing to good governance in their own small ways. She urged the scholars to suggest ways and means of improving people's safety and security in the city of Delhi, which was growing in terms of its population.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Arun Kumar, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He spoke about Urban Poverty in the Asian context. He said, "we should eliminate poverty, we should eliminate ill health, we should have employment for all, but we have not managed to achieve it. We face the problems of non-performance and poor governance".

Dr. P. Hoontrakul, Prof. Arun Kumar and Dr. Swaran Singh.

A world wide phenomenon is that disparities have grown, but in the sub-continent and very largely in India, disparities are on the rise - which ever way you think of it rural urban disparity, agriculture non-agriculture disparity, organized unorganized disparity, backward forward state disparity or region disparity, income term, wealth term which ever way you think in India. I want to introduce the element of black economy. The governance is so poor in the Indian context, because of the size of black economy in India. I have estimated the size of black economy for 1995 and 1996 to be 40% of GDP and my guess is by now it should be 50% of GDP. Black economy is concentrated in the service sector and service sector's share has grown. That's why I would say it is 50% roughly of GDP by now".

Participants during the Seminar.

The Special Address was delivered by Dr. Lourdes Salvador, Executive Director, ASF, Thailand. She spoke about the ASF Fellowship programme and the collaborative grants programme under which Dr. Reena Marwah had undertaken a study on the Comparative situation of urban poverty and Governance in the three countries of Thailand, China and India.

Dr. Ameeta Motwani, Reader, JMC, Delhi University spoke about the perceptions about the poor in rural India. She said that the way in which the poor were perceived impacted on the way the schemes for poverty alleviation were designed and implemented .

Participants during the Seminar.

Prof. Quan Heng, Professor of Economics, Institute of Economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai China presented the case study of the urban poor in north of Shanghai. His paper brought out the policy of the government in controlling migration from the rural areas to the urban areas of China. He said that industrilisation in rural areas with the development of townships was one way in which increasing migration was being curtailed.

Dr. Pongsak Hoontrakul, Senior Research Fellow at Sasin of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand spoke about the case of Bangkok in the context of the Thai Economy. He said that, Bangkok was the main centre of development and the rural areas in the north and north-east of Thailand had been relatively neglected with respect to developmental policies and poverty alleviation. The case study of Klongtoey slum was discussed by Dr. Reena Marwah, who had undertaken the empirical study related to the poor households in the slum.

Dr. Reena Marwah, Reader, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University and Secretary General, Association of Asia Scholars, India made a presentation on the condition of the poor in different slums of Delhi. The sample survey of 170 households had been conducted to understand the situation with respect to governance in the areas of education health and delivery of public services to the poor.

Dr. Reena Marwah, Secretary General, AAS; Ms. Arti Mehra Hon'ble Mayor of Delhi and Dr. Lourdes Salvador, Executive Director, ASF, Thailand.

The presentations were followed by an Open Discussion.

The Seminar concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Dr. Reena Marwah, Secretary General, AAS.