Prof. K.S. Chalam, a well known political economist and educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of Dravidian University gave a lecture on Education and Human Development: Perspective from Social Exclusion on 13th October 2014 at the University of Hyderabad (UoH).
Speaking to the audience consisting of students, faculty and staff, Prof. Chalam said that all citizens of India have a responsibility for human development. He opined that education is an investment in human capital and we need to give utmost importance as it an asset and has economic value. Many economists have studied and proved that education is an investment in human capital, he added.
Education is both investment and consumption and it helps in human development and also facilitates to lead a good life, said Prof. Chalam. Giving an example he stated that if we read a newspaper and then attend an interview and apply that information, it becomes an investment and we get benefited. Further he added that after investment in education, the lifelong earnings are the benefits of education.
Social exclusion is the process in which individuals or entire communities of people are systematically blocked from (or denied full access to) various rights, opportunities and resources that are normally available to members of a different group, and which are fundamental to social integration within that particular group. Education is a process of reconstructing the society and we all must play a role in it. The country must play a good role in funding the education and society must strive for their rights and for human development, said Prof. Chalam while concluding his lecture.
The speaker Prof. Chalam is a former member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), New Delhi. He is also an author of Caste-Based Reservations and Human Development in India and Economic Reforms and Social Exclusion. Currently, Prof. Chalam is associated with National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi, as a Special Rapporteur.
The Lecture organized by the Centre for Ambedkar Studies was presided by Pro VC Prof. E. Haribabu.