AGARTALA, January 9 (TIWN):Northeast Indian born US economist Prof Hiranya Nath has suggested further impetus on online retail shopping in Northeastern states for sustainable business with low capital and more employment opportunity.

Delivering lecture on Information Economy Prof Nath stated that online shopping has opened up a bigger virtual market for both sellers and buyers across the globe. 

Moreover, burden of credit has no longer been an issue for producers and sellers also it has offered an opportunity of comparative marketing for buyers.

Prof Nath hails from Mongaldoi of Assam and has been serving in Sam Houston State University, Texas for past 15 years attended two day long 16th annual conference of Northeast Economic Association (NEEA) in Tripura university.

He however, pointed out that information economy has changed the concept of macroeconomic paradigm over the years with the intervention of ICT.

“With the blessings of ICT teaching has become an assembled service, research has become an efficient endeavor, shopping becomes a competitive market in virtual world and social networking becomes a non-monetized exchange,” he opined.

According to Prof Nath, trend of economy has got shifted from it’s original concept – products become a service and materials becomes information what the economists called ‘atom to bits’.

He pointed out that information based service across the world got a momentum in recent years and even the labour market has also now been guided by ICT intervention. As a result, routine activity in production sector has become prone to automation like customer banking and teaching.

Besides, Prof Nath another Northeast born scholar working in Sogeti Paban Sarma and six economists from Bangladesh are also attended NEEA conference today.

MP from Tripura and CPI-M Chief Whip in Loksabha Jitendra Choudhury has inaugurated the conference. He wanted policy change for development of the northeast and effective governance at village level.

He however, stated that northeast has immense potential but yet to be economized by the centre and as a result, pace of development in the region is comparatively low and contribution of the region in country’s GDP is minimum.

“Despite having huge prospect and potential, the region could not shine yet because of lope sighted development model of the centre. I feel coordinated work of centre and state is the immediate need for northeast now,” Choudhury added.    

NEEA President Prof Lianzela advocated that the region is lagging far behind because of multiple reasons and insurgency and ethnic riots are prominent among them. According to him, political sacrifice is the pre-requisite for restoring peace and Mizoram is the model.    

Lauding peace building process of political parties in Mizoram, Prof Lianzela said that two decades old insurgency had come to an end in 1986 when political will became visible to people at large.

“In 1981 four MLAs resigned from the post to bring the peace in Mizoram and finally, the Chief Minister himself also stepped down to the greater cause. I feel insurgency in northeast never come to an end unless there is political will and scarifies of the leaders,” he attributed.