COVID-19 and the Policy Conundrum: A deliberation on Fiscal and Monetary policy decisions during the Pandemic”

Organized by the Department of Commerce (Afternoon & Evening section) UG & PG

In collaboration with IQAC

Convenor: Mr. Saspo Chakraborty
Organizing Secretary: Ms. Gargi
Platform: Video Conferencing through Google Meet
Date: September 26, 2020- Saturday (4pm to 6pm)

A webinar on “COVID-19 and the Policy Conundrum: A deliberation on Fiscal and Monetary policy decisions during the Pandemic” was organized by the Department of Commerce (Afternoon and Evening section) UG and PG on the 26th of September 2020 using the Google Meet platform. The keynoter for the webinar was Dr. Partha Ray, professor of Economics at IIM Calcutta. A total of 133 participants comprising faculty members and dignitaries from other colleges and universities and students attended the webinar.

 The webinar commenced at 4 p.m. with a welcome video followed by the welcome address by Ms Arundhati Mazumder. All participants were greeted heartily and thanked for joining the webinar. A special and warm welcome was extended to the keynoter. A brief on the concept behind organizing the webinar was also included in the welcome address. As the compere for the evening Ms Mazumdar then invited Ms Paromita Chakravarty to deliver the opening address. Ms Chakravarty started by thanking the keynoter Dr. Partha Ray for his gracious presence. She went ahead discussing a few statistics on the impact of covid-19 on human health and life. She also elaborated on the stringent lockdown and its impact on life, livelihood and economy. While discussing about the migrant labourers and the predicament of employment she stated that the situation looks dismal. Concluding, she expressed that measures to reverse the economic downturn assisted by fiscal and monetary policies are the need of the hour.

On that note Ms Sukanya Chatterjee was invited to introduce the keynote speaker for the evening. Ms Chatterjee fittingly introduced the speaker mapping his career, publication (papers and books), association with projects and conferences, research and former work engagements. She thanked Dr Ray for his presence and invited him to address the audience.

 Dr Ray, currently, professor of Economics, IIM Calcutta, was formerly engaged as Advisor to Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C. prior to joining RBI (Mumbai) as Director in the Department of Economic and Policy Research. Dr Ray opened his discourse by stating that he wished to share his “confusion” on the current scenario. He explained the determinants of impact and the consequent tension between lives and livelihood. His presentation was interspersed with a number of tables and flowcharts stating data at different levels in connection with the topic. Dr Ray went ahead discussing the channels of economic laws at length for better comprehension of the current scenario. In addition, he also spoke on economic outlook growth projections, Global Policy Package, Central Bank crisis policies and Monetary Policy September 2020. Concluding his captivating and enriching discourse he stated that the pandemic came across as a health shock resulting in crisis at different levels. Dr Ray summed up his presentation by stating the elements in the policy conundrum in terms of fiscal and monetary policy.

 Following Dr Ray’s presentation Dr Urmi Mukherjee and Prof Sayan Roy conducted the interactive session. A number of questions were received from the participants and Dr Ray readily answered all of them with precision and patience. 

The session concluded with the vote of thanks by Prof Saspo Chakraborty HoD, Department of Commerce (Afternoon and Evening Section). He expressed his sincere gratitude to the management right at the outset, for the perfect logistic support and guidance. He also thanked the teacher in charge Dr Suchandra Chakravarty and IQAC Coordinator Mr Tathagata Sen for their unflinching support. He went ahead to thank the Organising Secretary MS Gargi for her dedicated endeavours. Dr Ray was also thanked for his gracious presence. Finally, Prof Chakraborty thanked the team members of the webinar committee for their relentless efforts in organizing and making the webinar a success.

The link of the feedback form was also shared so participants could fill in and submit the same to receive e-certificates.