chandigarh noted economist prof jagdish n bhagwati on wednesday hit out at the detractors of liberalisation for trying to pull back the country further into the abyss of poverty asserting that not hollow poverty alleviation programmes but growth will help tackle the problem delivering the convocation address at the panjab university here he called upon the young generation to inculcate a keen spirit of debate and enquiry and stand up to the politicians and economists who talk of endless programmes of garibi hatao and release plan after plan to improve the economic lot of the masses this line of thought had actually accentuated instead of reducing poverty he maintained he claimed that growth reduced poverty by creating jobs and providing revenue which could be utilised to build more schools and provide more and better health facilities to the poor while admitting that growth could hurt certain groups by bypassing some segments of the poor he reminded the audience we know from the earliest days that growth requires complimentary policies wherever necessary to prevent hurtful outcomes or better still to offset them when they materialise he said the need of the hour was sustainable improvement as not only poverty will fall with sustained growth but also we will improve literacy health even other social agendas because growth will generate resources concluding his address he called upon the people to not just think on a global canvas about reforms and their favourable impact on poverty but to think concretely and ask how does each of the reforms work out for the common man earlier prof bhagwati who is arthur lehman professor of economics and professor of political science at columbia university new york conferred the degree of doctor of literature honoris causa by the university an alumnus of bombay university prof bhagwati has published more than 200 research articles and 40 books giving an introduction to prof bhagwatis achievements pu vice chancellor prof k n pathak said his works on india establish him as a pioneer of the policy of liberalisation that has been adopted by india as its new economic policy acknowledging his profound influence on modern thinking and trade theory prof pathak referred to the modern age as the age of bhagwati pu aluminusi krishan kant gives away degrees it was a memorable day for panjab university and its students as the vice president of india krishan kant who is also the chancellor of the university presided over the 50th annual convocation here on wednesday and conferred degrees in 33 academic streams girls otshone boys in academic excellence and 79 of the 95 medals were bagged by girls out of the 261 students who received their degrees 183 were girls the rest of the degrees medals and prizes were conferred by the vice chancellor prof kn pathak earlier the vive president of india laid the foundation stone of the working womens hostel on the pu campus this is the first time that senators were made to sit with the