Ranchi, April 9: Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum would hold a two-day meet on “Alternative development model”.

The two-day meet, to begin from April 12, would be held at YMCA, Kantatoli.

Noted persons, including Vandana Shiva, the environmentalist from Dehradun, Asim Srivastava (Delhi), Yogeswar Kumar (Uttaranchal), Rahul Burman and Manali Chakraborty from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) among others, would attend it.

Noted social activist Medha Patkar has also been invited to join the meet.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Vikas Singh, the co-ordinator of the forum, said that the meet has been organised to initiate a nationwide discussion on alternative development model at a time when the present model of development is under question.

“Setting up big industries not only displaces a large population, it also impacts negatively on environment due to its emission. We want to create a debate whether this model is sustainable or not,” said Singh, talking about the present model of development.

The forum includes members from Jharkhand Small Industries Association, Prof Ram Dayal Munda and Prof B.P. Keshri among others. Members of the recently formed forum also had opposed the just concluded Rajya Sabha elections, alleging corrupt practices by the Jharkhand MLAs.

The forum members also said that they would hold a series of such meets on the issue of alternative development model.

“We plan to create a national debate on the sustainability of the present development model. We would also present before the nation a model of alternative development, which would both be sustainable as well as environment-friendly,” Singh added.