Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra (seated left) and Arup Choudhury at a seminar in LN Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change in Patna on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Aug. 23: Gross domestic product could not be the sole indicator of the prosperity of a country or a society.

Rather, it may reflect the percentage growth the country has achieved in a year.

Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra made this remark in his address at a seminar on “In search of a bridge between industry expectations and academic excellence”.

The seminar was held at LN Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change today.

Jagannath Mishra, the acting chairman of the institute, said: “We may boast about the gross domestic product growth percentage but it is not the real indicator of the prosperity of the society.”

The former chief minister said: “It does not portray the true picture of who benefits from this growth and who does not.”

He said that economic liberalisation has not benefited around 80 crore people of the country.

Mishra exhorted corporate organisations not to ignore social inequality and work towards eliminating it.

He also said corporate management has to play a significant role in bringing about an all-inclusive growth.

A professor of the Calcutta-based Amity Business School, Arup Choudhury, also addressed the seminar.

He said: “The greatest challenge before us is how to sell our products in the world market. This has become more important because of economic liberalisation.

Knowledge is the key to survival in the competitive world. One has to be innovative to be in the competition.

The professor also said: “A general or professional degree alone would not serve any purpose.”

Choudhary also said: “We are living in a society where the greatest asset is knowledge.”

The professor said: “The meaning of knowledge has changed now. This means that merely having degrees would not serve any purpose.”

He also said: “As a knowledgeable person, we need to be not only innovative but must be able to apply our knowledge in a practical sense.”

Choudhury, who is also the campus head of Amity Business School, concluded his speech by saying: “Today, one can survive in the cut-throat competition only when if he has something better over the others.”

Choudhury also said: “One can be superior than others only by being innovative. It not only reduces cost of production and but also prevents wastage of time.”