“It is indeed sad that the students of economics do not learn a word about history of economics,” opined Justice K S Hegde Institute of Management Nitte Professor Emeritus Dr N K Thingalaya.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural programme of the seminar on ‘Development of Coastal Karnataka: An historical point of view,” organised at Mangalore University on Wednesday, Dr Thingalaya said that though the region itself has rich history of economics and banking, the students are not being taught about the same. A subject on history of banking must be incorporated in the syllabus for the students of economics, finance etc.
Bajpe railway station
Dr Thingalaya speaking about the path that the region has developed said that though the Mangalore Airport is growing tremendously, the discussions about having one airport at Udupi and another one at Karwar will serve no purpose because no airlines flying today, either short distance or others are making big profits.
“With the costs of the fuel shooting up everyday, the idea of increasing the number of airports will serve no good because a passenger on reaching Mangalore will not take a flight to Udupi or Karwar. He would certainly look for a vehicle, preferably a train. Hence, it would be feasible to have a railway station right at the foot of the hill where the airport is situated so that the passengers who get out of the airport have easy access to transport facilities to go to nearby region,” he said.
He added that any amount of money spent on tourism development will be futile without developing the infrastructure and transportation system. He also opined that a Special Economic Zone which would be suitable for the region with farmers stake in it must be brought about.
‘It’s a treasure’
Earlier inaugurating the programme, Karnataka State Archives Department Director Dr Usha Suresh said that the region has a treasure of ancient documents which are worth being preserved and in this regard, the manuscripts of Udupi ‘Ashtamathas’ will be preserved by the Karnataka State Archives Department. The funds for the same will be released by the department soon.
She said that apart from this, even Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade’s collections too have been micro filmed by the department along with Dr Heggade’s voice.
She opined that there are lot of confusions in the minds of the people about the difference between department of Archives and Department of Archaeology. She said that very often people write archives to be Gazetteer Department which is wrong.
She said that Archives department preserves and restores the ancient manuscripts and documents, hence it is an important department, which is the link to the past.
She further added that Archives department has been computerised for about 70 per cent and the general public can get various information on-line.
She opined that coastal Karnataka has not given enough attention towards the development of the infrastructure needed for the development of tourism.
Presiding over the programme, Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor Prof K M Kaveriappa said that enough attention must be paid towards boosting temple tourism as the region is well known for its renowned historically significant temples.
Registrar Dr K Sundar Naik, varsity Economic Department Professor G V Joshi  were present.