Indian academic urges development that protects resources for future generations

Development should meet present needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet theirs, B.N.M. University Vice-Chancellor B.S. Jha has said.

Jha was speaking as chief guest at the ninth International Conference on Ecosystem Conservation and Sustainable Development and the second Indian Zoology Conference in Bengaluru. The events were organised by SABS and the AET Group of Institutions in collaboration with the Department of Zoology at Bangalore University. He said India’s development goals needed to balance economic growth with environmental conservation and social welfare.

In his view, long-term security depended on maintaining the natural resources on which communities and future generations rely. Jha specifically called for the conservation of forests, water, soil and biodiversity. He presented those resources as central to sustainable development rather than issues that could be separated from economic planning.

He also urged greater emphasis on technologies and sectors that could support a more sustainable development model. These included wind and solar energy, bio-gas, small hydropower projects, electric vehicles and sustainable agriculture. The remarks were made at a conference focused on ecosystems and sustainable development, with participants from the organising institutions and the zoology discipline.

The source material does not provide details of additional speakers, resolutions or government measures announced at the event. Jha’s comments placed environmental conservation alongside development and social welfare as interconnected priorities. His stated objective was to ensure that progress in the present does not reduce the natural-resource base available to future generations.

The conference took place in Bengaluru, and the remarks were published on September 29, 2026. No specific targets, funding commitments or implementation timetable were included in the report.