Itanagar, India - February 2025 - The Department of Economics at Don Bosco College Itanagar organised a two-day national seminar on Challenges and Opportunities for Socio-Economic Development in Rural Areas of North-East India. The seminar, held on 7-8 February, aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities for rural development in North East India and brought together experts, researchers and policy makers to share their insights and experiences. The seminar featured several speakers, including State MP Toko Tatung and Prof. Joydeep Baruah, Director of the Surya Kumar Bhuyan School of Social Sciences. The speakers emphasised the need for rural development, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in the region. The seminar also included technical sessions on topics such as sustainable development, waste management and entrepreneurship. One of the main learnings of the seminar was the importance of sustainable development in rural areas. Prof. Sumpam Tanjang, Head of the Department of Botany at Rajiv Gandhi University, highlighted the role of agroforestry in enhancing rural development and the need for government support, subsidies and formation programmes to promote agroforestry practices. For his part, Dr Ajit Debnath, Head of the Department of Economics at Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Vishwavidyalaya University, spoke on the impact of waste management on rural development, emphasising the need for effective practices such as vermicomposting and waste-to-energy conversion projects.