India: New voyage of enterprise and creativity
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Indian school children particiate in a full dress rehearsal for
the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort in
New Delhi, August 13 and (ON LEFT) Indian workers carry a sack
of cut grass at the Red Fort. Security has been tightened across
India ahead of Independence Day when Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh will address the nation today from the historic Red Fort
to mark the 60th anniversary of Indian independence from British
colonial rule. AFP
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India marks her 60th anniversary of Independence today. Here we
reproduce excerpts from a speech by Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh at the India Economic Summit in November 2005.
India has come a long way since 1985, when Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi inaugurated the First India Economic Summit. These past two
decades have been a period of great change in India, in my opinion, a
change for the better.
When Rajiv spoke here two decades ago he put forth a bold vision of a
new India, a modern India, ready to burst into the world stage, full of
energy, enterprise and dynamism. In many ways, Rajiv Gandhi was ahead of
his times.
His vision of a new wave of modernization captured the imagination of
a new generation of entrepreneurs and professionals in all parts of our
vast country. To be sure, it was not smooth sailing.
He had to reckon with vested interests; he had to contend with old
mindsets; he had to convince many sceptics. He did so valiantly, with
his combination of gentleness and impatience.
He in many ways, symbolized the hopes and aspirations of a new
generation, a generation which is now leading India’s march into an
exciting future, full of immense possibilities for our billion people.
In 1991, when we were given the opportunity to carry forward the
programme of change, there were many sceptics in our midst, and in the
audience here. What was regarded as path breaking then, is now regarded
as the norm.
The Indian economy has become more open, more globally integrated and
more competitive. The seekers of protection then line up now seeking
greater openness. Truly, times have changed; mindsets have changed;
attitudes have changed; aspirations have changed; and our hopes for the
future have also changed.
Our industry and enterprise are far more confident, competitive and
ambitious about their future and they feel that they are second to none.
This is very satisfying for all of us. Yet, we still have the sceptics,
the worriers and the critics. Some have genuine concerns about change,
others continue to be prisoners of the past. Today, when I look back,
I am even more convinced that I was correct to observe in my first
budget speech in 1991 that the idea of the emergence of India as a front
ranking economic powerhouse of the world economy was an idea whose time
had indeed come.
I believe that there are no external constraints now to India’s
growth and whatever constraints are there, are internal; constraints
imposed by our polity, our social structures, our regional imbalances,
our ability to handle inequity, and our ability to take hard, but
essential decisions. The last two decades have seen many ups and downs.
In our pursuit of economic growth, we have made mistakes, learnt from
them, refined our approaches and corrected ourselves. We have realised
that growth must translate into prosperity for all. It must provide hope
and opportunity for all sections of society - hope for a better future;
and an opportunity to participate and benefit from processes of growth.
The durability of the policies introduced in the early ‘90s is no longer
in doubt.
There have been many changes in government, but policies have
remained stable, moving inexorably in a particular direction, only
making marginal course corrections. We have today, a broad-based
national consensus that the process of economic development and growth
must enhance both - equity and efficiency.
Our government too, believes that processes of wealth creation are
essential for us to meet our commitment to eradicating poverty. We are
committed to creating an environment conducive to creativity and
enterprise, an environment, which rewards risk-taking and innovation.
It is only through this can we eradicate poverty and create jobs for
millions of our youth. We need growth with equity and social justice.
This is a political as well as a social imperative. Policies relating to
investment, taxation, external trade, banking & finance, Foreign Direct
Investment, capital markets and small scale industries have all evolved
towards making our industry and enterprises more efficient, more
globally competitive and as free from restrictions as possible.
We have been fiscally prudent and macroeconomic stability has been
maintained without sacrificing essential expenditures on social and
physical infrastructure. We have a vision of an India, which we are
determined to fashion - a vision of an inclusive, prosperous,
democratic, equitable India - and we are making steady progress in that
direction.
The direction is clearly visible and I assure you that we will not
falter in this regard. We are on the right track.
In fact, we should be targeting a 10% growth rate in 2-3 years’ time.
In my view, this is eminently feasible, if we have the expected increase
in our savings rate and arising out of a young population, if we manage
to make a quantum leap in the growth rate of our agriculture, if
investment in infrastructure provides a fresh impetus to industry and if
services continue with their impressive performance.
The problem areas are known and we are determined to make concrete
efforts to move forward on all these fronts. On the external front, we
have become actively engaged with the world economy.
I am certain that in the next few years, we may see the rise of a
major free trade area in Asia covering all major Asian economies,
including China, Japan and South Korea and possibly extending to
Australia and New Zealand.
This Pan-Asian Free Trade Area could be the third pole of the world
economy after the European Union and North Atlantic Free Trade Area and
will, I am certain, open up new growth avenues for our own economy.
Internally, we are trying to systematically address the problem areas
where we still need to eliminate bottlenecks and unlock their true
potential. Take agriculture - this is a sector, which has been
under-performing, in the recent past. Agriculture is the lifeblood of
our country.
The livelihood and economic well-being of the majority of our people
depend on this sector. The key to their prosperity - and the prosperity
of the entire nation depends critically on transforming and rejuvenating
our agriculture.
To my mind, given this centrality of agriculture to our economy and
society, the key breakthroughs that we have to make in our country to
spread the benefits of economic reform, lie in the area of agriculture.
Closely linked to the fortunes of agriculture is the condition of our
rural areas. It is essential that our rural areas have not only basic
amenities, but also infrastructure, which can support more intensive
economic activity.
Rural infrastructure must become a facilitator for integrating our
rural hinterland into our fast growing economy. We have announced a
comprehensive programme for rural infrastructure development under the
umbrella of “Bharat Nirman”.
Through this time-bound programme, we will achieve a quantum jump in
housing, road connectivity, water supply, electrification and telecom
connectivity in our rural areas.
We will bring in an additional 1 crore, 10 million hectares under
irrigation. We also recognise that urban areas are focal centres for
economic activity and their needs must be attended to on a priority
basis. Urban areas are the nodes from which enterprise, creativity and
prosperity radiate in all directions.
They are the engines of sustained growth that can absorb the millions
of people who need to be gainfully employed outside agriculture. They
need infrastructure, which is world class, infrastructure, which can
cater to the needs of a rising population, infrastructure that can
propel industrial and economic growth.
I am certain that we are now at the take-off point in infrastructure.
All the elements of an essential institutional framework are now falling
in place. If the private sector seizes the initiative, the sky is the
limit to what we can achieve in this vital area of national endeavour.
The telecom sector has anyway done us all proud and has revealed our
intrinsic entrepreneurial strengths. The power sector continues to be
plagued with complex problems, but we are determined that we will set
many things right in the coming months.
I have often heard complaints from many corners that we have not made
progress in our FDI policy. In fact, my own assessment is that today, we
have one of the most liberal FDI regimes in the world. We have
unshackled FDI policies in telecom, publishing, real estate and in asset
reconstruction firms in the last couple of months.
We have to create close to ten million jobs every year for the next
few years to meet the demand for jobs that new generations of the
workforce will seek. Most of these jobs will be sought by unskilled
labour. We have to therefore, create employment opportunities for them
in infrastructure, in manufacturing, in trade and transport.
When I read the debate in the media on our policies, I notice an
incomplete appreciation of the steps being taken by our government to
ensure that economic growth is firmly rooted in an equitable, just
society. This is essential if growth is to be sustained and if society
has to grow and prosper and exist in harmony.
We have ambitions of being an economic superpower. This cannot be on
a base where half our people are literate; where people do not have
access to basic health facilities; where people do not have incomes in
times of distress. In the long run, we must carry everyone along on this
road to national prosperity.
This is our vision for India. This must be your vision for India too.
The new India that was stirred in the 1980s showed that it was ready to
be different, once again. Indian enterprise has proved to the world that
it is capable of taking on competition when it sets out to do so.
In 1985, when your first Summit met, no one had even heard of Infosys
or Wipro, no one had imagined that an Indian would become the Steel Czar
of the world, no one had imagined that a Telco car would compete with
Japanese cars.
We now have a track record of success in some vital areas to feel
confident that we can replicate these success stories in other sectors.
Why should we then be gripped by diffidence? Why should we still live in
fear of globalisation? The experience of the past two decades should
give us ample confidence, it should give us courage, it should make us
bolder, it should make us think big.
That sense of confidence must reflect itself in bolder initiatives.
It must encourage us to be more open and less controlled. It must give
us confidence to pursue change in areas where we have shied away from
change. Be it in urban governance, be it in rural marketing, be it about
labour laws.
We need growth, we need jobs, we need incomes, we need security. The
India we dream of will provide for this. Our government is determined to
fashion such an India. I am sure all of you will join in this new voyage
of enterprise and creativity. If not, history will judge us harshly for
not making bold to make it.”
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