Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today unequivocally stated that to find solutions to the problems of poor, India needs a fast growing economy and a strong stimulus to growth. ?We have to walk on two legs,? he said, in response to a query on how India plans to minimise the gap between the rich and the poor.
?The primary purpose of development is to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which have affected millions of people. But for this, growth must be made truly inclusive,? he said after delivering the prestigious Khazanah Global Lecture. It is important to focus on poor areas which lack in education, health and other infrastructural facilities, he added.
While it is important to empower the poor, it is also equally important to develop agriculture, which still accounts for the livelihoods for more than half of India?s population, the Prime Minister said. ?We are increasing our investment in agriculture. We hope to use our scientific capabilities to create a new growth momentum in agriculture through a second green revolution. This is vital for our food security and to ensure an inclusive growth process,? he said.
Also, the future of the economy is going to be knowledge-based. ?This can become a productive agent of social change,? he noted. ?India has increased the expenditure on Science & Technology as a proportion of our GDP. We are investing heavily in both basic and higher education. For the last 50 years, India had seven Indian Institutes of Technology and one Indian Institute of Science. In the last five years we have established eight more IITs and five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research,? he pointed out.
Earlier, delivering the lecture, Singh said India?s growth has combined greater openness with an ability to withstand external turbulence. Its economic performance has improved, with the gross national income growing at over 9.5% per annum for three consecutive years starting in 2005. ?After the global crisis exploded in 2008, our growth rate slowed down but India was even then among the three or four fastest growing nations in the world. We took a number of measures to stimulate the economy and we expect 8.5 per cent growth in the current year,? he said.
According to Singh, India?s biggest asset is its people, but only if its educated, skilled and finds productive employment. ?At a time when the industrialised world is aging rapidly, India has the advantage of a young population. The dependency burden in India is expected to keep falling for another 20 years. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan,? he said.
Further, with savings and investment which separately for over 30 per cent of the gross national income, rapid economic development becomes feasible. ?For a long time it used to be common wisdom that only an East Asian country could save and invest more than 30% of its national income. If that be true then, geography notwithstanding, India is today an East Asian country! India now saves and invests well over 30% of its GDP,? he said.