Day 12 – Q 5.Without stronger, sustainable and inclusive growth India doesn’t have the resources to expand the welfare schemes significantly. Discuss.

5. Without stronger, sustainable and inclusive growth India doesn’t have the resources to expand the welfare schemes significantly. Discuss.

मजबूत, टिकाऊ और समावेशी विकास के बिना, भारत के पास कल्याणकारी योजनाओं का विस्तार करने के लिए पर्याप्त संसाधन नहीं हैं। चर्चा करें।

Introduction:

Inclusive growth means economic growth that creates employment opportunities and helps in reducing poverty. It means having access to essential services in health and education by the poor. It includes providing equality of opportunity, empowering people through education and skill development. It also encompasses a growth process that is environment friendly growth, aims for good governance and a helps in creation of a gender sensitive society.

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Why India needs stronger, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth?

Inclusive growth as mentioned above is necessary for the sustainable and holistic development of all sections of the society. For economic, social and political empowerment of its citizens, Inclusive growth is indispensable to India.

• India is the 7th major country by area and 2nd by population. Yet, India is far away from development while our neighbour China is advancing at a faster rate to become the largest economy of the world.
• Poverty in India is at 22% according to the Tendulkar committee report.
• Low agriculture growth, low-quality employment growth, low human development, rural-urban divides, gender and social inequalities, and regional disparities etc. are the problems for the nation.
• Protests like the recent ones of Jats in Haryana, Patels in Gujarat will only rise if the issues of agriculture productivity, employment growth are not taken care of.
• Labour productivity is very low due to informalisation and poor skill development.
• Access to education and health is not the same for all sections of the population. Females are treated to be subordinate to males and are dependent on their families in all spheres. Inclusive growth is hence the key to women empowerment.
• Regional inequalities are the cause for the rise in distress migration, either intra-state or inter-state. Distress migration further creates problems of housing, accommodation, safety, hygiene, and sanitation.
• Financial Inclusion is the key to transforming the informal economy into the formal economy.
• Corruption is still rampant in the country and prevents inclusive growth.
• Political leadership plays a vital role in growth and development of the country. But implementation of many schemes is poor due to lack of political will.
• The importance of inclusive growth is indisputable for sustainable growth.
• Global warming and climate change affect poor more than the rich. Displaced population further increases distress migration and stress on states resources.
• MDG report for India (2015) suggests that out of 18 indicators, India is on-track only in four indicators. In the rest of the indicators, India is identified as either off-track or moderately on track . Achieving Sustainable Development Goals is not possible without concentrating on inclusive growth.

Steps Taken by India for stronger, sustainable and inclusive growth 

• In agriculture, emphasis must shift to converting farmers to ‘agripreneurs’ by further expanding e-National Agriculture Markets (e-NAMs) and replacing the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act with the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (APLM) Act. The creation of a unified national market, a freer export regime and abolition of the Essential Commodities Act are essential for boosting agricultural growth.
• A strong push would be given to ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ (ZBNF) techniques that reduce costs, improve land quality and increase farmers’ incomes. This is a tested method for putting environment carbon back into the land. Therefore, ZBNF allows India to significantly contribute to reducing the global carbon footprint.
• To ensure maximum employment creation, codification of labour laws must be completed and a massive effort must be made to upscale apprenticeships.
• With the completion of the Bharat Net programme in 2019, all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats will be digitally connected. In the next phase the last mile connectivity to the individual villages will be completed. The aim will be to deliver all government services at the state, district, and gram panchayat level digitally by 2022-23, thereby eliminating the digital divide.
• Successfully implementing the Ayushman Bharat programme including the establishment of 150,000 health and wellness centres across the country, and rolling out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan.
• Upgrading the quality of the school education system and skills, including the creation of a new innovation ecosystem at the ground level by establishing at least 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs by 2020.
• As already done in rural areas, affordable housing in urban areas will be given a huge push to improve workers’ living conditions and ensure equity while providing a strong impetus to economic growth.
• Implementing strategies to achieve regional equity by focusing on the North-East region and successfully rolling out the Aspirational Districts Programme.
• Implementing the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission as a prelude to appointing a successor for designing reforms in the changing context of emerging technologies and growing complexity of the economy.
• A new autonomous body, viz., the Arbitration Council of India, may be set up to grade arbitral institutions and accredit arbitrators to make the arbitration process cost effective and speedy, and to pre-empt the need for court intervention.

Conclusion.

Inclusive growth is of vital importance to fight inequality in all aspects and promote holistic development of individuals in the country. Digital technologies like mobile phones, the internet can be harnessed for financial inclusion to address social-economic challenges of the country.