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In his New Year message to the country, Singh presented perhaps the most realistic assessment of the economy. While some reforms do attract controversy and cause nervousness, he said, one must remember that policy measures introduced 20 years ago too had caused controversy. Growth of 8 per cent-plus cannot be taken for granted, he said, pushing for reforms that can trigger rapid industrialisation and for infrastructure-building that such industrialisation needs.
With his government’s big-ticket plans of FDI in retail and pension and insurance Bills stonewalled in Parliament’s winter session, the prime minister said: “We should remember that change is necessary for development and while we must anticipate change, and even protect the most vulnerable from ill-effects, we should not lock ourselves into a blind refusal to contemplate change.”
Listing the key challenges before the country, the prime minister said these were livelihood security, economic security, energy security, ecological security and national security.
Fiscal stability was necessary for economic security and to ensure that the country’s sovereignty and self-respect are not endangered, Singh stressed. “India has paid a heavy price in the past for fiscal profligacy. Fortunately we were able to overcome the problem fairly quickly and for most of the past two decades we have been able to hold our head high,” he said.
Fiscal stability, however, has worsened significantly in the past three years from 2.7 per cent of GDP in 2007-08 to 5.1 per cent in 2010-11. Singh said this was mainly because “we took a conscious decision to allow a larger fiscal deficit in 2009-10 in order to counter the global slowdown” . However, the prime minister cautioned, “like other countries that resorted to this strategy, we have run out of fiscal space”.
To restore fiscal stability in the medium term, he said, the most important step was implementing the Goods and Services Tax and pruning subsidies. GST will modernise the indirect tax system, improve economic efficiency and also increase total revenues. Another important step is the phased reduction in subsidies. “Some subsidies, such as food subsidies, are justifiable on social grounds and are expected to expand once the Food Security bill becomes operational. But there are other subsidies that are not and these must be contained,” Singh said.
According to Singh, to achieve sustained rapid growth, “the only way we can wipe out poverty in a sustainable fashion”, India must do more than just halt the current slowdown (while in 2007-08, growth rate was 9.3 per cent, in 2011-12, it is likely to be 7 per cent). “We need to usher in a second agricultural revolution to ensure sufficient growth in rural incomes... Our urban population is expected to grow from 380 million at present to 600 million by 2030. We must be able to provide productive jobs in the non-agricultural sector for this expanding urban population, and we must also be able to expand our urban infrastructure to deal with the expected expansion of the urban population,” he said.
Stressing on education, Singh said: “I firmly believe that educating our children, providing them with employable skills, while also ensuring their good health, must be our first and primary task. There is no better investment we can make in the future,” he said.
To ensure energy security, the prime minister said, the country needed more investment in established sources of energy such as coal, oil, gas, hydro-electricity and nuclear power. “Parallel with expanding domestic supplies, we need to promote energy efficiency,” he said.
The prime minister also stressed on the need to secure ecological security. “We owe it to future generations to ensure that the environment they inherit from us is at least as capable of providing economic security to them as the one we inherited from our parents.”
Acknowledging that the economy had slowed down and inflation edged up, Singh said this was only a temporary phenomenon. “We must not be too downcast... We must remember that downturns are followed by upturns. Indeed, they are often a test of our ability to respond to new challenges,” he said.
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countrymen need to heed to this well articulated policy direction of the honourable prime minister.His wise counsel and pragmatic approach is invaluable at this juncture for the country.He knows more than anyone,how to balance the measure for growth without jeopardising the interset of our vulnerable section of population.
If I am not mistaken, Mr.Manmohan Singhs daughter is historian, and I want to ask her 'How her Father will be remembered in Modern Indian History.
The PM open his mouth again with a speech of economical growth of his policy which could not be passed in the parliament due to his minority and failing the majority in the parliament for any policy indulging enhancement of the ordinary people´s living standard or to eradicate the poverty ever. The PM failed to secure the Govt., s majority to pass any sort of bill or policy due to his connivance of corruption. So he is having no more the power of ombudsman to implement any policy for the publics. In such critical juncture, the peoples must ouster him at any possible way otherwise he is likely to clinching on the chair of PM to accomplish his tenure till 2014. It will be further danger for Indian democracy and for the aam aadmi. The PM has no voice more to convince the parliament and the people of India to rule with his minority UPA Govt.,
Everytime he is pushing the limits of ordinary people by increasing their burden through heavy taxation, high inflation and high interest rates. Now he is talking about removing subsidies yet calling himself caring for Adam-aadmi. If he cared about people he would have come up with strong Lokpal Bill or would have recovered black money from Europe to offset economy. For him common man hardships are secondary instead his devotion to his Madam so that he can glue to this meaningless PM post through Rajyasabha Road
Subsidies should be given to the people who really need it. SOPS should be given to farmers who are below poverty line. The honorary PM and his party use subsidies and reservations to garner votes dividing india along caste and religion.If he wants development ask him to throw corrupt people out.Respect people's hard earned mney and use it wisely.Development will come only when the leader is strong and just.not when he bends over backwards to the party high command.If you want to speak about development start working on how to implement good and stable policies withut graft,corruption and red tape.Take cues from Modi's administration. Please remember. govt is for the people,by the people and of the people.
It is the PM to dive off water to a sigh for his PM chair to hold back without majority in Parliament, to get the imminent polls to win in favour of congress and UPA.The peoples could not get the politic and they are even deprived of getting their rights and it is being constituted to be breaking the law. As the language of PM, he says that the fiscal space having run out due to stashing away the black money in a dimension of trillions in Swiss Bank and else- where in the world and he could not have been able to bring back that fiscal wealth of India yet. It is purely the vote Bank politic which could be turned to normal only by the opposition in a democracy that the Opposition specially with the BJP´s majority should ask for a vote of confidence in the parliament, as his UPA and the congress have no majority in the parliament to rule India further. If he fails, then only he will be able to come in normal sense.
If the prime minister really means what he says, let him stop the subsidy of Diesel and LPG just before the UP elections not minding the consequences. Prattling is something practicing is another.
Like water finds its own level. in a society change is inevitable. One cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg. Similarly if the PM really wants to bring about constructive change, he should forego populist measures and go in for policies which are to the benefit of the country and common man. A bitter medicine is difficult to swallow-get over the vote bank politics and bring in the change. Posterity will judge him as a person who was instrumental in placing the country on road to prosperity. PM shold have frequent interaction with India Inc and not muddled up politicians for the growth of the country.
Like everyone's New Year's resolution, the one made by our Prime Minister is also gonna last just 1 week.
A Good man trying to bring up the Nation,got caught between Bjp and smaller parties.Mr Yashwant sinha famous for pledging gold & responsible for rotting of UTI nowadays talks too much.God save the country.
Strongly agreed Sir.........by supporting Anna Hazaare we are showing our impatience.....do we want this country to become like libya or egypt?..Democracy is at its best in India.....probably this is the best time to support our constitution...rather than supporting some hooligans....like Anna / Ramdev / Arvind Kejriwal....who do not have any intuition to do something good for the people....the are busy to promote themselves in front of media & get monitory gain from other parties like BJP----------Support Congress.....Support India....Support Democracy....
It was great to hear from the Prime Minister his vision statement. It will be greater if we are able to have this type of communication more frequently.
POLITICAL STABILITY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMY. DURING THE DAWN OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONTINUANCE PERIOD DRING 1950 TO 1960 CONGRESS WA ONLY LEADING POLITICAL PARTY IN RULING GOVT OF INDIA.THE ECONOMIC SCHEMES LIKE FIVE YEAR PLANS BANKNATIONALAISATION LONG TERM PLAMS, INFRASTRUCTURE, FIVE YEAR PLANS,AGRICULTURE GREEN REVELUTION, EMPLOYMENT OPPURTUNITY WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF POLITICAL STABLITY.THE PRESENT POLITICAL MOVEMENT THERE IS NO COOPERATION WITH THE POLITICAL PARTIES SINCE EVERY PARTY HAS A DIFFERENT POLICY THE SAME WE HAVE WITNESSED IN FDI INRETAIL EXECUTIVE ECNOMIC SCHEME WHICH WAS AGITATED BY THE OPPOSITE POLITICAL PARTIES WITH WRONG NOTION ON POLL BOUNDING AND VOTE BANK DEVELOPING WHICH AFFECTS INDIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, I AM NOT AN ECONOMIST BUT THROUGH MY AGE EXPERIENCE I AM GIVING THIS COMMENT.MORE OVER INDIA NEEDS HONOUST POLITICALPARTIES AND HONOUST POLITICIANS TO PROMOTE THE NATION.
happy new years day for all the citizens India and fast growth of economy in the eyes of the Globe.Indians we are always face anykind of situation and come up from the crisis when the world economy was in crisis our economy was stable and growth fluctuating. As Dr.ManmohanSingh said Fiscal stability was necessary for economic security and country's sovereignty is not endangered and we have overcome all the problems since two decades India will grow to a high economic development in the eyes of the nation.
Change that is right. The corrupt have been grabbing all notes and have left small change to the common man. Now it is certain in their last days they will try to grab that too before Indian drive all of them to prison. Happy New Year
dear editor, The political parties take the easy route to become popular and they find to reduce price or any other pubic help can be carried out by subsidisng which if analyzed will beobserved as fangerous to the very existance of the country.Hard economis work to develop must the policy.Sunsidy must be analyzed and removed from many segment to unload the econimic BURDEN THRUST on the nation by unskikked and inefficient political leadership example NREGS there is guranteed employment then why the same people should have subsidised food?When agricultural products floor price is guranteed why the same citizen get subsidy for fertilizers?Ab economic team must be employed to analyze this subsidy and report from which all subsidy he removed so that the economy can grow in the real sensedated Sunday January 01st 2012 Time 0445 HRs ist
Government needs to proactively work with industry for progress. It can not always work for appreciation from western friends. As a first step, it shall pledge all government projects involving high technology or technology not available with-in the country must be planned in advance and industry shall be given suffecient time to develop the technology. Otherwise all government spending goes to foreign companies directly, or used by them to develop there capabilities.