India’s future economic growth daunting than 1991: Former PM Manmohan Singh

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Marking the 30 years of economic liberalisation, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said that the road to economic growth is even more daunting than it was during the 1991 crisis. He said the nation would need to recalibrate its approach to ensure its citizens live a dignified life. Singh expressed his pain over the havoc wreaked by Covid-19 and the countless loss of lives. He said that 30 years ago in 1991, the Congress party lead significant economic reforms which paved a way for India’s economic policy.

He further added that many successive governments have followed this path to make India a $3 trillion economy and become one of the world’s largest economies.

‘No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come’, Singh quoted as he recalled his budget speech as finance minister in 1991.

“Thirty years later, as a nation, we must remember Robert Frost’s poem — ‘But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep,” he added further.

He said that it is not a time to celebrate but to introspect and ponder as the road ahead is tougher than the 1991 economic crisis. The social sectors of health and education are not keeping pace with the overall economic progress.

The 1991 economic reforms process paced up the momentum of free enterprise which has helped produce world-class companies. This has led to India’s emergence as a global power in many sectors.

“The economic liberalisation process in 1991 was triggered by an economic crisis that confronted our nation then, but it was not limited to crisis management. The edifice of India’s economic reforms was built on the desire to prosper, the belief in our capabilities, and the confidence to relinquish control of the economy by the government,” Singh added.

Singh feels fortunate to play a role in this reform process along with several of his colleagues in the Congress party.