tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2128859103258265367.post4949158354932724624..comments2024-03-07T20:42:19.599+05:30Comments on വര്ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറം: India: Growth for Whom?വര്ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറംhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00731641929122914433noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2128859103258265367.post-23280984411242249912011-01-10T21:28:37.815+05:302011-01-10T21:28:37.815+05:30The year 2010 would be remembered as a scam-tainte...The year 2010 would be remembered as a scam-tainted year when allegations of corruption, both public and private, were difficult to keep track of. Overwhelmed by these allegations, the government has attempted to focus on the fact that India is among the fastest growing countries in the world. But even that boastful claim has been weakened by the fact of high inflation in commodities varying from wheat and rice to onions and tomatoes.<br /><br />Yet, as the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, commentators taking a longer view are likely to declare that that it marked a period when India successfully pursued a growth strategy based on internal and external liberalisation. In fact, India is being presented as a country that has traversed under such policies onto a high growth trajectory. This is backed by the evidence of near-sustained 8-9 per cent rate of GDP growth since 2003-04 and the rather quick and sharp recovery of GDP growth after the deceleration triggered by the global financial and economic crisis. Not surprisingly, policies based on market fundamentalism are being presented as the drivers that have delivered the high growth needed for economic "take-off."<br /><br />What this assessment ignores is, of course, the question: Growth for whom? As has been repeatedly noted but inadequately stressed, the fact is that India is a country still plagued by hunger with among the highest rates of malnutrition in the world. Deprivation in other forms such as lack of access to clean drinking water, sanitation, basic health facilities and school education still afflict a large proportion of the population.വര്ക്കേഴ്സ് ഫോറംhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00731641929122914433noreply@blogger.com