Did India shine?

ECONOMIC SURVEY 2003-04

The stock market boom and the high-tech revolution didn't turn up the wattage in rural India where the problems are reminiscent of those portrayed by Bimal Roy "" the struggle of a farmer against indebtedness.

Recognising the social justice issue, the Survey is very clear that a business-as-usual approach won't work to reduce poverty. So it recommends increased use of targeted job creation and redistributive programmes.

Indeed, it rejects the view that the services sector growth will meet the country's employment needs, and stresses the need to get industrial growth up to the two-digit mark.

To fuel this growth the area of concern is the very poor investment scene, with the savings rate exceeding the investment rate in the economy by almost 1 per cent of GDP.

The unincorporated or household sector's rate of investment has almost doubled in the last six years, but that of the public and private corporate sector continues to stagnate.

The Budget, this would suggest, would aim at providing a kickstart to public sector investment in particular.

While there has been an impressive hike in social sector spending, the results are disappointing and the Survey suggests greater use of private delivery systems coupled with public monies for best results.