Author: oiop

The Approach Paper to the 12 th Five Year Plan was titled “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth.” Sadly, there is no discussion about the status of women and the need to make a special effort to improve it. If there is no fundamental change in the direction of government policies, which need to turn their face to the poor, the marginalised and the deprived in our country, inclusive growth for women will be only a distant dream, says Kiran Moghe. It is usually expected that when there is growth and development in any economy, the fruits of this growth…

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Inclusive growth is not just a matter of making laws and creating governmental welfare programmes. It needs a cultural shift in the society. Schools are but one point where the process of shifting can begin, says Dr. Madhav Chavan. In a country where about 97% children are enrolled in a school in the vicinity of their home, the problem of ensuring the remaining 3% get to go to a school is an obvious one. Either the school has not quite reached their neighbourhood or there are obstacles — physical, social, or economic; often all three that prevent them from going…

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Strengthening village economy and MSMEs can help decrease the intensity of the economic slowdown, writes Amrita. S. Nair, as she offers a few suggestions to revive growth. India’s growth fell below 5% this year from a robust 9.4% in 2007. However the reason for the slow growth needs to be traced if we have to ease the situation of economic uncertainty which has fuelled the slowdown. India has been seeing persistent high inflation for a while. With slow growth this year and falling rupee the inflation rate is much higher with WPI (Wholesale Price Index) and CPI (Consumer Price Index)…

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Honour and pride…forever (1967-2007) Colonel Venugopal Vasanth was born on 25 March 1967 in Bangalore. His father, N K Venugopal, worked with LIC and was required to travel all over Karnataka along with the family. Vasanth studied in Udipi, Shimoga and Bangalore. He joined the MES College at Bangalore and was a member of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). He took part in the Indo-Canada Youth Exchange Programme in 1986-87 and graduated in 1988. He was a brilliant student and had been selected for MBA in the prestigious IIM but preferred to join the IMA (Indian Military Academy). Army was…

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Accidents in rural areas – on field, roads, at home, etc., are on sharp rise, but this fact is grossly neglected as discussions on accidents take place only in an urban context. Casualties too are higher in rural areas as primary and emergency healthcare facilities are negligible. While it is widely agreed that accidents take a heavy toll of human lives in India, most discussion on accidents takes place only in an urban context. There is very little recognition of the fact that accident rate in rural areas can also be very high, and in addition the mortality in rural…

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Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan proposes seven broad approaches to promote inclusive growth in the next decade. He believes India has the technology, resources and cumulative knowledge to make every Indian a productive member of a modern economy. But what is needed is an honest and robust approach in place of symbolism, hypocrisy and short-term populism, he says. For long, India was handicapped by the “Hindu rate of growth” of about 3% per annum. Much of the West saw a post war economic boom. As Asia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore showed remarkable dynamism and their growth rate grew spectacular, in three…

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Economic growth has not generated as many jobs as anticipated. There also appears to be a growth in survival strategies to stay above the line of destitution instead of measurable employment, says Anuradha Kalhan. By now for those who recognise, it is obvious that economic growth of the kind we have had in India for the last two decades does not create as many jobs as anticipated by the Planning Commission, or the kind that can be counted by NSSO (National Sample Survey Organisation) surveys. Employment growth for the period 1993-94 to 1999- 2000 was 1% per annum, for the…

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V Gangadhar finds the term ‘inclusive growth’ too complicated and runs from pillar to post to understand its meaning. He can take comfort in the fact that even our ministers, governments and economists haven’t understood the term yet. A freelance columnist is supposed to know everything, he is a sort of ‘subjantawala’. This has its advantages and drawbacks. When he sits before his computer he must be ready to dash off articles on anything, from Alkaloid Poisons to Zymosis. Since I have been doing this for the past 25 years, I normally do not have any problems with any kind…

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Shwetha E. George gets to savour delicious Christmas fare at some of the households in Kerala who have retained the traditional way of cooking authentic recipes albeit with some innovations. Ring out the old and ring in the new’. Come December and that’s the catchphrase for the season – it’s all about new gadgets, new clothes, new resolutions… But, even today, when it comes to Christmas cooking in the south, tradition reigns supreme, be it the native Syrian Christian fare that’s served in homes across Kerala or the typical English Christmas feasts tabled at the plantation clubs of the Nilgiris.…

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Arup Mitra is Professor of Economics, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. His research interest encompasses urban development, labour and welfare, industrial productivity and growth, and gender disparities. He has written four books and more than hundred papers in various academic journals and edited volumes. His latest book Insights into Inclusive Growth, Employment and Wellbeing in India covers a wide range of issues in development. Prof. Mitra, in an email interview with Rajlakshmi Pillai, speaks about the various factors that can contribute or hinder inclusive growth. In his view, if inclusive growth in India is pursued realistically, it can be a…

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