By IANS
New Delhi : Economic reforms and robust growth will prove futile unless they benefit larger sections of the society, especially the poor. This was the broad consensus among panellists at a lively debate here.
The occasion was the release of a book authored by former bureaucrat N.K. Singh entitled "The Politics of Change: A Ringside View" with an impressive list of panellists including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday night.
"How can we have a discussion among eight people with same views," Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said. "There is an India which lies outside these views," he added, and wanted more powers for grassroots governance.
Former minister Arun Shourie, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and ICICI Bank managing director K.V. Kamath felt that there was need to tone up the delivery mechanism of various schemes to ensure inclusive growth.
"We have to have an internal desire to change," Ambani said. And Kamath added: "I am not cynical but highly optimistic. If there is a combination of political and bureaucratic enterprise, miracles can happen."
According to Chidambaram, direct cash transfer to the poor was the single most popular programme for poverty alleviation until the government decided to give them jobs with guaranteed money.
"But we need to have the money for it. We will need to dismantle the existing schemes and the system. I will do my sums tonight to see if we have the money," he said, adding governance in states was depressingly lower than at Centre.
Lord Meghnad Desai wondered why poverty alleviation was such a difficult task, since that was the primary function of any government. "Why can't we give a dollar a day to every poor person?" he questioned.
As for the book, the author seeks to give the reader a window and insights into India's political economy, its engagement with the world and the realities of coalition politics that the country has been experiencing for over a decade.
The book is a collection of articles written for the Indian Express by Singh, who wore several hats in the government between 1991 and 2004 – expenditure secretary, secretary to the prime minister and Planning Commission member.
"The economic policy changes of the past decade-and-a-half unleashed a side of India that has taken the world by storm. But the current growth trends are not sustainable without further reforms," he maintains.
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