Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India’s performance on all economic parameters, including inflation and foreign investments, was now better than when his government assumed office 17 months ago.
Speaking at the Delhi Economics Conclave 2015, Mr. Modi stressed that his government planned to roll out inclusive reforms that would lead to better lives for people and not just better headlines in pink newspapers.
“The question is reforms for what…is the aim just to achieve higher GDP growth rates or to bring about transformation of society…then the question is reforms for whom…to impress groups of experts or achieve higher ranks in international league tables…the answer is reforms which will help all citizens especially the poor…it should be sabka sath, sabka vikas…reform to transform.”
The Prime Minister’s statement assumed significance as the “Gujarat Model” had faced criticism from some quarters that alleged it chased economic growth to the exclusion of development. Mr. Modi said there was a whole eco-system focused on alleviating poverty, which could be called the “poverty alleviation industry.”
“Obviously the intentions are good…Well-designed schemes and subsidies do have an important place…But empowering the poor is far more effective than empowering the poverty alleviation industry,” Mr. Modi said, even as reports that the organisers of the conclave, the Finance Ministry, had withdrawn, at the last minute, its invitation to former member of the UPA government’s National Advisory Council Jean Dreze.
Mr. Modi was the first Prime Minister to attend the Delhi Economics Conclave in its six-year history.
He also said the government had brought back as much as Rs. 10,500 crore of the black money stashed away abroad and that the JAM (Jandhan, Aadhar and Mudra) initiatives were all about “achieving maximum values for every rupee spent, maximum empowerment and maximum technology penetration among the masses.”
“What we have done in the last 17 months is to bring one hundred and ninety million people into the banking system, which is more than the population of most of the countries in the world,” he said.
“Now these millions are part of our banking system, and words like ‘interest rate’ have a meaning for them.”
He said almost Rs. 26,000 crore or nearly four billion dollars was currently held in the accounts opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana. This, he said, was a quiet revolution that had hardly been noticed.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, he said, banks provided more than six million loans to small businesses for a total value of nearly Rs. 38,000 crore or six billion dollars. If one conservatively estimated that each loan created two jobs, he said, his government had already laid the foundation for 12 million new jobs.
“Even Rs. 2,00,000 crore invested in the corporate sector would not produce this many jobs.”
