This has reference to the editorial “A dose of optimism” (Oct. 24). It was heartening to read the growth projections by the PMEAC and the RBI that signify that the economy has weathered the crisis well. Revival in industrial growth is fine but the decline in agricultural output is haunting. The economic growth needs to be reflected in growth of the people. The increasing farmer suicides, the high maternal and infant mortality rates and the rising inflation well manifested in a continued and abysmally low position vis-À-vis the human development index are still a cause for concern. It is high time we started focussing on converting these higher but iniquitous growth rates to higher but ubiquitous growth rates.
Anshul Garg,
New Delhi
***
For many, the optimism of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council about growth does not mean anything when they have to pay a hundred rupees for a kg of tur dal and more than 30 rupees for a kg of sugar. The stimulus packages, including the low interest rates, and the economically unrealistic stock market boom have put so much Indian and foreign money into the system that inflationary pressures have become inevitable when agricultural production and even industrial output dipped. What people would like to know from the PMEAC is about the prospects for making both ends meet.
K. Vijayakumar
Bangalore
