The fall in India’s economic growth to less than 5 per cent has created the need for a second batch of economic reforms (‘Sunday Anchor’ page, Jan.4). While the previous set of reforms led to fruitful outcomes, the downside has been growing inequality between the poor and the rich. In such a situation, the present reforms should be directed towards achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development. Given the weak macroeconomic factors in the global economy today, the proposed batch of reforms should be directed towards raising domestic investment, both public and private, instead of focussing on foreign investment. These should be accompanied by administrative reforms that eliminate corruption and the development of crony capitalism. The mandate India has given the BJP also includes the right to carry out bold reforms, but in a democratic way. Ushering in reforms through the ordinance route is unacceptable as the interests of the larger population must be kept in mind.
Balaji Akiri,Hyderabad
