'No effort will be spared to tackle the crisis'

Amidst news of thousands of domestic job cuts every day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured that no effort would be spared to “neutralise” to the “maximum” the global meltdown’s adverse impacts on India. Trying to boost confidence, Singh also said that although the global economy is “going through choppy waters we can and we will survive this crisis and emerge stronger.”

“No instruments of public policy will be spared. We will use fiscal, monetary, public investment and exchange rate" to tackle the crisis, he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. The Prime Minister asserted that the economy would still maintain a growth rate of eight per cent this year. As different sectors like the real estate and textile are already facing slump, the Prime Minister assured that his government is fully committed to ensuring that the country's industry "sails and sails, not in the choppy waters but moves ahead with speed."

“We must learn to respect the spirit of adventure and enterprise in our entrepreneurs,” he added.

Not only he cited the economic crisis of 1991 and said the situation was "more" serious but was overcome efficiently Singh also spoke about his personal life to drive home some points. “Like millions of Indians I come from a family of modest means. I lived in a dusty village with no doctor around, no school, no electricity, no paved roads, no safe drinking water facility. But it was the burning desire to learn, to be educated, that has brought me here to these glittering halls from that distant village without hope.”

Even as the economic crisis has emerged as the main concern of the government, Singh didn’t forget to mention about the social challenges. “We must improve the quality of our educational system. We must improve the public delivery system, especially in health care, sanitation, drinking water, education and public transport. We must build a more efficient and competitive society,” he said.

Patting his government for 'having anticipated the global economic slowdown and made provisions in the last union budget. He said that the provisions for decent agriculture prices, social safety network schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and implementation of the pay commission report were some of the farsighted moves of his government.

The PM also promised ''liberal credits and bringing down the cost of credit’’ to help the small and medium enterprises (SME), exporters and labour intensive enterprises, which, he said, ''often get neglected’’ during the policymaking.

The PM said that he was reluctant to attend the summit as all previous such meets had merely proved to be ''breakfast and dinner-eating occasions.’’ He however attended it after US President George Bush assured him that the exercise would be meaningful and inclusive.

Happy at the outcome of the G-20 summit, Singh said for the first time the developing nation’s voice was heard with respect.