Costly Banter

The government will intervene on the side of the poor, in private as well as public investments, to boost investments, according to Union finance minister P Chidambaram.

India is set wipe out poverty and become the fourth largest economy in the world by the year 2020, he said, while inaugurating a Citibank-sposored computer centre at the South Indian Education Society in Mumbai on Saturday.

Presenting a lofty vision and brushing aside all apprehension, Chidambaram said: 'Is it possible? Not only possible, but having willing support, it is indeed achievable.'

'The road ahead for Indian economy would be a well paved one, unlike Mumbai's rain-affected roads. India would not face the travails it faced in the first 50 years. Indeed there would be a pot of gold at the end of the road,' Chidambaram said.

After 50 years of Independence, the country is set to enter the second freedom struggle, Chidambaram said. 'Freedom from hypocrisy, caste and social ostracism, and all that divides the population. To have an equitable growth for the entire 950 million Indians, especially those 300 million still languishing below the poverty line, there would be no soft options. While the poor and downtrodden would be protected, efficiency and competition is expected from those already on the road of progress,' he said.