India's low per capita income worrying, needs to be looked at: Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that India’s low per capita income as compared to other countries is a worrying factor and needs to be looked into.

Addressing a talk on India Today and Tomorrow, the finance minister said that dependency on agriculture in the post-pandemic world is one of India’s strengths.

She said agriculture, realising the untapped potential of India’s natural resources and building infrastructure are the three pillars on which today’s India is being built.

She added the extensive use of digital technology during the lockdown and its ready adoption by millions in India are big things. 

This is due to the digital revolution brought about by the government in the last few years. “Today’s India is assertive, confident but at the same time cautious and its leadership has never been expansionist,” said Sitharaman.

She said during the pandemic and even afterwards, India showed its global leadership by becoming the pharmacy of the world. It is leading the way in manufacturing and delivering critical protective gear such as PPE kits and hydrochoroquinine tablets.

“India’s global leadership position in responding to emergencies is now recognised by the world,” said the minister.

She said, “In the last six years of the Modi government, we have shown the world how contentious issues such as building of the Ram Temple or banning Triple Talaq could be solved through the rule of law.” 

The finance minister called upon the youth of the country to involve themselves in acqui­ring geographical indicator (GI) tags for Indian products so that their global marketability and acceptance grows.

“We also need a greater number of patents to be registered from India as these are the areas where we are way behind big countries of the world,” Sitharaman said.

She said India needs more start-ups in the agriculture space for giving in-situ solutions to various problems.

“Opportunities are clearly before us and it is we who need to exploit them,” said Sitharaman.

The finance minister said that India’s demography and population are a challenge from the point of view of skilling them and providing for jobs. However, she added that the growing number of doctors and scientists, among others, coming out of India gives a lot of hope.