Indias Problems Need Special Focus

Hosting a luncheon for visiting World Bank president James D Wolfensohn, Sangma said while there were greater needs in war-torn countries and in Africa and in the least developed countries, India too had problems which could not be ignored.

India was a land of contrasts with strong and vibrant middle class of 200 million, which is now acting as a magnet for foreign investors and exporters, he said.

The challenge of poverty in Indias context defies all formulae of economic transformation and this is particularly so because of the stunning magnitude of the clientele for development in individual states. There are, 13 states with a population of more than 20 million, six states with a population of more than 60 million, three states of more than 80 million and one state of 140 million people.

 

Linguistic and ethnic differences, societal values and work culture in these state are highly diverse further confounding the scenario, Sangma said asking for a deeper appreciation by the World Bank. Sangma said India had made every effort to dismantle trade barriers to trade and investment and improve the environment of enterprise.

All these efforts have come to have a reasonable degree of acceptance cutting across political ideologies but in an open society, there were bound to be problems in forcing the pace of re-adjustment.

We are concerned that the shock of adjustment should not turn out to be lethal or paralysing, Sangma said.

India, gave priority to infrastructure and human development which is reflected in Indias borrowals from the World Bank during 1996 with 30 per cent going to energy, 22 per cent to agriculture and allied services and about 12 per cent for industries and finance and about 19 per cent for the social sector.