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158 Gandhi’s Economic Thought
basic and heavy industries like iron and steel and heavy machinery industries and also opted
for import substitution.
The Government took measures for controlling population growth rate but compulsory measures
were resisted. The government has been relying more on incentives and on concentrating on
‘family welfare planning’.
In human resources development, school education was promoted in a big way, a net work
of vocational training institutes was established, and the higher education institutional network
was expanded, like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs).
In the field of resource-use efficiency, the government also promoted productivity under the
apex ‘National Productivity Council’ and quality control framework including the Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS) for certifying and encouraging quality standards. It also promoted R
&D activities in pharmaceutical and food-processing industries.
In the area of pricing of inputs, government made attempts to balance the interests of producers
like the farmers and manufacturers and the consumers. Institutions like the Commission on
Agricultural Costs and Prices, and Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices have been established
to ensure prices based on costs, demand, supply, balancing and development requirements.
Attempts were made for women’s empowerment, especially after 1975. Some of the measures
include setting-up of National Commission for Women, reservation in local bodies, Women
entrepreneurship promoted by institutions like Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) in
Maharashtra and by institutions for entrepreneurship at central and state levels.
Natural resources are very vital for development and good life. Government has been promoting
usage, conservation, and exploitation of minerals and metals. National Forest Policy Resolution
takes care of forests, their expansion and development. Similar steps were taken for optimum
utilisation of water, soil, petroleum and gas etc.
A significant change took place in the role of government since 1991 when the economic
reforms were introduced under the liberalisation regime. As a result, government is withdrawing
from areas like business leaving them to market forces, and the basic focus of creating a
sound and sustainable economy is now being shared between government and the private
sector.
15.5.3 Social Justice
In the process of creating sustainable economy, the government has also been promoting
social justice wherever possible by promoting special schemes for the needy sections, keeping
in view the social justice aspects in the society. Some of the important developments are stated
below.
While framing fiscal and monetary policies, the needs of poor and unemployed and the
prevailing inequalities are sought to be attended to. For example, while levying taxes, government
keeps this principle in view and imposes taxes to ensure that the burden of taxation is shared
by people according to their abilities and capacities. In taxing income, progressive taxation is
resorted to where people below a level of income are totally exempt from income tax.
Government’s expenditure policies pay special attention to infrastructural facilities which are
needed for common people most of who are poor. Similarly by taxing incomes and commodities
of richer sections, Government levies a higher rate of taxes so that more resources are
mobilised and inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth are reduced.
In the field of education, training, and employment, government meets the demand of social
Sustainable Economy and Social Justice 159
justice by having the policy of reservation for S.Cs./S.Ts/OBCs and other disadvantaged
sections, starting from school and extending upto elite institutions like the IIMs and IITs. There
is reservation for these sections, which enables them to improve their standards of living and
quality of life over a period of time when they start earning better and thus overcome their
chronic socio-economic problems.
A number of special measures for those who are poor and suffer from social disabilities are
promoted like poverty eradication schemes like the Integrated Rural Development Programme
(IRDP), Food for Work programme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and
Mid-Day Meals Scheme (MDMS) for the poor and backward sections to overcome acute
poverty and hunger.
Similarly special employment schemes are being initiated for poor, less educated or backward
sections. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in rural areas ensures employment
to one person in a household for 100 days in a year. This scheme takes care of both poverty
and unemployment and also ensures creation of productive assets thus directly helping in
building up a sustainable economy. Government also has schemes for urban areas like the
Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY).
It has been promoting self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship schemes for the poor and
socially deprived people. There are apex institutions like the National Institute for
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) in New Delhi and the
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) in Ahmedabad which promote such
schemes among all, with special attention to those who are disadvantaged or disabled or poor
belonging to S.Cs/S/Ts/OBCs. There are such organisations at the state level also.
Inspite of the above measures towards ensuring sustainable economy and social justice, there
are problems of poor implementation and leakages. These aspects are discussed in the next
section.
15.6 SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE INDIAN ECONOMY

In this section we briefly analyse the effectiveness of the measures in the above-mentioned
areas. It should be noted that not all measures are quantitatively measurable. Some are
qualitative evaluations. The positive and negative aspects of sustainability and social justice are
discussed here.
15.6.1 Positive Aspects
India’s economic growth has been steadily moving towards a higher path, despite fluctuations
in some years. It can be analysed in three phases. In the first phase of 1951-80 the average
annual growth rate was 3.6%. During this period a strong industrial and economic foundation
was laid and substantial development of basic and capital goods had taken place. During the
second phase of 1981-90 the growth rate of the economy rose to 5.6% per annum. During
the third phase of 1992-2007 the growth rate accelerated to 6.1% per annum. During the
recent period of 2005-08 the growth rate increased to 9% per annum suggesting that from
July 1991, the growth rate has been impressive. During 2008-2010, it is expected to slow
down on account of the global recession but is expected to be around 6% or more. The
savings rate increased from 8.6% of the GDP in 1950-51 to over 34% now.
During the period of planning, significant infrastructural development took place, which has
strengthened the economy making it more sustainable. The installed generating capacity in
electricity rose from 2300 Mega Watt (MW) in 1950 to 1,43,800 MW by the end of March
2006. The production of crude oil too increased from 0.25 Million Tons (Mn.Ts) in 1950-

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158 Gandhi’s Economic Thought

15.6 SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE INDIAN ECONOMY

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