Budget to push policies to rev up GDP growth

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday hinted at policies to promote growth, investment and employment generation in the Budget to be presented on July 8. â€œRapid growth is crucial for human development. It is imperative to create policy environment for promoting growth and investment,â€� finance secretary DC Gupta said addressing a World Bank seminar on â€˜Millennium development goals (MDG) in Indiaâ€™ here.Growth does not benefit the poor unless it generates employment avenues, which is essential to meet the MDG of halving the number of people living below the poverty level by â€™15, he said. Citing Indiaâ€™s experience during the Eighth 5-Year Plan, Mr Gupta said, â€œThe sharpest decline in poverty rate was during 1992-97, when GDP growth was the highest.â€� â€œStressing on a â€˜balanced approachâ€™ for growth with equitable distribution of resources, he said regional disparities need to be removed through rapid economic development in poorer states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. The country faces the challenge of reducing poverty in these areas.â€� Delivery of public services has to be improved and last mile projects completed, he added. Calling for optimum utilisation of resources, Mr Gupta said that India can achieve the MDGs well before â€™15 but there is a need to innovate and optimise the allocated resources. He said that foreign aid flow must increase, as it currently amounts to a meagre 0.5% of the GDP, with the rest garnered from domestic sources. World Bank country director Michael Carter said service delivery in health, education, water, sanitation and safety needs to be improved. â€œHow service delivery will be strengthened in the lagging states of the country needs to be further examined and better understood,â€� he said. Mr Carter said the World Bank is committed to supporting Indiaâ€™s efforts to achieve its human development goals and it is the â€œcentralâ€� theme of their work in the country. World Bank vice-president (South Asia) Praful Patel said there were two Indias â€” one where economic reforms and social changes have begun to take hold where peopleâ€™s lives are improving and opportunities emerging, and the other where millions of poor are struggling for access to basic services and opportunities, especially in the rural areas. He said India can achieve its development goals only if there is a â€œbig leapâ€� in progress in states like Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. This would depend on sustained economic growth, â€œsignificantâ€� improvements in governance and delivery of education and health services, and â€œcriticalâ€� investments in water, sanitation, roads and electricity, Mr Patel said. Stressing on the need for reducing infant mortality and gender disparities and rooting out HIV/AIDS, he said â€œtackling and achieving these human development goals as embraced in the MDGs is clearly vital for sustained and equitable growth in India.â€�

Budget to push policies to rev up GDP growth

The government on Thursday hinted at policies to promote growth, investment and employment generation in the Budget to be presented on July 8.

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