The measures taken in 1990s made India as worlds fastest rising economies. The boom of the IT sector and enhanced agricultural production formed an atmosphere of hopefulness, which led to invent of phrases, such as Incredible India, and India 2020. The Indian development story was one of high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) escalation but basically driven by the expansion in service sector. But not all sectors of the nation have developed at the same speed which is reflected in moderately low agricultural growth rate, low-quality in employment, deprived education, rural-urban divide, insufficient healthcare services, regional disparities and social inequalities. Growth which is not inclusive has an effect on the society, the polity, and also on the economy. Lack of inclusive growth results in real and or apparent inequalities, which has its own consequences. Inclusive growth encourages economic augmentation partially by expanding the foundation for local demands and partly by mounting the quantity of people with a stake in development and also in stable government. This paper explains the necessity to build Inclusive India and highlights why it is essential to focus on inclusive growth now by recognizing key levers in governance, education, infrastructure, healthcare, financial inclusion.
Key words: Inclusiveness, inclusive growth.
AUTHOR: Mrs.P.Vijayalakshmi M.com., M.phil. PGDCA.
Assistant professor, Department Of Commerce,
Sri Krishna Arts and Science College,
Coimbatore-8,
Tamilnadu.
CO-AUTHORS: M.Balamurugan
J.P.Gowtham
Students,
Department Of Commerce,
Sri Krishna Arts and Science College,
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To explain the necessity to build Inclusive India and highlights why it is essential to focus on inclusive growth now and
To identify different openings available for inclusive India by recognizing key levers in governance, education, infrastructure, healthcare, financial inclusion.
METHODOLOGY
This paper is descriptive and critical in nature. The study is mainly based on secondary sources such as books and WebPages.
INTRODUCTION
Indian market is the second largest consumer market in the world; the country's economy has been facing towering economic development in current years. As a result, its responsibility in the world, both politically and economically has increased. On the other hand, it is keen that economic and social disparities across the country such as geographical, socio-economic, and cultural and gender lines have broaden in this phase. Inclusive growth, generally defined as fast development supporting every segment of society is the foremost approach of the Government of India. Inclusive growth is tremendously determined on the trend and extent of disparity, particularly about the regional inequality.
Reducing poverty, improving the quality of life, and ensuring that all parts of the society benefiting from the economic growth of the country is the primary motive of an inclusive growth plan. There are various micro and macro level interference which is favourable in promoting inclusive growth. The macro level, suggestions like better financial regulations, openness to Foreign Direct Investment, trade liberalization, tax reforms, privatization, providing social safety, reorientation of public expenses, and lawful and political reforms are helpful in leading policy negotiations for encouraging quick and inclusive growth. Where as in micro level, reducing income and non-income associated unfairness, developing infrastructure, education, healthcare, women's empowerment, access to markets, accountability, role played by civil society organizations, and good governance can help accelerate poverty reduction. Therefore it is clear that the key levers to achieve inclusive growth is increasing the accessibility, availability, quality, and affordability of different products and services so that all people will have fair opportunities. To accomplish this, the private sector and the government have to work mutually, while abiding by the primary principles of a democratic society. This paper explains about the necessity to build India in inclusive manner and lay emphasis on why it is crucial to spotlight on inclusive growth at present. It elaborates the opportunities available for developing an inclusive India by recognizing the key levers in the field of governance, education, infrastructure, healthcare and financial inclusion.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Inclusive growth is to be achieved so as to reduce poverty and inequality, and also to maintain economic growth. In respect of this, the Planning Commission have made inclusive growth as a goal in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). The summary of the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) lists tactic challenges which prolong the focus on inclusive growth. These include generation of employment, enhancing the capacity for growth, development of infrastructure, better healthcare, improved access to quality education, rural transformation, and continuous agricultural growth.
One of the main aims of the government in recent years is moving Incredible India to Inclusive India.In India 70% of the poor are from rural areas where there is a lack of fundamental infrastructure services such as roads, healthcare, education and drinking water. The key determinants of rural poverty in India are declined agricultural development, comparatively high food prices, and low rural wages, inadequate government expenses on rural growth and obsolete infrastructure. Similarly regional disparities continue to exist in inside the sates as well as between the states. Declined growth rates and poor services to public in the poor states further broadens the inequality in development. Most of the low-income states have rich natural resources but poor infrastructure and human development.
58% of the workforce in India is occupied in agricultural but the contribution of agricultural and related sectors in the GDP is only around 14%. Therefore, to remove poverty it is very important that the rural agriculture must be encouraged. Agriculture persists to endure because of uneven land holdings and water scarcity. Poor monsoon leads to crop failure and creates distress for farmers in repaying their debts.With the largest population and widespread poverty, the country experiences the worse situation in connecting the rising gap between the haves and the have-nots. It is very important to spotlight on inclusive growth currently as it is interconnected by numerous challenges in front of the government, such as increasing quantity and quality of employment, poverty reduction, social sector development, agricultural development, environmental protection and reduction in regional disparities.
NEED FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN INDIA
Inclusive growth is essential for sustainable growth and impartial allocation of wealth. The challenge is to obtain the height of growth to all parts of the society of the country. Developing people's skill is the most excellent way to attain inclusive growth . Ever since freedom, considerable development in India's economic and social improvement made the nation to develop strongly in the 21st century.
The following are the reasons why India must focus more on inclusive growth.
1. India is 7th largest country by area and 2nd by population and 12th largest economy at market exchange rate. Yet, India is lacking in development.
2. Low quality employment , Low agriculture growth, rural-urban divides, low human development, regional disparities and gender and social inequalities, etc. are the problems for the nation.
3. Reducing poverty and inequality and increasing economic growth are the main aim of the country through inclusive growth.
4. Political leadership plays a vital role in the overall development of the country which is not sustainable.
5. Corruption is one of the problems that prevent inclusive growth.
6. Accomplishment of highest GDP growth for country is one of the boosting factors which give the importance to the Inclusive Growth in India.
7. Literacy levels have to rise to provide the skilled workforce required for higher growth.
KEY LEVERS IN DIFFERENT SECTORS
GOVERNANCE
Good governance is at the centre of improving the deliverance of necessary services. It makes available the device for linking inclusion, decision making, and accountability. Poor infrastructure which makes critical for building an inclusive environment is often due to poor governance. Red tape, corruption and lack of responsibility have overwhelmed India from the time of independence.
The government has initiated many initiatives to attain the objective of rapid growth jointly with poverty reduction and inclusiveness. Almost many of these plans failed to accomplish their goals because of insufficient accountability, poor design, and corruption . Without efficient execution, even significant government expenditure outcome in limited success omly.From October 2010 the government has undertaken , 559 projects for infrastructure development and among them 14 were ahead of plan, 117 were on schedule, 293 are deferred and for balance 135 projects, no dates had been fixed for assignment.
Recognizing that responsibility and transparency are the more important essentials of good governance, the Right to Information Act (RTI) was passed in the year 2005. This act give power to people to obtain information from government and this enables better transparency and responsibility but the act itself experiences poor implementation. The government officers are always unwilling to share information and people also have less awareness about provisions of the act. It is found that because of lack of motivation by government officers there is always hindrance in the implementation of RTI applications. To fix the procedures, suitable changes are to be effected at institutional levels to fix the institutions that design the procedures.
Good governance rely on procedures and encouragement to not only design good policies, but also to put into practice these policies powerfully with utilization of resources. Transparency and responsibility in the deliverance of public services can be employed through participation of local self- governments and society. Efficient governance will help out in creating better service deliverance with improved reach to the poor. This will improve the chances for the poor to move from poverty and also reduce inequity in access to basic needs, like healthcare and education which promotes inclusive growth.
2. EDUCATION
Improved education is an key to good employment, improved earnings, and a good quality of life. Over the past decades, the worldwide economy has changed from manufacturing-centric to a knowledge driven one. The contribution of services sector has grown-up from 52% in 1970 to 68% in 2005. India's rising integration with the international economy and the growth of sectors such as BPO, IT, and monetary services have showed the approach of improved demand for knowledge employees. Even though India presently has 480 universities and 22,000 colleges, subsequently in next 10 years it will need 700 new universities and 35,000 new colleges. The population of India in various regions with different languages, and economic status, has commenced to increase the value of education in a worldwide and demonstrated an improved motivation to pay for quality education. It ie beleived that the poor people using their earnings send their children to English medium schools in the expectation of good future.
India requires to enlarge its education base drastically. The primary education in India is noticeable by many variation it is foun in the Seventh All India Education Survey by the National Council of Educational Research and Training that 80% of children in the age of 5-14 joined in schools, and later the rate went down to less than 50% for secondary schools.15% of government schools have only one teacher . In some states like Rajasthan and Bihar, only 50% of girls are willing to join in secondary education when comparing to boys. On the other hand, in states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala the secondary education enrolment rates is vice versa.
The government has conceded the Right to Education Act, to make education a basic right for all children in the age of 6 to14, but to achieved the goal of absolute literacy, more investment is needed in the ph academic infrastructure. The midday meal scheme passed by many state governments, with support from different NGOs and private sectors , ovecomes a main problem that has overwhelmed the education sector by increasing student attendance and decreasing dropout rates. still, other problems persists. Reports of teacher absence and inadequate infrastructure, likw crowded classrooms and also improper classrooms. In order to overcome this problem the Right to Education Act has made compulsory that maximum pupil-to-teacher ratio of 30:1, but according to the National University of Education Planning and Administration,12% of the schools have only one teacher for 60 students . To correct this difference it is reqiured to invest in training institutes for teachers and increasing the number of teachers by giving better incentives to them .
In Indian private education majority of revenues is from recognized educational institutes. The private sector is present in the formal education from preschools to colleges. In order to increase private sector participation in education sector, it is needed to set up more vocational training courses and institutions. India faces lack of skilful workers in sectors like retailing, hospitality and construction. The government has to provide proper physical infrastructure in terms of good classrooms with hightech equipments (for example the existing traditional method of teaching can be replaced with smart class) and the private sector can create training materials, educate teachers, decide certification principles and employ certified students. This type of arrangements will reduce training costs and provides large number of skilled, creative, and employable workers. Thus, overcoming the challenge in education with the pursuit of inclusive growth requires a intensive effort from government and industry .
3. INFRASTRUCTURE
growth of a country's economy mainly depends on the investment in infrastructure of the country. In the year 1980, India had more investment and infrastructure than China, but in the present day China is advanced in infrastructure accessibility, quality, and quantity. Poopulation of India, natural resources availability, and low cost foundation make it attractive as a manufacturing goal and the sector can consequently drive growth in employment and earnings. But in other hand for manufacturing to be sustainable and competitive it needs an well-organized supply chain and physical infrastructure for production of raw materials, storage of work in progress and refined goods, and quick transportation to public on the basis of demand. As criticised by Planning Commission excellent quality infrastructure most essential requirement for accomplishing rapid growth in a aggressive enviroinment and also investment in rural areas.
The Prime Minister Dr. Minoan Singh said that India requires to invest over 1 trillion USD in infrastructure by 2017 in order to achieve 10% growth rate. The Eleventh Five Year Plan includes improving 26,000 kilometres of trunk routes, the progress of golden quadrilateral, the North-South-East-West corridor, two freight strip, and the upgrading and expanding of 70 airports.
Enhancing transportation need investments in urban as well as rural infrastructure. harbours and airports provides a link for India to the other part of the world whereas the roadways and railways are considerd as the backbone as it helps in connecting different parts of the country, specially rural area to urban area. Financial support can be acquired through several ways such as public- private partnerships , government investments and private investments. Yet India has not completely exploited the power of insurance and retirement funds in the infrastructure sector. Proper supervision is needed to observe projects in order that they do not get deviated from their budgets and schedules, outflows are reduced, and they are in global standards. Inventive plans like National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to build road networks and enlarge railway networks and simultaneously creating employment can be used to speed up the growth of infrastructure creation of assets.
similar to other countries, the movement of public from rural to urban areas and from semi-urban to urban seeking employment and a better life is a growing trend in India. By the year 2030, It is expected that 41% of population in India will be living in town and cities so, the investment in construction of infrastructure spendigs will overrun out of project, and physical infrastructure are risks to the India's growth ensuring inclusive growth. whereas the public and private sectors are alert of the weakness existing in India's infrastructure, the approach to overcome these shortcomings must be more formal. Organized transformation in infrastructure growth life cyclefrom planning stage to development and final execution, can help to accomplish probable outcome in country's infrastructure.
4. HEALTHCARE
In India the healthcare industry is one of the fast growing industry and it is expected to be 280 billion USD by the year 2020. The country has first-class hospitals, highly skilled medical staffs and considered as ideal target for medical attractions for people in developed world. on the other hand, the real deliverance of healthcare services is insufficient for a huge part of the rural population. Comparing to other developing cuntries indai has poor parameters bed density, physician density, graduation of doctors every year from Indian universities, and public spendings on healthcare. The low access of health insurance implies that a harsh sickness or being hospitalized causes major economic suffering to many segment of the society, particularly the poor living in urban area and the rural inhabitants. In the framework of healthcare, inclusive growth means that healthcare resources are delivered impartially so that the all sections of the society share the benefits equally.
Nowadays health services are not easily accessible to poor peoples. Poor people looking for healthcare have to travel 10kms because of improper connectivity. This type of situations creates terrible consequences during health emergencies. Because of the deficient infrastructure, lack of monetary compensation and social intolerance doctors are unwilling to practice in village areas thus leading to less availability in healthcare services. Therefore the government has made mandatory for the medical students to practise one year in rural areas there by healthcare services are commonly available for all. Almost 75 % of medical expenditure is paid by the consumer in the absence of insurance. All stakeholders must be working cooperatively to reduce the expenses of healthcare and make sure that individuals have the ability to purchase through improved health insurance exposure.
The difference in feature of healthcare services offered at private hospitals is large when compared to governmental hospitals. Factors for such disparity are poor infrastructure, lack of competition, and lack of responsibility and supervision. In an attempt to tackle this efficiently, the private and public sector need to collaborate in project towards encouraging awareness and utilisation of healthcare services, improving skills for healthcare professionals, and increasing the application of technology like telemedicine in distributing healthcare services. States like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have commenced recognizing their healthcare amenities like hospitals, blood banks and labs. This must be executed country- wide and the government in alliance with apparent medical research foundations should expand consistent, dependable, and easily understandable rules.
By encouraging micro health insurance products and cashless admission to hospitals the private sector can also play a big role in enabling the weaker sections to afford and access healthcare in rural India. For sustainable healthcare development, it is essential to efficiently make use of knowledge crosswise all areas of the healthcare. It is also essential to balance technology innovation with spending in the medical infrastructure in terms of quality and quantity of medical education existing. The necessity for the public and private sector to work together cannot be reduced. Whereas the government makes right level of planning and investments which is required for proper access to healthcare, participation of the private sector in balancing efforts to set up the infrastructure and make sure that access to quality healthcare amenities is similarly imperative.
5. FINANCIAL INCLUSION
A country can be said as financially inclusive if all segments of the society have access to financial services in proper time in correct time with adequate credit. Alike the access to healthcare and education, access to finance is also an important one for all sectors of nation especially to the poor because it facilitates them to alleviate poverty and lead a sustainable living.
Today the person in India lacks access to financial services like savings bank account, insurance, loans, payments, pension schemes, etc. The penetration of banking is approximately 5% in lower income families, and even among the middle and high income families have the penetration of about 45%. The majority of the population in lower income families do not have proper access to banking and loans. This leads to a vicious cycle where the helpless peoples are forced to borrow from informal sources like local moneylenders at high rates of interest. These not only hinders their capability to pay back and get additional debts, but also waste their earnings. These traps increases poverty levels and because of this the debtor commits suicide fearing that they cannot repay their debt. Understanding the significance of financial inclusion the RBI has given some policy instruments. Identifying that private bank has an key role to play in growing banking access in 2011 the Reserve Bank of India mandated all scheduled banks to open new branches in rural areas at least 25%. In addition, it has also identified 70,000 villages with populations more than 2,000 do not have banking services.
Identifying the significance of financially inclusive nation, the Reserve Bank of India have created policies like mandate for banks to propose no-frills account, simpler norms, and easy credit facilities which are customized to serve the population who do not have banking services and rising banking penetration. Both, public and private financial organizations have to give a further force to drive financial inclusion in the future years.
CONCLUSION
In order to achieve inclusive growth proper solutions are needed to facilitate rapid and sustainable growth. The task of building an Inclusive India for its huge population is very large and difficult that it cannot be obtained either by the government or by the private sector .Attaining inclusive growth is not only a priority in the Five Year Plans, but also an similarly key opportunity for all activities in the public and the private sector. 'Inclusion' for India is not a buzzword that enterprises and individuals talk about but also an very important for concentrated action to bring inclusion in every phase that how public and private sectors as well as government function to grow.India has a enormous potential to become a role model for other country if it suceeds in taken by the government and private sector to attain inclusive growth. to act is now the opportunity left for inclusive india.
