Path to development

GILBERT ETIENNE reviews a book that looks at the tortuous path that reforms and development policy in India have gone through.

AFTER years of economic reforms, it is time to measure the achievements and the tasks ahead. Dr. Arjun Sengupta is ideally qualified for such an assessment. A fully trained economist no less able to deal with socio-political issues, he has taken a direct part in development at the PMO Office, later as a member of the Planning Commission, or as ambassador at the Economic Union in Brusselles. He is currently professor of international economic organisations at JNU.

At this stage, it is useful for the young generation to know where their country started from in the 1950s. Dr. Sengupta reviews the various phases of India's planning. Selfreliance, industrial import substitution, the role of the State in a mixed economy were popular themes in those days in many developing countries. He proceeds further with the advent of Indira Gandhi and the extension of socialism. Then comes the shift "from ideology to pragmatism " with the beginning of reforms in the 1980s which bring a clear break with the rate of growth of 3.5 per cent, replaced by 5.5 per cent per year. Finally come the reforms of the 1990s, their positive aspects as well as "fiscal indiscipline", lack of definite reforms of the public sector.

Another paper focuses in more detail on the reforms under Indira Gandhi and the role of several senior civil servants like L. K. Jha, Abid Hussain and M. Narasimham who paved the way for the reforms to come.

Arjun Sengupta reminds us also of his attempt in 1996 to introduce a new approach to planning, better adapted to the changing economic environment in India and in the outside world. The role of agriculture, deep reforms of the public sector and major efforts in infrastructure were particularly emphasised. It is a pity that these ideas were not accepted when looking at the situation five years later.

A no less stimulating chapter is devoted to a review of the book by I .G. Patel (Economic Reforms and Global Change, New Delhi, Macmillan, 1999) which summarises the views of the author and of other economists on the reforms.

Several shorter articles deal with a number of issues in the 1990s, discussions on the IMF and its ways of operating, on "growth with equity", and, last but not least, on the right to development, a topics about which the author is an expert with the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Throughout his book, Arjun Sengupta avoids the sectarian views which are more alive than ever in India and abroad, leading to useless confrontations between rightist and leftist dogmas. To sum up, it is a fine synthesis of India's path to development.

Reforms, Equity, and the IMF, Arjun Sengupta, New Delhi, Har Anand, 2001, p. 320, Rs. 495.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : New directions
Next     : Blending satire with spirituality