Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the country needs a “well-conceived strategy” to become a $5-trillion economy and principled, knowledgeable and visionary leaders to strengthen democracy.
“Presently, our economy seems to have slowed down. The rate of growth of GDP is declining, investment rate is stagnant, farmers are in distress, banking system is facing a crisis and unemployment is going up. We need a well-conceived strategy to make India a 5-trillion economy,” he said.
Singh was speaking at JK Lakshmipat University where he was felicitated for his contribution to public service, governance, economy and nation-building.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government is committed to making India a $5-trillion economy by 2024.
The Congress MP from Rajasthan said the government should forbid tax terrorism, respect independent voices and provide for checks and balances at every level. “The need of the hour is to continue with economic reforms,” Singh said.
Institutions like the Supreme Court, Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Central Bureau of Investigation, Vigilance Commission, Information Commission and other special commissions are expected to function independently within the framework of the Constitution, he said.
“We must always promote the objective to reduce crime and corruption, consolidate the rule of law, enhance credibility, and create an environment conducive for investment as an engine of growth,” Singh said.
Political parties must be committed to safeguarding the values enshrined in the Constitution. “For our continued unity, the government has to deliver justice, liberty, equality and an environment that respects contrary opinions,” he said, adding that supremacy of Parliament and its procedures, the rules of the government and precedents have to be respected.
A functional democracy has definite advantages over an authoritarian regime, the former Prime Minister added.
Citing the example of China, he said that such countries, by persuading citizens to focus primarily on economic growth, created an atmosphere in which sacrificing personal freedom could be justified.
“This allowed these regimes to just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move the economy forward. However, over time, as incomes grow, it changes the aspirations of society, which ultimately strives for a democratic structure,” he said.
“The loss of freedom, in the long term run, is not a small price to pay,” Singh said.
Liberal democracy is a model of good governance that includes freedom, pursuit of equality, power sharing, deliberation, periodic elections, independent institutions and the rule of law.
Singh spoke of the economic reforms introduced in 1991 by the then Congress government, in which he was finance minister, and said the steps led to an improvement in people’s living standards.
“Since then, millions of people have risen above poverty line. There have been several policy measures undertaken by successive governments that have led to more inclusive growth in India, particularly assured work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and well designed programmes of universal healthcare and education,” he said.
With more purchasing power, demand in the economy goes up, encouraging private investment, more government revenues to fund infrastructure needs and a reduction in social conflict, he added.
“Thus, it is clear that through these channels, democracy does increase economic growth,” he said.
Social inequity, communalism, casteism, religious fundamentalism and corruption are some of the challenges before democracy, he said, adding literacy and education, good governance, women and girl child empowerment, free and independent media and economic growth were needed to counter them.
India has an ancient culture of tolerance and respect for divergent views and a population accustomed to political opposition and peaceful transfer of power for over seven decades, he said. “Political liberalism is a way of life for us,” he said.
