Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a statement issued on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of economic liberalisation, said nearly 30 crore Indians have been lifted out of poverty in this period and hundreds of millions of new jobs have been provided.

In the wake of the pandemic, Singh said, the road ahead is even more daunting than during the 1991 economic crisis. He said he country’s priorities as a nation need to be recalibrated to foremost ensure a healthy and dignified life for every single Indian.

‘Free enterprise unleashed’

He said successive governments have followed the path shown by the Congress in the last three decades to catapult India to a $3 trillion economy and into the league of the world’s largest economies. “The reforms process unleashed the spirit of free enterprise which has helped produce some world class companies and help India emerge as a global power in many sectors.

The economic liberalisation process in 1991 was triggered by an economic crisis that confronted our nation then, but it was not limited to crisis management. The edifice of India’s economic reforms was built on the desire to prosper, the belief in our capabilities, and the confidence to relinquish control of the economy by the government,” Singh said in the statement.

Singh, a key player in the process as former Finance Minister and later Prime Minister for a decade, said it gives him immense joy to look back with pride at the tremendous economic progress made by the nation in the last three decades. “But I am also deeply saddened at the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss of millions of fellow Indians. The social sectors of health and education have lagged behind and not kept pace with our economic progress. It is not a time to rejoice and exult but to introspect and ponder, he said.

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