New Delhi, Jan 8 (Inditop.com) The Indian economy will not only register one of the fastest expansions in the world this fiscal, but soon return and sustain a high growth path of 9 percent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Friday.
“During the year gone by, the world faced unprecedented economic and financial crisis. But the Indian economy weathered this crisis quite well,” the prime minister told the annual convention for overseas Indians.
“We hope to achieve this year a growth rate of around 7 percent, which is one of the fastest in the world. We are equally optimistic we can return to and sustain an annual growth rate of 9-10 percent in a couple of years,” he said.
According to him the rapid growth in the last few years helped lift millions of people out of poverty and expand access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities to a vast majority of the population.
“But this is a work in progress and much more remains to be done. I solicit your assistance to achieve those goals. We wish to accelerate efforts to effectively address key constraints in infrastructure, agriculture, health and education.”
The prime minister said he was aware of the frustrations among well wishers when they lament at even well-formulated plans and policies not getting implemented the way they should but said this was a worthy price India was paying to carry all sections of the people along.
“It is probably true that we are a slow moving elephant. But it is equally true that with each step forward, we leave behind a deep imprint.”
He said each citizen should have a sense of participation in national development and that is the only way India knows how to accommodate the diversity of opinions and interests — a characteristic that makes the democracy vibrant.
