Road ahead is more challenging than 1991 crisis, says Dr Manmohan Singh

The social sectors of health and education have lagged behind and not kept pace with our economic progress. Too many lives and livelihoods have been lost that should not have been, opined former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

New Delhi: As India has completed three decades of liberalization, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh opined that it is not a time to rejoice but to introspect, stating that the road ahead is even more daunting than the 1991 economic crisis.

In a statement released by Dr Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of economic liberalization, he stated, "The economic liberalisation processes in 1991 was triggered by an economic crisis that confronted the 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."

He said he is deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss of lives of millions of fellow Indians. "The social sectors of health and education have lagged behind and not kept pace with our economic progress. Too many lives and livelihoods have been lost that should not have been," Singh asserted.

He recalled that in 1991, as the finance minister, he ended his speech with a Victor Hugo quote, "No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come." "Thirty years later, as a nation, we must remember Robert Frost's poem, "But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep."

The two-time prime minister said, "It is not the time to rejoice and exult but to introspect and ponder. The road ahead is even more daunting than the 1991 crisis. Our priorities as a nation need to be recalibrated, we must ensure a healthy and dignified life for every single Indian."

He said that on this day, 30 years ago, in 1991 the Congress party ushered in significant reforms of India's economy and paved the new path for our nation's economic policy, mentioning that over the last three decades successive governments have followed this path to catapult our nation to a $3 trillion economy and into the league of the world's largest economies. "More importantly, nearly 300 million fellow Indians have been lifted out of poverty in this period and hundreds of millions of new jobs have been provided for our youth," he said.

Singh said the reform process unleashed the spirit of free enterprise which has helped produce some world-class companies and helped India's image as a global power in many sectors.