‘Prefer scattered industrialisation to SEZs’

HYDERABAD: Eminent economist and London School of Economics Global Dimensions Programme Director Prof Lord Meghnad J Desai has said that the country was not able to achieve double digit growth. Delivering the KLN Prasad Memorial Lecture at the Administrative Staff College of India here on Saturday, he noted that the growth rate which was 3.5 to four per cent earlier has now touched eight per cent.

A new climate of federalism is the need of the hour and the states should be allowed to set up industries as they required. The polity of scattered industrialisation should be adopted in place of Special Economic Zones, he said.

Desai  said  some of the SZEs in the country have failed as they could not provide  the facilities needed for the local communities who gave their  land for the SEZs.

Stating that manufacturing sector provides round-the- year employment, Desai stressed on the need for productive employment.

"The strategy should be to generate productive employment for  majority of workers and youths and once it is done, it will be easier for India to also do better on health and education fronts," he said.

"The current malaise in governance and in government.. while it is not surprising to answer that there is corruption...but, what I think people much more regret is lack of decisiveness in policy making...the government seems to take them and then withdraw from those decisions," he said.

Desai also found fault with  Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's recent statement that he did not make any "dramatic announcements and dramatic proposals'' in the Budget keeping coalition compulsions in mind and that they did not have numbers.