India: A Gloomy Picture  

New Delhi: The Economist has painted a gloomy picture of the Indian economy completing a decade of reforms. It says that despite reforms, growth of the economy in the fiscal year 2000 dropped 6% for the second year running, and a Series of scandals has temporarily paralysed the govt. In its first special survey of the Indian economy coinciding with the country’s 10th anniversary of economic reforms, it has tried to evaluate the performance of the economy and has highlighted the areas that has remained a cause for concern. The disappointments, the survey argues, are the result of too little reform rather than too much. “Even after 10 years of reform, govt. policies frustrate growth and employment. Agriculture that occupies more than half of the workforce, is hemmed by countless restrictions. A host of incentives — legal and illegal — discourages small enterprises from becoming big ones.” (Asian Age June 2, 2001).