Post-reforms growth has dodged 77% population

National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) chairman Arjun Sengupta has said that the high growth rates experienced by the economy in the post-reforms era has completely bypassed 77 per cent of population in India. Speaking on the concluding day of the 8th Editors’ Conference on Social Sector Issues, he said, “It is a worrisome scenario when 836 million people have been bypassed and we take pride in our impressive growth figures. Thus, inclusive growth is an imperative and not a mantra only.” Arguing that 92 per cent of a total of 416 million workers fell in the unorganised sector, he said that unless growth reaches this segment, we can’t see a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods. “Thus, growth is only a necessary condition and is not in itself sufficient to benefit the poor,” he added. Addressing concerns over inefficiencies creeping into the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, he said that the “problems are of administration and not of distribution”.

“There are many districts where it has worked well. The need is to replicate it in areas where it is not working so well,” he said. To increase the efficacy of the NREGS, several teams are conducting surveys under the supervision of eminent development economist Jean Dreze, he informed.