New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his concern over the economic crisis in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The veteran economist while speaking on the occasion of the completion of 30 years of his historic 1991 budget said that the road ahead was even more daunting than the 1991 economic crisis. The former PM said that by launching economic liberalization in 1991, the Congress party paved a new path for nation’s economic policy
Over the last three decades, successive governments have followed this path to catapult our nation to a US dollar 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,’ said Manmohan Singh.
‘I am deeply saddened at the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the loss 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. It is not a time to rejoice and exult but to introspect and ponder,’ cautioned the former PM.
‘The road ahead is even more daunting than during the 1991 crisis. Our priorities as a nation need to be recalibrated to foremost ensure a healthy and dignified life for every single Indian,’ he added further.
The former PM said that thirty years ago he quoted Victor Hugo’s words ‘no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come’, to end his budget speech and at present situation, we must remember Robert Frost’s poem, ‘But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep’.
It was in July 24, 1991 that Dr. Manmohan Singh presented his first ever budget as the Finance Minister in P.V. Narasimha Rao’s government. The Congress government had launched the economic liberalization by removing many roadblocks that hindered industries, business and foreign investment.
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