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India needs a 'second generation of reforms,' and without which the country will not be able to reach the target of 'Viksit Bharat', stated Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
Expressing the need to have a clear policy roadmap, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission stated that the country is passing through a crucial phase where the economy has become much more complex and needs proper planning of economic development. Speaking exclusively with the ANI, Singh stated, "There are several things that need to be done in India. I would call all of these what I would call the second-generation reforms; you know, 1991 was a huge change. And it had a terrific impact. Dr Manmohan Singh, who is no longer with us, was the principal architect of it. Narsimha Rao backed him as Prime Minister. It started a whole set of reforms subsequent governments also followed through on. I think we're now at a stage where the economy has become much more complex, and you need a new set of reforms to deal with the more complex challenges that we face." "I think somebody should outline them, and unless we get this done, I don't think we will reach Vikasit Bharat," he stated. Ahluwalia, however, outlined that governments alone cannot do everything, adding that they should come up with some targets that will help to achieve targets. Talking about the role of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's contribution, Ahluwalia stated that "what he did as a finance minister was historic" because he turned around the policies that we were following for the last 30 years. Ahluwalia further added that former PM Singh, in his capacity as Prime Minister, did many things during the second tenure. "He did many things during his second premiership. People forget that in the end, if you are Prime Minister, you are not running individual departments, so you will be judged by how the country performed. If you put that criteria during his 10 years of premiership, India grew faster than it had ever done before or than it has grown since. Also in his period, 138 million people were pulled above the poverty line for the first time," he stated. (ANI)
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