The Gist of Yojana: July 2016
Unleashing Growth Through Empowerment
The Government of India since May 2014, has been making
efforts to reinvigorate India and help growth reach its potential of above 9 per
cent. Since then, in a series of measures that Government of India announced,
the focus has been on development- oriented policies to achieve higher rate of
growth. The country, under foreign rule for nearly eight centuries, suffered
from depletion of resources and lower rate of per capita economic growth. In
1951, 53 per cent (200 million) of population was below the poverty line and
India was considered a very low income country. The post- independence era
witnessed adoption of mixed pattern of society where socialist planning was
pre-dominant. Consequent to a series of initiatives and policy measures, some
due to severe crisis, India was recognized as an important emerging market
economy by early 2000s. Since 2015; India is the fastest growth economy of the
world which successfully reduced poverty levels, despite revised and higher
benchmarks, to less than 30 per cent of the population.
To achieve growth, and ensure build-up of industrial base,
availability of finance, besides many other factors, is the most important. In
this context, in the initial stages of development, the banking system plays an
important role and therefore, efforts were made to not only establish a network
of banking institutions, but also ensure that banking penetration is high and
that financial resources are easily available to citizens who require them.
Then, there is also a need to create an eco-system where, in addition to
financial resources, there is ease of doing business and availability of
hand-holding when required. The government, after ensuring availability of bank
accounts under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), announced other
initiatives like MUDRA Bank, Start-up and Stand-up India, and Atal Innovation
Mission in a well sequenced manner.
