Development should be converted to a mass movement: Dr. Kumar

Kathmandu, Sept. 20: 

Vice-Chair of NITI Aayog, India Dr. Rajiv Kumar has said that development should be converted to a mass movement in order to create progress in societies, as  in South Asia, that have been lagging behind for centuries.

"Development should not be a thing to be given from the top to the bottom,  it’s the duty of every citizen to develop the country. Once you make people realise this, the society would catch the rhythm for development," he said while delivering a lecture on 'Nepal, India and the neighbourhood: The promise of economic reforms, innovation and connectivity'.

The programme was organised by Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), the Kathmandu University and Barbara Foundation.

Dr. Kumar said that the private sector-led society and development that do not address the demand of the people at bottom will not sustain.

He maintained that India was cautious enough not to leave the poor behind.

According to him, the NITI Aayog has identified 115 most backward districts in India, and the government will support them in their development efforts with an aim of improving the human development situation and lifting the districts to the national average.

He also said that the government in India had programmes to raise the living standards of underprivileged people.

"We have guts for great economic transformation. We, perhaps, are the only country in the world where social, political and economic transitions have happened simultaneously," said the chief development consultant to the Indian government.

He appreciated the Narendra Modi-led government as the reform agent. "I have seen more reforms in the last four years since the independence of India. The kind of reforms happened at economic, social and political fronts are quite breath taking," he said. 

He said that the government was spearheading to improve the business climate and the transaction costs were going down while logistics and tax bases were improving which has resulted in the formalisation of the Indian economy.

"Our Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are looking for the regional and global participation at an unprecedented level," said Dr. Kumar.

At the same time, we are the fastest country to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST). We implemented it in just 14 moths while every other country had taken more than two years to execute it, he said.

He also said that India achieved 7.8 per cent growth with only negative effects of the GST and the positive of the tax will take the growth to double digits.

More than 310 million bank accounts have been opened in the last four years and about a trillion rupees are being transacted through digital medium.

Dr. Kumar said that the Indian government was committed to improving its relations with the neighbours.

According to him, tradition, trade, tourism, technology and transport are the major areas for Nepal-India relationship.

He also pointed towards the need of improved connectivity between Kathmandu and the cities of bordering states of India.

Chair of the programme former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Swarnim Wagle said that possibilities of higher connectivity between the two neighbours were being seen with the development of more cross-border railway lines and roads.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 September 2018.