Gokul naakru

This article consists of the excerpts of the speech by our prime minister Manmohan Singh regarding the reforms he had started 15 years back as a finance minister (he humbly says that the seeds of all the reforms were sown by our late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi) ,the celebration of the 15 years anniversary of the reforms and the responsibilities of the entrepreneurs who have come out as a result of those reforms.

"THE CHALLENGE before the political leadership in India today is to meet the aspirations of an energetic new India, and at the same time, take care of concerns of less endowed sections of our society"

"To all the successful entrepreneur who have emerged from this process, my advice is to treat their wealth as a social trust and manage it for the welfare of the nation at large. If the rich had spent their new wealth on their own enjoyments, the world would long ago have found such a regime intolerable".

"Economic reforms have created a new world that simply did not exist earlier. Fifteen years ago you had to be in a queue, use influence and offer bribes to secure a telephone connection, buy a scooter or even has a gas connection. Today, I find farmers, vegetable vendors and plumbers using mobile phones. Nothing symbolises change in our economy more strikingly than this."

"I do believe that India can do it. However, if we have to realise our full potential there is much work to be done. There is an agenda of reform that you are familiar with. We need to work towards a more open and efficient financial system, a system capable of generating necessary financial resources needed for the rapid growth of our economy. We must also not give up the long-term foal of full convertibility for the rupee. We have to improve out infrastructure - our ports, roads, airports, railways, power and water utilities, and so on."

"However, the point I would like to draw you attention to is one of even greater concern for the long-term well being of the nation. Millions of our fellow citizens are still deprived of the benefits of the fast growing economy. Our growth process while generating wealth and prosperity across large sections of society, have not been able to generate employment opportunities on the same scale."

""There are difficult tasks to be done. But it is not these mundane matters of getting things done, and done better, that really worries me. What worries me is the mindset that restrains us, that constrains us, that holds us back. REFORM IS IN THE
FINAL ANALYSIS, ABOUT CHANGING THE MINDSETS. We must have the courage of think "OUT OF THE BOX". We must have the courage to think anew. Question old beliefs. To seek new pathways.""

"We must all work together to build a new India of our dream - a prosperous India of more equity and greater equality. An India of more creativity and greater enterprise. The two can go together. And they must go together. No pyramid of achievement and progress can shine at the top for long if its base is weak and crumbling. We have to build stronger base. A more energetic and capable social and economic base for sustained and sustainable economic growth.


::::NO POWER ON EARTH CAN STOP AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME AND THE EMERGENCE OF INDIA IS ONE SUCH IDEA::::

So what do you say???????????