Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a liberaliser, believer in consensus: Dr Vijay Kelkar

The renowned economist, who served arsenic the concern caput and advisor to the Finance Minister successful the Vajpayee government, stressed that the erstwhile PM’s economical policies laid the instauration for India’s precocious maturation from 2004 to 2010.

Titled ‘PM Vajpayee’s Economic Reforms’, the lawsuit featured a speech betwixt Dr Kelkar who is besides the vice-president of Pune International Centre (PIC), and Dr Ajit Ranade, Vice-Chancellor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

“The diplomacy and economical policies of erstwhile Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee successfully steered India done the years erstwhile it faced diplomatic challenges pursuing the Pokhran atomic tests successful May 1998,” Dr Kelkar said.

Dr Kelkar highlighted that Vajpayee’s initiatives specified arsenic the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Project and the PM Gram Sadak Yojana importantly enhanced India’s infrastructure and productivity. He said the Vajpayee government’s sectoral reforms, specified arsenic successful roadways, telecom, electricity, transport, each of which are web industries, gave tremendous boost to India’s productivity.

He said the Vajpayee government’s instauration of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act of 2003 was a pivotal measurement towards improving fiscal governance.

He highlighted Vajpayee’s efforts towards making institutions transparent and independent, peculiarly done the constitution of 3 important economical institutions: Disinvestment Commission, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), and the autonomous National Statistical Commission to urge reforms.

Dr Kelkar besides pointed to the changes successful commercialized tariffs, accrued overseas nonstop concern (FDI) successful insurance, reduced superior gains taxes, and the strategical usage of disinvestment arsenic a instrumentality to foster contention arsenic important reforms nether PM Vajpayee.

On the societal argumentation front, Dr. Kelkar remarked that Vajpayee’s attack was “Rawlsian,” aimed astatine maximising the minimum, wherever raising the lowest segments of nine leads to the uplift of all.

GIPE V-C Dr Ajit Ranade noted that the Maruti IPO and assorted firm reforms nether Vajpayee’s enactment person been understated successful their significance.

The speech besides noted that agriculture remains a mostly unreformed assemblage successful India to this day.

Abhay Vaidya, director, PIC, made the opening remarks.