NITI Aayog’s Strategy for inclusive growth:

New India @75 vision has the following objectives for the inclusive growth:

1. To have a rapid growth, which reaches 9-10% by 2022-23, which is inclusive, clean,
sustained and formalized.
2. To Leverage technology for inclusive, sustainable and participatory development by
2022-23.
3. To have an inclusive development in the cities to ensure that urban poor and slum
dwellers including recent migrants can avail city services.
4. To make schools more inclusive by addressing the barriers related to the physical
environment (e.g. accessible toilets), admission procedures as well as curriculum
design.
5. To make higher education more inclusive for the most vulnerable groups.
6. To provide quality ambulatory services for an inclusive package of diagnostic, curative,
rehabilitative and palliative care, close to the people.
7. To prepare an inclusive policy framework with citizens at the center.

Challenges in Achieving Inclusive Growth:

● Unemployment and underemployment

● Poverty and resultant poor human resource development
● Poor skilling and professional competencies
● Lack women’s in mainstream economic activities.
● Poor nutritional, health and educational indicators
● Agriculture Backwardness
● Issues with Social Development
● Regional Disparities
● Inadequate infrastructure
● Social inequality and discrimination

India and Inclusive Growth:

By the 12th five years plan the focus increased when the slogan was designed as “Faster,
sustainable and More inclusive growth”. The government evolved a clear short term and
long-term policy towards the cause of inclusive growth.

Short term policy: It aimed at supplying those goods and services to the disadvantaged and
marginalised sections of the society which are bare minimum and essential in nature.
Sponsored schemes are run by the governments for this purpose. The following areas are
touched by this policy:

● Food and nutrition – Annapurna, Antyodaya, Mid-Day Meal, National food security act
etc.
● Healthcare and sanitation – National health mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, ASHA,
Mission Indradhanush etc
● Housing – Indira Awas Yojana, Rajiv Awas yojana etc
● Drinking water – National rural drinking water programme etc.
● Education – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan etc.
● Long term policy: This is aimed at bringing in self dependence in the target population.
An element of sustainability is present in it. The attempts by the government are
classified as:
● All the schemes which aim at poverty alleviation and employment generation
● All the programmes which promote education at any level
● Vocationalisation of education
● Skill development

The strategy for inclusive growth in 11th and 12th five year plans aims at achieving the
objectives of sustainability and inclusiveness. The strategy emphasised that GDP is not an end
in itself but the means to an end.

India is committed to securing inclusive growth, leading to sustainable development and to

usher in a governance of transparency and accountability.

India believes that poverty eradication and job creation are primary objectives to achieve
inclusive growth under the ambit of Sustainable Development Goals in United Nations
Framework.
Schemes For Inclusive Growth:

Financial Inclusion: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema
Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Beema Yojana
Atal Pension Yojana
Pradhan mantra mudra yojana
Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM
Trinity)

Employment and MGNREGA

inclusive growth: Skill Training for Employment
Promotion amongst Urban Poor
(STEP-UP)
Swaran Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojna

Agriculture and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

inclusive growth: National Agriculture market
National Food Security Act

Technology and Digital India Program:

inclusive growth:

Skill development and National skill development mission:

inclusive growth: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
(PMKVY)
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)
Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi
Karyakram
Self- Employment and Talent Utilisation
(SETU) mechanism.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
Concerns with Inclusive Growth Schemes in India:

● Despite the high and fast growing emerging market economy, India has some shocking
statistics when it comes to food security.
● As per the recent UNICEF report, atleast one million children under five die in India
due to malnutrition related issues.
● Here, the burden among the schedule castes, scheduled tribes, other backward
castes and rural communities is highest in terms of acute malnutrition.
● Among the states, it is Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan that have acute problems in
terms of malnutrition.
● Social enterprises can play a key role in India’s agenda of inclusive developments.
However, just like in many other countries, they are not officially or legally recognised as
a sector in India, even while they play an important part in the fight against poverty.
● The main reasons for India’s failure to achieve inclusive growth and distributive
justice are:
● The failure of land reform
● The wrecking of the well-designed community development programme that aimed at
the all-round development of the village
● The lack of success in providing adequate employment opportunities at living wages to a
rising population
● The neglect of school education and the absence of special measures designed to help
children of the poor to get a good school education.
● Continued dependence of some 60 per cent of the workforce on low-productivity
agriculture and allied occupations for employment and living.

World Economic Forum on social inclusion and economic growth:

● First, countries should increase public and private investment in their citizens’
capabilities, which is the most important way they can durably lift their rate of
productivity growth.
Second, governments, together with employers’ and workers’ organizations, should
upgrade national rules and institutions relating to work. These influence the quantity
and distribution of job opportunities and compensation, and thus the level of purchasing
power and aggregate demand within the economy.
● Third, countries should increase public and private investment in labour-intensive
economic sectors that generate wider benefits for society. These include sustainable
water, energy, digital, and transport infrastructure, care sectors, the rural economy, and
education and training.
Way Forward:

● With the onset of the IT revolution it has become obligatory for new entrants to acquire
even higher levels of skills. Hence it is a matter of urgency to provide adequate facilities
for quality school education and impart relevant skills to the disadvantaged.
● Education: The working of existing government schools should be improved as a matter
of priority. Hence the need to improve the functioning of government schools without
losing more time. There is also a need to expand and modernise teacher-training
facilities.
● It is also important that growth in developing economies continues to remain more
labour- intensive and broad-based, as a generation of production employment
opportunities on a large scale is perhaps the best way for including the excluded and
marginalized sections of the population.
● Agricultural: research needs to be greatly strengthened both in terms of the resources
devoted to it and also by implementing institutional reform along the lines recommended
by the Mashelkar Committee and the Swaminathan Committee.
● Taxation: More progressive tax system in India would help raise capital for expenditure
on infrastructure, healthcare, basic services and education.
● It is critical to adopt a rights-based approach accepting the citizenship’s rights of
people.
● Provision of education, healthcare, basic infrastructural needs are part of the basic
rights of every citizen. A persistent increase in social investments such as education
and healthcare are attached with long-term benefits and are part of a macro strategy for
improving productivity of workers and for enhancing aggregate effective demand in the
economy.
● Gram Sabha should be empowered and made effective especially in tribal areas and as
per FRA their consent should be made mandatory of mining lease.

Micro financing
It is the delivery of financial services to poor and low income households with limited access to
formal financial institutions.

It can also be described as banking for the underprivileged.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) came into being in the 90s as banks’ reluctance to lend to
those without credit history provided an opportunity to those willing to take risk and organize
rural communities. According to Mohammed Yunus (founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh)
access to credit was a human right, essential for the poor to create self-employment and
income.
 Issues with lending credit to poor and rural households

● According to World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion Survey (2012), only 35% of adults
in India had access to a formal bank account and only 8% borrowed from institutional
and formal sources. As per Census 2011, only 58.7% of households are availing
banking services in the country.
● At present, only about 5% of India’s 6 lakh villages have bank branches.
● There are 296 under-banked districts in states with below-par banking services. Thus,
there exists both a great need and the potential to tap into the unbanked population and
bring them into the financial net. Microfinance institutions are a way to do the same.

Role of microfinance

● Credit to have-nots; easy credit without any collateral

● Empowerment of women: About 95 percent of some loan products extended by
microfinance institutions are given to women, as well as those with disabilities,
those who are unemployed, and even those who simply beg to meet their basic
needs.
● Poverty alleviation: They provide easy credit and offer small loans to customers,
without any collateral. Microfinance disrupts the cycle of poverty by making more
money available. It creates the possibility of future investments.
● Savings in rural households: It helps the poor and marginalized section of the
society by making them aware of the financial instruments available for their help
and also helps in developing a culture of saving.
● Families benefiting from microloans are more likely to provide better and
continued education for their children.
● Creating employment: Microfinance is also able to let entrepreneurs in
impoverished communities and developing countries create new employment
opportunities for others.
● Way forward: There is a need for MFIs to consider adopting more flexible
operating models, providing skills training and offering services such as
portability of accounts to provide greater access for a longer duration of time.
● A diversified menu of micro loan products linked to sustainable income
generation activities via micro enterprises or a creation of community-based
pooled enterprise could possibly make it more attractive and compatible with the
requirements of women. In addition, linking such developmental initiatives to an
institution to nurture, monitor and handhold those activities in the formative
stages is crucial for sustainability.

Conclusion: As per the World Bank estimates, more than 500 million people have
improved their economic conditions via microfinance-related entities. Strengthening the
credit check and debt collection processes and educating the villagers about products
and consequences is important. A model to retain and recycle within the target
population could possibly lead to a sustained route for poverty