Basic health and education facilities are becoming more expensive day by day ...

- Accounts of economic reforms that began three decades ago in the country

- China has managed to become a major industrial hub after opening up its economy

Three months have passed since the economic reform program was launched in India. During this period, information technology has changed the lives of the people of the country. New inventions and increased productivity in every field and through technology the countries of the world are connected very closely with each other and global trade is taking place with less barriers. In 191, India faced a balance of payments crisis. The then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh had implemented the necessary policies to address the structural deficiencies in the country. His policy emphasized increasing the promotion of the private sector for the development of the country, albeit under government supervision.

Subsequent governments have also maintained a reform program, and as a result of the program, India has made remarkable economic progress in the last five years of the first decade of the new century, from 2009 to 2010. But in the ensuing decade, the country's progress slowed for a variety of reasons. The liberalization policy was also a great success in eradicating poverty from the country, but compared to India, other countries, especially China, have made tremendous progress and with its development it has become a major manufacturing hub globally and has emerged as a technologically powerful country.

Bangladesh has a higher per capita income compared to India. Even though the country's forex reserves have crossed ૬ 200 billion since the liberalization policy, India's share in global exports is currently less than two per cent, which is not a good sign. The reason for the increase in forex reserves is the inflow of foreign investment in the country, not the revenue from exports.

From the point of view of economists, there is a huge gap between India's economic policy 70 years ago and today's policy. From a narrow economy, India today has become a free economy. If economic reforms had not been carried out and the doors of the Indian economy had not been opened to the world, one would only have to imagine what India would be like today.

As part of the reform program, our policymakers have made significant changes to companies in the past, including income tax relief, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Real Estate Regulation Act, the implementation of the IBC and the Labor Act. The government has finally decided to move ahead with the privatization of public sector banks and two banks will be handed over to private hands in the current financial year. In addition, the government is moving towards selling some of its public sector undertakings and its stake in LIC.

However, there are still many areas of the country that have not been given the full color of liberalization or there is still a lot to be done. Reforms in the power, agriculture and manufacturing sectors have not yet progressed as expected. Progress in these sectors has been far below capacity. Not only have these sectors created shortcomings and obstacles in other parts of the economy. For example power supply is becoming expensive for small industrial units. So far, the reform program has not been as successful in generating employment.

The biggest limitation seen in the reform program lies in the administration. Many government functions have been opposed to change. Whether it is accounting or budgeting, government communication and decision making is still moving at a snail's pace. Although technology has come into government operations, it has not changed the mindset of government employees.

Political and social change is time consuming, but there are many small economic reforms that can be implemented very quickly. The real results of the reform program have been seen in the field of telecommunications but not in government departments. The revolution in the field of communication, especially the Internet and mobile phone service, has helped today's youth to connect with the world.

The financial health of government and private companies in the power sector has not improved yet. Such companies are often going into liquidation as politicians continue to dominate government power distribution companies. The government has to intervene to save it. As a result of the reforms in the education and health sectors, these two basic needs became very expensive. With less government regulation on private schools, colleges and hospitals, they have become more expensive, beyond the reach of the country's poor and middle class. A similar situation is being witnessed in the residential sector. There is talk of an affordable home but not enough.

We have world-class companies that want to establish their presence in global markets, but they want more protection against imports. Although we are celebrating three decades of economic liberalization today, much remains to be done in the manufacturing and trade sectors to achieve sustainable growth with more employment. As the fourth decade of liberalization begins under Corona's shortcomings, let's expect the government to succeed in making the country economically stronger in this new decade.