What kind of impact will the neglect of agriculture have on Indian economy?
If the bottom of the pyramid is not taken care of, it is going to have a long-term impact on the economy. Besides ignoring agriculture, the Budget also doesn’t talk about an agenda for the textile industry which is going to face international competition in 2005. It is also an omission. What about competition from China? India has inherent strengths. Unfortunately, it has not been properly augmented. You must know the basic strength of India doesn’t lie in Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata. India’s strength is its industrial clusters. India is already a global player. Doesn’t China have poverty? But they are not talking about poverty. Here, you are talking all the time about India’s poverty. Indians must understand India first. They must begin talking well of India. It doesn’t matter to me at all to hear that India’s share of global trade is 0.75 per cent. Global trade is not the index of a country’s development. So long as India can generate domestic demand, India can be a big player. In fact,
