Why has the industrial sector performed poorly in the reform period?
Similar to the agricultural sector, industrial sector's performance was also poor. The poor performance of industrial sector may be attributable to the following reasons:
1. Cheaper Imports: The demand for industrial output reduced due to the cheaper imports. The imports from the developed countries were cheaper due to the removal of import tariffs. These cheaper and quality foreign imports led to the fall in the demand of domestic goods.
2. Lack of Investment: Due to the lack of investment in infrastructure facilities (including power supply) the domestic firms could not compete with their developed foreign counterparts in terms of cost of production and quality of goods. The inadequate infrastructural investment pushed up the cost of production of the domestic producers and, consequently, led to the non-feasibility of their growth prospectus.
3. High Non-tariffs Barriers by the Developed Countries: It was very difficult to access the developed countries market due to high non-tariff barriers maintained by the developed countries. For instance, US did not remove quota restrictions on imports of textiles from India and China.
4. Vulnerable and Infant Domestic Industries: During the pre-liberalised period, the domestic industries were provided a protective environment to grow and expand. But at the time of liberalisation, the domestic industries were still not developed up to the extent it was thought and consequently, they could not compete with the multi-national companies. The dependence of domestic industries on traditional technologies which were neither cost effective nor quality effective was an important reason for their poor growth. Thus, the domestic industries were adversely affected by liberalisation.
How is RBI controlling the commercial banks?
Distinguish between the following
(i) Strategic and Minority sale
(ii) Bilateral and Multi-lateral trade
(iii) Tariff and Non-tariff barriers.
Agriculture sector appears to be adversely affected by the reform process. Why?
Why were reforms introduced in India?
Those public sector undertakings which are making profits should be privatised. Do you agree with this view? Why?
Why did RBI have to change its role from controller to facilitator of financial sector in India?
Do you think the navaratna policy of the government helps in improving the performance of public sector undertakings in India? How?
Do you think outsourcing is good for India? Why are developed countries opposing it?
What do you understand by devaluation of rupee?
Discuss economic reforms in India in the light of social justice and welfare.
What was the focus of the economic policies pursued by the colonial government in India? What were the impacts of these policies?
What are the two major sources of human capital in a country?
What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues in rural development.
Define a plan?
Who is a worker?
Explain the term ‘infrastructure’.
What is meant by environment?
Why are regional and economic groupings formed?
Why calorie-based norm is not adequate to identify the poor?
Name some notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period?
How can creation of income earning assets address the problem of poverty?
Is there any relationship between unemployment and poverty? Explain.
What are the main characteristics of health of the people of our country?
What are the indicators of educational achievement in a country?
Were there any positive contributions made by the British in India? Discuss.
Victor is able to get work only for two hours in a day. Rest of the day, he is looking for work. Is he unemployed? Why? What kind of jobs could persons like Victor be doing?
How has the consumption pattern of energy changed over the years?
What similar developmental strategies have India and Pakistan followed for their respective developmental paths?
Who is a casual wage labourer?
Though the public sector is very essential for industries, many public sector undertakings incur huge losses and are a drain on the economy’s resources. Discuss the usefulness of public sector undertakings in the light of this fact.