Atmanirbhar Bharat not possible if socioeconomic disparities do not end: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the goal of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' or a self-reliant India is not possible without ending socioeconomic disparities in the country.

The minister of road transport and highway said more attention needs to be given to the agricultural, rural and tribal sectors, and pointed out that the objective of each government policy must be to double the contribution to GDP of these segments to 25 per cent from the present 12 per cent.

In 2020, the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" goal in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. "If socioeconomic disparity does not end then the Atmanirbhar Bharat is not possible," Gadkari said at an event to release a book on RBI Governors here.

The socialist and communist ideology has been completely sidelined over time, and the number of CPI and CPI(M) members in the Parliament has also thinned out over time, Gadkari said.

Recalling his visit to China as the BJP president a few years ago on an invite from the Communist Party of China, Gadkari said only the red flags remain while the country adopted a market-centric approach to growth. Gadkari said there is a need for policies to make India a "supereconomic power", and underlined the need for prioritising sectors which can deliver the most on the stated objectives.

He rued that there is a problem with the mindset, and conservative approach is adopted by many, and said that the same needs to be changed through fast-tracked decision making. There is a need to go beyond financial audits and also do performance audits to look at the outcomes, he said.

Capital and investments are a necessity for growth, Gadkari said, pitching for public-private partnerships as a solution in the face of limited financial capacities of states. Gadkari also appreciated the "qualitative" contribution of each of RBI governors over the years.

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