The article, “ >Scaling up the Gujarat model ” (Sept. 20), by Jagdish Bhagwati is a mixture of both bad politics and economics. He believes in select development and not of the inclusive kind. The British used the model he is referring to and neglected a vast section of the country.
The economic policies of the UPA government created enclaves of development in the country. India — not even the U.S., Germany or the U.K. — is the largest producer of billionaires in the world while a large number of its people do not even have basic access to safe water and sanitation. The country stands 134th in the Human Development Index. Foreign Direct Investment is confined to only select regions — mainly the cities — and excludes, for example, the northeast. Professor Bhagwati could have suggested ways to implement the process of inclusive development so as to minimise inequalities.
Rais Akhtar,
Srinagar
