India Will Overcome Recession, Grow Faster In Coming Months: P K Mishra

Sambalpur: With recession and overall sluggishness impacting growth rate across sectors, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pramod Kumar Mishra on Friday exuded confidence that India will grow “much faster” in the coming months as the government was “alert” of the slowdown and taking active measures to revive the economy.

Addressing the 30th convocation of Sambalpur University, his home soil, Mishra, one of the senior-most bureaucrats in the Narendra Modi dispensation, said that the “clean-up drive” and ambitious reform agenda initiated will propel the economy ahead.

What led to the slowdown

He attributed the slowdown to the strong corrective action of the past 5 years and formalisation of the economy, which are having a “short-term drag effect”.

“It is important to understand the various factors feeding into the same, especially cyclical ones. There is a slow-down in the global growth of output. Intensive efforts to bring about transparency, prevent leakages and improve governance would have also caused some transitory disruptions,” he said.

Among the reformative actions, Mishra, in particular, drew attention to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016, describing it as a path-breaking reformative push. Until 4-5 years ago, no one would have imagined that even large corporations would be held accountable for their deeds, he said.

“The list of initiatives taken to bring about social development and equity is equally impressive, if not more. These include landmark programs such as Ayushman Bharat to ensure access of the poor to health services; PMKISAN for income support to farmers; and new education policy for overhauling our educational system,” he said.

About his early days in Sambalpur

Reminiscing about his earlier days, Mishra said, he was among the first batch of students whose results the Sambalpur university published after coming into existence.

“Your university also holds great significance to me personally, as all three university examinations leading to my graduation were under its aegis,” he said.

He said the university should prepare a vision for 2022 when the nation celebrates its 75 years of Independence and for 2047 during the centenary celebration. The vision should reflect on the duties that the university cherishes to achieve and how does it wish to contribute to the nation.

Turning to the economy, he said that with the fundamentals remaining strong, India is on track to becoming the five trillion dollar economy by 2024.

Since present dispensation came to power at the Centre in 2014, the GDP growth rate has remained at 7.5 per cent, the highest among the G20 countries, he added.