ABSTRACT
High growth and development have always been conceived as processes linked to industrialization. In the context of developing countries, while the vision of ‘catching up’ is largely drawn on images of advanced countries, the trajectory had historically proven to be different. The expansion of industries in developing countries, especially manufacturing, has never followed a smooth trajectory, normally involving enclaves of growth that later diffuse to a more dispersed process of industrialization. In a limited sense development is conceived as a process by which increasing proportions of the population become involved in increasing returns activities, especially manufacturing. This is primarily because it is assumed that creating opportunities to work in higher value adding jobs necessarily leads to higher individual income and consumption, and subsequently a rising spiral of social welfare. This draws our attention to the larger issue of the nature of growth in India in the recent past, which has undoubtedly been unprecedented but hardly approximates an inclusive pattern of growth. The inclusion of the majority of people in sharing the fruits of high growth involves several issues and is obviously linked to transcending the various dimensions of exclusion underway. In addition to rising unemployment and poverty, deprivations manifest in discrimination by class, caste and gender. Reforms have largely activated the levers of the market and that has undoubtedly geared businesses that respond to market signals, but in countries such as India for a large mass of people the same levers turn out to be exclusionary since a vast section of the population lag the requisite capacity to participate in the market. As a result the relevance and necessity of public provisioning of certain key services such as food, health, education and so on becomes important. But decisions regarding such provisioning and distribution are also largely influenced by the discriminatory structure that fosters such inequalities and deprivation. These issues have been addressed by the planners, and the goals set accordingly under the broad rubric of inclusive growth.
