Union Minister Suresh Prabhu cautioned that the debate between public and private sectors should be judged solely by national interest and not by ideological considerations.
Kolkata: New India should have an economy driven by entrepreneurship and innovation, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Suresh Prabhu said here on Saturday, cautioning that the debate between public and private sectors should be judged solely by national interest and not by ideological considerations.
“In new India, we must make sure India should be the dominant economy of the world, India must be a model economy of the world, it must have a model industry… India must have an economy driven by entrepreneurship and innovation,” Prabhu said here.
Addressing students of National University of Juridical Sciences, the Union Minister said one needs to find out whether the public or the private sector or both together best serve India’s interests in a given field, time and situation.
“We should not just be swayed by ideology. We should not say public sector will solve all the problems nor should we say public sector will not exist. We must find out what is good for India. And that what is good for India will change from time to time,” Prabhu said speaking on the topic “Privatising Public sector: The Lessons Learnt and Way Ahead”.
Turning to 1956, when Parliament passed the Industrial Policy Resolution that stressed on state control of the economy, Prabhu said: “There is no point in now saying whether it was right or wrong. May be it was right. But just because it was right in 1956, one should not assume it will be right in 2018.
“We have to keep evaluating the situation, and take right decisions. Future of public sector is not as important as future of India. What is important is future of India,” he said.
He said that in a changing world, one needs to be flexible with ideas about the development of the country.
“What is necessary for India will keep on changing because the world is changing. So if we just take one idea and say we won’t look at any other idea as our idea is the best, that will be akin to an ostrich mentality.”
Without naming any country, he said the nations which did not change with time were now struggling, “trying to come out of the shell, and make new friends, just to integrate into the new economy”.
