There is a contention that if women of India are allowed into the labour force as equal partners, India may reach the levels of China and Vietnam on the manufacturing scale. However, age-old religious restrictions may not allow this to ever happen in India.
Victor Hugo said that no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. Thirty years ago in 1991, the then finance minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, introduced the reforms bill and quoted Hugo in Parliament. That process helped India begin a new economic voyage.
Union Budget 2021 live: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting Budget 2021 in Parliament, Union Budget 2021-22 Highlights: Expectations are high that the government will boost economic revival by focussing on infrastructure, rural economy, agriculture, healthcare
In a sign of ominous times, the government is reforming labour laws with increased deregulation, weakening of unions and more working hours, but this will not create growth or lead to better productivity.
Since the announcement of the nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, the economy has been reeling under tremendous pressure from severe livelihood losses (78 percent), rising unemployment rate (47 percent), severe decline in consumption and production and an almost 24 percent contraction in GDP.