Articles by V M Dandekar

It is to the credit of the present finance minister that, even as a member of a minority government, he decided to face the facts, accept the inevitable and venture to bring back the economy to normalcy by a twin strategy of fiscal discipline and structural reform. Quite understandably, the finance minister thinks that his strategy has been vindicated and, naturally, has persisted and pursued the same path in the budget for 1994-95. Therefore, it is only fair that we should judge the policy and hence the budget not on grounds of ideology but on performance.

V M Dandekar Though the general direction of the New Economic Policy appears to be right, two critical parameters of the economic situation, namely, the fiscal deficit and the balance of payments deficit, have remained as serious as they were two years ago. The finance minister is aware that fiscal imbalances are still large and that the economy is still vulnerable to external shocks and that, therefore, there is no room for complacency. Nevertheless, by exuding so much quiet confidence, he is creating a general mood of complacency Reduced customs and excise duties have added to this mood, creating expectations that next year not only will these indirect taxes be further reduced, but also direct taxes will be reduced. This may be politically wise in the short run, but may prove disastrous in the long run, not much longer than the end of the century.

Reform of Higher Education V M Dandekar In 1774 Adam Smith, in an article indicting the system of higher education in his days, impliedly suggested two changes: one, that the salary of a teacher should be only a part of his emoluments, the greater part arising from honoraries or fees of his students; second, that the students should be left free to choose not only the college or the subject, but the teachers who should instruct them. If we can work such a system of higher education on these principles, it will make the teachers more accountable, the students more responsible and the expenditure more fruitful THE reform of higher education has many aspects. I shall consider only two of them: First, how to make the teachers in the colleges and the universities more accountable for their duties, particularly towards their students. Second, how to make the students more responsible for their studies. l shall consider them in that order though, as we proceed, we shall see that the two are connected.

Search for an Employment-Oriented Growth Strategy A Discussion A notable feature of the debate on the Eighth Five-Year Plan has been the concern over the deceleration in the growth of employment in recent years and the quest for an employment-oriented growth strategy. The articles that follow make up a discussion of this theme. All the articles, with the exception of the one by J C Sandesara which critically reviews a draft of the Planning Commission's Approach Paper' on Eighth Plan, are responses to the Economic Advisory Council's Interim Report titled Towards Evolving an Employment-Oriented Strategy for Development in the 1990s'.

Population Front of India's Economic Development IN response to my article 'Population Front of India's Economic Development',' two comments have appeared, one by P H Reddy2 and the other by V Bhate and S Muley.3 In the following, I shall try to reply to points directly concerning my article.