Growth with Social Justice

The important point to remember from V K R V Rao's exercise in futurology is that while rapid GDP growth rate is a necessary condition for the nation's well-being in the 21st century, it is by no means a sufficient condition. Economists have long accepted that the market may be a very efficient allocator of resources to maximise output but not an adequate dispenser of social justice. Altogether expectations of a GDP growth rate of 8-9 per cent as has been suggested recently depend very materially on the commodity producing sectors of agriculture and manufacturing industry performing much better than now and in a more consistent fashion. This is, of course, possible; but the chances of achieving such a growth rate require the stepping up of domestic investment rather steeply and an all round increase in factor productivities, together with more employment of labour. What really are the prospects in this regard?