Make economy monsoon-proof: Assocham chief

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">AHMEDABAD: Even though the Indian economy has reached a state of maturity wherein a five per cent GDP growth rate can be assured without any government intervention as industries and services have become government proof, there is a need to make the economy monsoon-proof, Assocham president Mahendra K Sanghi has said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">"With the spectre of drought looming large over the Indian economy, the government must even now accord topmost priority to water as an infrastructure issue as the entire economy depends on it.All is not yet lost. Provisions should be made to prevent such situations arising in the future through water harnessing, water management and desalination," Sanghi told TNN here on Thursday.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">According to him, if we had taken the 2002 drought seriously instead of being happy with the bountiful 2003 monsoon by taking concrete long-term measures things could have been different. "Even if there is a slight recovery in rains, a growth of 6.5-7 per cent may not be difficult but will impact agriculture and hence have a cascading effect on the manufacturing and services sector."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Talking about Budget 2004, the Assocham chief pointed out that though the budget has rightly focused on the rural economy, education and healthcare, these well-intentioned dreams need to be strategised by a consistent and determined action plan for them to perform wonders.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">"Unless enough attention is paid to infrastructure development, including water, roads, power, in rural areas, the objective of measures announced in the budget to give an impetus to rural economy will not bear fruit," he said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Calling for the need to revaluate the employment generation policies announced by the UPA government, Sanghi said that reservation was not the answer to the country''s unemployment problems. "Creating more jobs is definitely the need of the hour but not at the cost of quality and competitiveness of Indian industry. We need to broadbase and deepen industrial growth and take people out of agriculture gainfully."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">On PSU divestment, he said quicker the government took decisions on privatisation of at least loss-making units the better it would be for the economy. "With inaction on that front we are losing money every day."</span></div> </div>