India should democratisemarket economy: Expert

Patna: The two-day workshop on ‘Socio-economic perspectives for India’s next few decades’, organized by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), commenced here on Thursday. Economist Lord Meghnad Desai highlighted the plight of state’s migrant workers during the Covid-induced lockdown, when they had to walk for thousands of kilometers to return to their homes, so that they could sustain themselves by qualifying for schemes like MGNREGA.“Why can’t we devise an effective system for such migrants to ameliorate their condition? Also, society should find money for poor unpaid women to compensate for enormous amount of money wasted in non-performing assets of banks,” he said. State information commissioner Tripurari Sharan said the government needs to reorient its policies after Covid. Sanjay Reddy, Chair, department of economics, New School for Social Research, New York, said, “To achieve inclusiveness, India should go in for a democratised market economy which enables all citizens to be participants. One need not rely on handouts,”. TNN