ARE WE BECOMING SOCIALISTIC?
JC KUMARAPPA
In season and out of season we are being told that India’s economy is becoming socialistic. A careful scrutiny of the Second Five-Year Plan will disclose anything but that trend. The move is definitely towards capitalism. Is capitalism trying to dig in with a plea for socialism? Let the public be on the watch.
It is thought that manufacturing industries will relieve the pressure on land. On the other hand, all past experience goes to show that such methods of production increase unemployment and thereby create the pressure itself. The only sure remedy is the spread of village industries. Such a course is also agreed to by the planners, but they are not prepared to implement it as that will demand the exclusion of centralised production of consumer goods. We can never solve our problems by accentuating them or by running away from them. Therefore, a priority must be granted to village producers as against the competing large-scale industries.
Production of investment goods, it is believed, will raise the standard of living. Standard of living is enhanced by larger quantities of consumer goods being made available by workers who are working for self-employment, while provision of investment goods tend to retard circulation of wealth and concentrate it in a few hands. Hence, the standard of living of most persons will be affected adversely by the latter method.
(Undated. Source: Kumarappa Papers, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, now renamed as Prime Ministers' Museum and Library)