It is, therefore, imperative that there is a change in our strategy for the coming years which must witness a more sincere and purposeful effort to realise the ideal of social and economic justice incorporated in the Constitution. There must be a perceptible sense of urgency permeating at all levels of the party. There has to be an ostensible effort to see that a greater degree of social justice informs all the institutions of the society. It is true that the process of development implies a certain amount of sacrifice and self-denial. It is also true that levelling of incomes and wealth without achieving an adequate level of development would lead us nowhere. But a stage has come when the hardships involved in the developmental effort have to be demonstrably shared by all sections of the society. Postponement of current consumption for those whose consumption standards are lowest in the world cannot exist by the side of vulgarly ostentatious and wasteful expenditure by a few. A great deal is still possible to enlarge the content of public services which serve as a means to restrict the area of private affluence and to effect a transfer of wealth to the poorer strata of society. Thus services like education, health, transport etc. could be increased many fold to reach the neglected humanity. In a country where the majority subsists in appalling poverty, there can be no place for unearned incomes and disproportionate returns on investments. The economic strategy for the seventies must, therefore, include sound incomes and wealth policy related to the socio-economic compulsions of a society undergoing total transformation. It will have to be clearly understood that growth or development is not merely an economic concept but that it also has an important social and a human connotation. Even in advanced capitalist countries the importance of social justice is being increasingly realised. Unless accelerated economic growth is accompanied by social justice and well-being of the neglected and weaker sections of the society, the affluence of a small section would be difficult to sustain and would crumble under its own weight.
In the split of the Congress and the consequent redefinition of ideological commitments, the people have seen a ray of hope. In the bold and historic moves to nationalise banks and to abolish privy purses and privileges of rulers, there is a new sense of urgency and sincerity of purpose. But this could, at best, be only a beginning of a new economic advance. These and such other measures will, by themselves, create only a temporary and illusory impact on the people unless they lead to a positive improvement in the well-being of the vast masses in the shortest possible time. With the dispersal of economic and political power, process of planning itself has become diversified. The implementation of programmes has become further complicated by multiplicity of agencies which execute the programmes. For a developing country like ours, we have a remarkably sophisticated administrative machinery but the procedures and practices have not often been conducive to speedy decision-making and their implementation. It is not enough that bold decisions are taken on paper.
