Mentors Comments:

• The question is an analytical one. It asks the interplay between inclusive growth-inclusiveness-sustainability.
• In the intro define inclusive growth.
• In the body, explain how Inclusive economic development will include the poor, vulnerable, marginalized, women, youth and people from every stratum of society in economic activity for a sustainable future. Mention various facts and figures dealing with the stated objective of inclusive growth and inclusiveness (distribution of wealth and reduced inequality) achieved, and relationship with sustainable growth (inter-generational equity).
• Steps that are taken to achieve the said goals of the strategy like- changes made in the economic structure, making provisions to include all the sections of society and adoption of cleaner technology and recycling can also be mentioned.
• Conclude by stressing how not just the growth but inclusive and sustainable growth that really matters.

Answer:

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines Inclusive growth as the economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all. It refers to ‘broad-based’, ‘shared’, and ‘pro-poor growth’.

The rapid pace of growth is unquestionably necessary for substantial poverty reduction, but for this growth to be sustainable in the long run, it should be broad-based across sectors, and inclusive of the large part of the country’s labor force.

Meaning of Inclusiveness

Inclusiveness is a concept that encompasses equity, equality of opportunity, and protection in market and employment transitions and is, therefore, an essential ingredient of any successful growth strategy.

Meaning of Sustainable Development

The UN  Brundtland commission’s report ‘Our Common Future (1987)’ defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

How inclusive growth meets the objectives of inclusiveness and sustainability together

• Growth which is ‘inclusive’ and “pro-poor”, the incomes of poor people grow faster than those of the population as a whole, i.e., inequality declines. By focusing on inequality, inclusive growth could lead to optimal outcomes for both poor and non-poor households.
• The inclusive growth approach takes a longer-term perspective, where it is important to recognize the time lag between reforms and outcomes.
• Inclusive growth leads to a wider distribution of wealth which creates a demand in a country and hence leads to domestic demand-driven growth. India in the past 2 decades has been able to grow at a rapid rate only due to domestic demand.
• Inclusive growth creates a strength in the economy to withstand shocks and growth becomes sustainable in the longer run.
• With better wealth distribution people move away from polluting sources of energy such as wood, cow dung, etc and adopt more environment-friendly sources such as LPG which further improves environmental sustainability.
• Sustainable development should be followed wherein we should not only be inclusive with respect to people but also bring the environment in its inclusion thus causing minimum depletion of resources and going for a circular economy.
• Inclusive growth addresses the structural and fundamental problems in society and the economy. EX- current strategy to empower women. These strategies build strong foundations that are more sustainable for long term transformations.
• In the past few years, the government is aggressively focusing on the strategy of inclusive growth in its various programs and policies. For Example, Jan Dhan Yojana has focused on incorporating the unbanked masses into the financial sector and has increased financial inclusion statistics to more than 80%.

Conclusion

In the last few decades, India’s growth story has been phenomenal but the outcomes of this growth were not visible on the ground as India has performed badly in several social indicators as well as Human Development Index. Therefore inclusive growth is the idea to realize the dream of sustainable and qualitative development for present and future generations.