Manmohan Singh: A reformer who had concern for vulnerable groups

The passing away of Dr Manmohan Singh creates a big void in India’s intellectual scene. The second change in direction was to reverse the strong bias towards state ownership of means of production and proliferation of public sector enterprises in almost every sphere of economic activity. The private sector is being given a larger space to operate in, as some areas earlier reserved exclusively for the public sector are now also allowed to the private sector. In these areas, the public sector will have to compete with the private sector, even though the public sector may continue to play the dominant role. There is, however, nothing in the new economic policy which takes away the role of the state or the public sector in the system.