Meghnad Desai, a peer and British economist, blasted the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign on Sunday, calling it "total rubbish." The campaign is led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the Ahad Anhad Festival of Words and Performances in the Bihar Museum, Desai made some remarks about the Indian economy and the lack of development that has been made in the industrial sector. The discussion was centred on his book, How Economics Abandoned the Poor. He argued that the Indian economy is not under the control of anyone, and that the efforts of the government to make it more self-sufficient are fruitless endeavours.
In spite of these criticisms, Desai noted that India has the largest economy in the world in which to invest. He advised that the emphasis should be placed, rather than on manufacturing, on establishing an efficient service economy through digitization.Desai also brought up the fact that although India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of GDP, it is only ranked 150th in terms of its average income per person. In his closing remarks, he described the United Nations as a "utter disaster."
