India must focus on growth of labour-intensive sectors to create jobs and seriously think over privatising public sector banks, according to top economist Arvind Panagariya, who served as the first vice chairman of the NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017. The reform process must be completed in the next five years, he said in New York recently.

The priority areas include apparel, footwear, furniture, kitchenware and other light goods to create decent jobs for the Indian masses, Panagariya, now director at the Raj Centre on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University, told a news agency.

Globally-competitive firms in these sectors are needed that can capture the space in export markets that China has been quitting due to its high wages, he said.

This requires flexible labour and land laws and an ecosystem that is yet friendlier to large firms, he said.

Panagariya also emphasised on the need for major reforms in the area of education, saying the Right to Education Act has fully ignored quality. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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