Retrospection of Ambedkar’s Ideas on Economy and Development: Deciphering its Contemporary Appositeness

Abstract

The Indian economy is a mixed economy that has been affected by social, political and economic changes before and after independence. After India’s independence, economic planning for achieving inclusive growth and improvement began. For this, the goal of a socialist style of society was envisioned and integrated into various plans. India strictly followed the mixed economic system from 1947 to 1991 and valued the spirit of socialist society. After1991, more emphasis was placed on the neo-liberal capitalist economy, which envisioned a larger share of the private sector. But an underlying reason for the whole plan was that India was suffering from various socio-economic problems such as increasing inequality of income, resources, preferences, rights and opportunities. There were also endless problems with rising inflation and budget deficits. The economists and policy formulators under such situation with the typical Hindu rate of growth (very low growth rate around 3.5%) have crossed the rubicon and adopted the New Economic Policy. Though India somehow saved its economy at that time, the problems still continued and the country is still struggling to find a way out where the Modi government has adopted demonitisation and other measures which are not free from debates and criticisms. In this context, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar become important and his economic ideas become relevant for the present time where this article tries to explore some of his ideas on economy, rupee and development which have remained unexplored and need more attention.