Warning On India’s Economic Crisis

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31085, 14 June 1966, Page 17

Warning On India’s Economic Crisis

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) NEW DELHI, June 13. The Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, yesterday warned that a crippling economic crisis has thrust India into its most crucial period since independence, 19 years ago.

Mrs Gandhi called in a nationwide radio broadcast for hard work and discipline for the “long, hard and exciting journey” ahead as India tried to shed itself of widespread poverty. Describing India’s recent currency devaluation, its stagnant industry and critically low foreign exchange reserves, Mrs Gandhi said: “1 make no promises.”

The decision to devaluate India’s currency by 36.5 per cent “was not an easy one," she said. “It would have been easier to drift along. “But,” she said, “this is a time for bold decisions and resolute actions.” Mrs Gandhi warned several times that she will be tough with anyone who sabotages economic reconstruction.

Consumer price increases were not justified, she said, and anyone engaging in such “anti-social practices will be dealt with firmly.” A Government survey has reported that in spite of an

unprecedented drop in agricultural production, India's food situation is now well under control. Thanks to emergency supplies from the United States and other countries it is possible to meet the “minimal” needs of India’s people, the report said.