‘Rahul’s US visit planned as part of new conversation on India’s future’
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s US tour, that started Monday with a speech at a California university ,had been months in the making, if not more, and was planned as part of a “new conversation” that the party wants to start about the future of India and its position in the world.
The Congress leader will be engaging innovators, thought leaders in varied fields, policy mavens and young minds as he traverses across the country, with two days in DC packed with back-to-back discussions at leading think-tanks, with experts on both the right and the left and political leaders.
“This is a part of the beginning of a new conversation that had been in the works for a long time — about the future of India, and the ideas that could drive it, said Sam Pitroda, who has planned Gandhi’s US tour and who had ushered a telecommunications revolution in India decades ago while working with Gandhi’s father, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Pitroda told Hindustan Times he will be working with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a Silicon Valley non-profit co-founded by one of the first Indian IT success stories — Kanwal Rekhi — to support startups, to develop “white papers on four or five” key areas to focus on, that could include energy, small and medium enterprises and healthcare.
The central pitch, according to Pitroda, is that the “existing world order”, which came up around the United States, is on its way out and India can take a lead in shaping the new order, which, for instance, is inclusive to begin with — “you cannot ignore 200 million Muslims (in India)”. The Congress vice-president may explore them in his deep-dives with experts and policy wonks he is scheduled to meet in DC later this week.
More Dalit and tribal families have been taking home loans over the past few years while the number of education loans has reduced, indicating a new pattern of investments among these communities.
A note prepared by the department of financial services in the ministry of finance shows the amount disbursed in home loans in 2017-18 , ₹2,849.36 crore, has gone up by nearly 50% compared to 2015-16, ₹1,954.57 crore. Sources add that the rise coincides with the government’s renewed thrust on ‘Housing for all’ by 2022 and the banks’ eagerness to disburse funds in an otherwise safer, booming sector.
“The PM also announced sops for Dalits and tribals on December 31, 2016. That further boosted the demand for loans in the housing sector,” said a source.
At a meeting of the parliamentary panel on the welfare of SC/ STs, some members wanted to know if banks are still insisting on collateral in loans for Dalits and tribals.
“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regularly comes out with guidelines asking banks not to ask for deposits. This regular issue of guidelines perhaps indicates that some banks are asking for such deposits,” said a member of the panel.
The rise in housing loans coincides with the construction of more houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, a programme in which eligible recipients get money from the government to build their own house with a toilet.
“The government also has provisions for low-interest loans for the households in case they fall short of funds ...” said a rural development ministry official who did not want to be named.
Meanwhile, banks are shying away from opening their purses for educational loans because of
This is a part of the beginning of a new conversation — about the future of India, and the ideas that could drive it.