India is largely insulated from global woes: Arun Jaitley

Bombay Stock Exchange CEO Ashish Chauhan and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley during a conference at BSE office in Mumbai on Friday. (Photo: PTI)

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said India is largely insulated from the political and economic challenges that the world is currently facing and the stable environment in India provides immense opportunity for the country to grow even further.

While addressing a conference on Empowerment through Education – ‘Taalim-o-Tarbiyat’ organised at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mr Jaitley said the world is facing two kinds of challenges – political and economic.

“There is an increase in violence and terrorism across the globe and there are reactions to that.

“Despite having different kinds of population, India does not have any such problem. Barring occasional skirmishes, often magnified by media, there are no major incidents in our country. Our society continues to speak in one voice,” he said.

Speaking about economic challenges, the minister said the Indian economy has managed to register 7 to 7.5 per cent growth, which is commendable amidst global slow down. He called upon the members of the minority community to empower themselves through education, acquiring skills and tap opportunities availing of benefits like the MUDRA scheme and various other programmes.

Mr Jaitley said post 1991 economic liberalisation, the acceleration of growth rate has led to substantial reduction in poverty.

While all communities have shown reduction in poverty levels, it has remained uneven, as certain minorities have lagged behind, which needs to be addressed.

“While poverty rate among the Muslim community has gone down from 52 per cent in 1991 to about 27 per cent in 2011, some communities like Jains and Parsis have yet to overcome the challenges of poverty,” he added.