[Answered] Analyze entrepreneurship as a tool for completing the ‘unfinished’ 1991 reform agenda. Evaluate the impact of anti-wealth-creator ideologies on poverty alleviation and examine whether fostering a pro-enterprise ecosystem is a prerequisite for ensuring substantive social justice in 2026.

Introduction

Thirty-five years after the 1991 reforms, India stands at an inflection point where entrepreneurship—central to job creation and poverty reduction—remains constrained by incomplete factor-market reforms and lingering anti-wealth ideologies.

Entrepreneurship and the ‘Unfinished’ 1991 Reform Agenda

1. From Survival to Scale: The 1991 liberalisation dismantled the Licence Raj in product markets, stabilised the balance of payments, and integrated India into the global economy. However, reforms in factor markets—land, labour, and capital—remained partial, constraining enterprise-led mass employment. As a result, despite GDP expansion, 45% of India’s workforce remains in low-productivity agriculture, reflecting incomplete structural transformation.
2. Job Creation Deficit: Economic Survey and World Bank data highlight that India must generate 10–12 million non-farm jobs annually to absorb its demographic dividend. Only entrepreneurship—especially MSMEs and start-ups—can achieve this scale, as the state lacks fiscal and administrative capacity to be the primary employer.

Entrepreneurship as a Tool of Substantive Social Justice

1. Multiplier Effect on Poverty Reduction: Unlike redistribution alone, entrepreneurship creates a virtuous cycle of income, skills, and local demand. Evidence from districts with clustered MSMEs (Tiruppur textiles, Morbi ceramics) shows deeper poverty reduction than DBT-only regions, validating Amartya Sen’s notion of capability expansion.
2. From Welfare to Dignity: Entrepreneurship converts citizens from “passive beneficiaries” to “active producers”, aligning with the constitutional promise of dignity under Article 21. The rise of first-generation “Indi-Gen” entrepreneurs from tier-2 and tier-3 towns demonstrates democratisation of opportunity beyond elite dynasties.

Impact of Anti-Wealth-Creator Ideologies

1. Zero-Sum Fallacy: As shown by economist Stefanie Stantcheva, zero-sum beliefs—where wealth creation is seen as predatory—drive excessive regulation and distrust. In India, this manifests as regulatory cholesterol, compliance overload, and criminalisation of economic offences, especially harming MSMEs.
2. Policy and Rhetoric Costs: Populist narratives that pit “suited-booted entrepreneurs” against social justice ignore empirical reality: global GDP rose 1,600% after embracing enterprise, lifting billions out of poverty. India’s slower manufacturing absorption (11% workforce share) reflects ideological hesitation rather than lack of talent.
3. Lost Non-Farm Jobs: China’s experience—moving 400 million workers from farms to factories—shows how pragmatic pro-enterprise policies outperform ideological purity. India’s failure to replicate this scale highlights how suspicion of private capital has delayed poverty exit for millions.

Why a Pro-Enterprise Ecosystem is Non-Negotiable in 2026

1. Fiscal Sustainability: Expanding welfare (PM-GKAY, health insurance) requires a broader tax base, which only profitable enterprises can provide. Redistribution without wealth creation risks fiscal fragility.
2. Global Competitiveness: In AI, green energy, and deep-tech sectors, agile private entrepreneurs, not PSUs alone, drive innovation. Reports by McKinsey and NITI Aayog emphasise start-ups as key to India’s $30 trillion economy ambition by 2047.
3. Completing 1991: Reforms such as Jan Vishwas decriminalisation, digitisation, and regulatory simplification signal movement toward “mental liberalisation”—aligning policy mindset with market-led poverty alleviation.

Way Forward: Enterprise with Ethics

1. Trust-Based Regulation: Shift from “inspector raj” to risk-based oversight.
2. Factor Market Reforms: Flexible labour laws, land titling, deeper credit markets.
3. Inclusive Entrepreneurship: Credit, skilling, and market access for women and marginalised groups to ensure growth is broad-based.

Conclusion

As Justice B.R. Ambedkar warned, political democracy needs social and economic democracy. Echoing Deng Xiaoping and PM Modi’s Viksit Bharat vision, entrepreneurship is India’s most ethical instrument of mass upliftment.