Description
The implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1970 engendered a drastic reorientation of public policy in this country. The Policy was aimed at poverty eradication irrespective of race, and the restructuring of society. Nevertheless, the increasing State intervention in resource allocation and in the ownership and control of business enterprises had brought along new sets of problems, the recognition of which was manifest not least in the apparent policy reversals such as those after the mid-eighties. The National Development Policy (NDP) that succeeded the NEP in 1991 further emphasized the importance of economic growth in the overarching development orientation, while the policy im- perative was increasingly shifted from ownership to productivity.
This volume looks at the implications of such policy shifts on social divisions and ethnic relations, and the influence of external factors on the patterns of economic development and the emergence of new social cleavages. The issues discussed here include the impacts of the policies, institutions and programmes introduced under the NEP and NDP, and the ways to build on the successes and address the shortcomings in policy formulation and implementation, focussing in particular on issues of poverty eradication and income distribution, educational development and labour force participation, capital development and corporate ownership and control, and social change and national integration. By analyzing the socio-economic development trends in the context of the NEP/NDP, this volume aims to take stock of the progress, and to provide inputs for future policy formulation.
ISBN: 9839662155
