Former Prime Minister and a renowned Economist. Dr. Manmohan Singh once said that “India is a rich country inhabited with very poor people”. India is a country where a few rich holds more money than majority of the poor does. In terms of economy, India is a fastest growing economy and a fast-developing country.

It is neither a socialist economy nor a capitalist economy it's a mixed economy.
It has features of capitalism and socialism that puts us in a mixed state of economy.

The Constitution of India does mention SOCIALISM like most of the liberal democracies around the world. So, we could say that an economic system of that country can have a direct or indirect impact on the democratic system or in its process.

What's Socialism and Capitalism in Indian Context
The mention of the word socialism in the preamble of the Indian Constitution does not directly represent its economic structure. The original version of the constitution does not include the word ‘socialism’. It was later added to the preamble of the constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976, which focuses on social and economic equality. Its intention was to abolish economic and social differences with a view of placing citizens on equal footing irrespective of differences.

Indian economy is neither socialist nor capitalist in a whole, but has the nature of both. Socialist economy is a populist economic and political system based on public ownership of the means of production. It simply means " an economy run by the government i.e., by the public”.

Capitalism is an economic system in which private individuals or businesses own capital goods. The production of goods and services is based on supply and demand in the general market. It is a system where the government takes a back seat and where individuals or business companies would do the role of running the markets by competing with each other for captivating the market.

India is a country with most dependency on the Government, in a country like India where most of its people are dependent on the government and its schemes for their livelihood, an economy ruled by individuals or private players would eventually lead to an under-performing economy simply because it would be unable for the poor to afford the products and services rendered by the Private companies.

Public sectors are being Privatised, citing the need for more efficiency and productivity by the government resulting in more and more private players being brought into sectors which was once reserved for the public. Example for the same are IRCTC runs Lucknow - New Delhi Tejas express train, privatisation of PSB’s, selling of LIC IPO, etc. This surely will attract attention of private investors.

A proposal to privatise BSNL was laid by the government which saw a strong opposition all around the country by its employees and the general public. This proposal was placed to pay off the huge debt incurred by BSNL. As a mode to pay off the debt, the Government was recently seen approving selling the land belonging to BSNL to the CBSE for Rs. 64 Crores. It is evident that BSNL is facing huge financial crisis.

Also, the banking sector has been witnessing more privatisation compared to other sectors. The Government has shortlisted four Public sector banks for potential privatisation including the Bank of India, many more PSBs have already witnessed privatisation, rising dissent from the employees of this sector is alarming in the current scenario, where the economic instability is very visible.

Conclusion
This triggering chain of events represents a significant and controversial process from the transformation of a semi socialist economy to a complete capitalist economy. Just like Nehru who once sold socialism to the people in the 50's, Modi can be seen popularizing capitalism to the masses at present.

It is evident that an average Indian would struggle throughout this period of transition, but it is also evident that privatisation would eventually overtake sectors from the government, providing better facilities and services, creating a more stable economy.

Written By Abey Thomas