Self-Reliance- Import Substitution

IN THE post-victory euphoria, suspension of US aid has yielded 'comprehensive exercises to give shape to a plan of self-reliance'. Past availability of aid has been all too easily blamed for the 'soft options' taken till now and for the neglect of cost reduction. What does the new drive for self-reliance amount to? Attempts are to be made by the National Committee on Science and Technology to suggest better use of indigenous materials and production of components and machinery which need not be imported. Towards this end, NCST has set up specialised groups for the various industrial sub-sectors to identify utilisa- ble capacity and to work out import substitution measures. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is also to review all its programmes with self- reliance and productive use in view. Indeed, CSIR laboratories have indicated 600 items for which indigenous substitutes are cither available or could be easily developed. So far so good.