fold to 2 per cent. the evidence of an increase in the growth of labour productivity is also available from other studies ( economic intelligence unit, 2007 ). a study by tata services ( 2003 ) found that for the all - india manufacturing sector, labour productivity ( output per unit of labour ) has increased significantly during the post - reform period, compared to the pre - reform period. ( iii ) physical infrastructure : grounds for optimism admittedly, a critical constraint to economic growth in india in recent years has been the infrastructure deficit. the approach paper to the 11th five year plan has estimated that for accelerating the gdp growth from 7 to 9 per cent, there is a need for accelerating the current level of investment in infrastructure from 4. 6 per cent of gdp to 8 per cent during the plan period. the issue of providing adequate and quality infrastructure has already attracted attention of policy makers at all levels. the committee on infrastructure, headed by the honourable prime minister, has estimated the investment requirements of the indian economy during the 11th five - year plan at around us $ 345 billion, i. e., roughly 8 per cent of gdp, every year. there are several grounds for optimism in regard to overcoming the problems relating to physical infrastructure, provided the framework of public policy, especially regulatory environment, is conducive. first, there is adequate generation of domestic savings while india has also become an attractive destination for foreign capital.. as in the past, over 90 to 95 per cent of investment could be funded by domestic savings. as already mentioned, recent developments in insurance, pension, debt market, fiscal side, etc., add to the prospects of efficient and adequate domestic financing options for infrastructure development. second, the infrastructure investments in india are basically demand driven and hence, are likely to have a short gestation. third, there are significant domestic entrepreneurial -, construction -, technological - skill capabilities to execute the projects efficiently and promptly. fourth, the growth and quality of services sector in india adds to the potential for enhanced productivity in investments in physical infrastructure. finally, a dynamic mix of public - private and domestic - foreign partnership is already evident in many sectors such as airports. ( iv ) improvements in fiscal balance it is true that the aggregate stock of public debt of the centre and states as a percentage of gdp is high, currently at around seventy five per cent. however, there are signs of improvement even after adjusting for recent favourable cyclical factors. the fiscal - management of central government is broadly in

the disbursal of educational loans by commercial banks. the educational loans outstanding amounted to rs. 27, 709 crore as at end march 2009 which increased to up to rs. 42, 808 crore as at end - march 2011 table 2 ). table 2 : educational loan of scheduled commercial banks particulars mar - 09 mar - 10 mar - 11 amount outstanding ( in rs crore ) 27709. 5 36359. 7 42808. 1 16. 3 19. 7 22. 8 no of accounts ( in lakh ) we have nominated a nodal officer at the central office of the rbi for the purpose of all educational loan issues / grievances. apart from policy formulation, as an institution also, rbi undertakes activities to educate students relating to central banking, banking and financial system. illustratively, to educate young scholars, a scheme has been introduced in which every year rbi selects a good number of scholars from different region of the country. in addition, rbi has set up research and training institution for banking technology. way forward innovations required the challenge of educating millions of young people implies that we need to scale up our educational efforts multi - fold despite having the largest number of higher education institutes in the world. mr shantanu prakash has established one more institute today but we need to create many more such centres. scaling up is not possible unless the students become successful, create value in the society and contribute back to their alma - mater or, better still, start new institutes of global standards themselves. the curriculum of some of the colleges / universities is more or less obsolete and do not equip students with the necessary skills or impart latest knowledge. if a student passes out of a chosen course, he or she should be employable as a work force. unfortunately, given the phenomenal share of lack of technical knowledge in the courses of education, students are found wanting in the desired skills and technical soundness. to address this issue, we may think of strengthening the vocational streams in schools / colleges. i urge the universities / schools / colleges to regularly revisit their curriculum by involving experts from different fields so that the curriculum can lead to knowledge development. further, why can we not use the available infrastructure more intensely? for instance, why cannot a second stream of courses, say vocational, be run in the evening / night so that the available / created infrastructure is better utilized. teachers are the most important factors for any innovative society because teachers ’