Explain how public sector contributes to the economic development of a nation.

Generally economic development of a nation can be defined as long term increase in per capita income along with improver tent in quality of life. The public sector contributes to the economic development of a nation in many ways as mentioned below:
(i) In the public sector, the government owns most of the assets and provides various services for the benefit, of the people in general. Steel Authority of India, Indian Oil Corporation are public sector enterprises.
(ii) Government owns banks such as State Bank of India and Canara Bank.
(iii) The public sector plays a dominant role in the economic development of a nation because it takes up the development programmes on a large scale while the private sector. generally has neither resources nor the will to take up large tasks of development for the welfare of the people. For example in India, the public sector has played a significant role in the eradication of illiteracy The number of literates has increased form 9 per cent of females and 27 per cent of males in 1951 to 75 per cent of males and 54 per cent females in 2001. The government’s effort in providing health facilities has raised average life expectancy from 32 years in 1950-51 to 61 years in 1993-94. Thus, we find that public sector contributes to the economic development of a nation in a significant way.