Some food for thought
"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the
man the oath."
—Aeschylus (Greek Poet, 525BC-456BC)
Word for the day
Kaleidoscopic (adj)
Continually shifting from one set of relations to another;
rapidly changing
First thought this morning
Emboldened by the recent electoral victories, the Congress Party
is making aggressive postures. It is taking the lead and setting agenda for
2019 elections. BJP and other political parties are either meekly following the
agenda set by the Congress Party or busy defending themselves.
Congress governments in three states may not be the only outcome
of the recently concluded state elections. Another major outcome is that
Congress has regained its confidence, and people are now willing to believe
that BJP is not totally invincible. That changes lot of equations in electoral
algebra.
The unfortunate part is that the Congress is not learning from
the past mistakes and setting a poor agenda for the election. Not only it is
indulging in adhocism, but also forcing all other political parties to follow
the suit.
Please pardon me for my complacency; but I rest assured that not
much will change for better in next 12months, insofar as policy setting and
governance is concerned.
Chart of the day
Challenge the status quo
I sincerely believe that any agenda for reforms in India, that
is incrementalist, will not change the conditions in any significant measure,
howsoever earnestly and efficiently it is implemented. At best, it will help
maintaining the status quo; which is not a pretty picture in itself.
Here I would like to reiterate what I wrote a couple of years
ago.
It would be fair to assume that most students will return the
answer sheets blank, and leave the examination hall, distraught.
Some may try to test their ingenuity and offer literary
solutions to the complicated problems, still hoping to score zilch.
A few would however contend that being students of literature,
they are naturally the only genius around. These few would offer detailed
literary explanations which may not make any sense to the conventional students
of physics or literature; and still insist that the solutions offered by them
are the best. Hoping to pass with distinction, they might also take this
opportunity to ridicule the students of physics and celebrate their superiority.
This is the group I refer to as "Radicals".
I am inclined to view the present day Indian economy as the
examination hall described above. Though most stakeholders (economists,
bankers, administrators, politicians, regulators, traders, borrowers, lenders,
consumers, producers, et. al.) can apparently read the problems plaguing the
Indian economy, most appear clueless about the solutions. And that is precisely
what they are doing day and night - reading the problem; sometime in hush-hush
sounds; sometimes raising the decibel to the maximum; sometimes in the secret
chambers and sometimes in front of the mammoth crowds; sometimes with audacity
and sometimes with jitters in their spine.
The Radicals are the one who are offering solutions. Totally
unassimilated, these solutions naturally do not appeal to the conventional
mindset. These solutions are therefore mostly liable to be rejected as
hazardous, for these seek to rattle the status quo. These are also subject to
the derision of the conformist and purist, as they approach the problem from a
completely unexpected tangent.
Admittedly, these solutions may very well fail to solve any of
the problems, Indian economy is facing today; or even exacerbate the problems;
though this cannot be known today. As Shakespeare would tell us “There are many
events in the womb of time which will be delivered.”
What matters today is to make an effort, howsoever radical or
unassimilated it may seem. That is what is needed to administer a sense of calm
on the stressed nerves of the common people, who are finding the current
conditions unfairly severe to them.
I therefore appreciate the Radicals steps like Demonetization.
It might have failed in delivering the desired outcome. Rather, it may actually
have killed the growth momentum, as many experts have claimed. Nonetheless, it
was a commendable attempt to break the status quo. It would be disheartening,
if the radicals are bogged down by failures or underperformance of their
solutions.
Being a radical myself, I would therefore like to approach the
problems afflicting the Indian economy from the other side, rather than just
incrementally trying to improve the status quo.
First, I would like to focus on the strengths of the India and
Indian people, rather than weaknesses. Some key strengths of India and Indians
since ancient times, have been their spirituality, austerity, devotion to
Mother Nature, and tolerance to diverging thoughts and practices.
In post independence period, we have seen erosion in most of
these strengths. Superstitions and mundane rituals have replaced spirituality.
Ostentatiousness has replaced austerity. Exploitation of Mother Nature is a
norm rather than exception. Intolerance is rewarded.
No matter what economic model you follow or regulatory steps you
take for sustainability and environment protection, alleviation of poverty and
rural stress, and equality of women, the results would remain under par, unless
we strengthen our foundation.
In simple words, the pests have infected the roots of our
socio-economic tree. Spraying pesticides on the leaves and fruits will yield
almost nothing, in my view.
Tomorrow I shall present my thoughts on the areas of concern
highlighted by the panel of experts (see
here).
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