PM Modi’s Economic Advisory Council has, as expected, rejected former CEA Arvind Subramanian’s claim that India’s growth rates were overestimated. This doesn’t leave anyone wiser or settle the argument. The cloud over India’s official data and the finger-pointing underscores the urgent need for an autonomous statistics body with statutory powers.
India needs electoral reform, but that’s not simultaneous polls
Pushing for simultaneous polls as a much-needed electoral reform is missing the woods for the trees, and could end up threatening India’s vibrant, hard-earned federalism. The more urgent reforms required are curbing the use of black money, making electoral bonds more transparent and giving the Election Commission more constitutional protections.
Karnataka Congress dissolution shows Rahul Gandhi’s cavalier approach to politics
Dissolution of Karnataka state Congress committee by Rahul Gandhi is another instance of his cavalier approach to politics. He keeps the entire party on tenterhooks about his resignation but wields his power when he wishes. The massive confusion among the ranks shows that India’s principal opposition party risks coming undone.
Having won such a heartwarming second term, elections, simultaneous or discrete, should be the last thing on the government’s mind. Convert political capital into national achievements. Kitna kaam hai Hindustan mein poora karne ke liye. Five million people in Chennai don’t have water to drink. Come winter, people in Delhi will be living in a gas chamber, notionally smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Calcuttans driven to violence because the public health system is crumbling. So many stunted children, their learning outcomes not equipping them for even the most basic of jobs. Some years ago, there was a Chinese President – possibly Jiang Zemin – who said, When I think of all our unfinished tasks, sleep does not come to me at night.
Aaeene mein daraar aa gaya hai. It will take time and effort to restore the trustworthiness of official Indian statistics and government data. Treating this as a 9 pm TV debate is not the best way forward. Better, wiser counsel should prevail.
Consider the life story and career graph of Shri Sundar Pichai. No reason why the sieving process for the Prime Minister of India should be less rigorous than it is for the CEO of Google.