The fountainhead of India’s economic malaise
Dr. Manmohan Singh | Former Prime Minister of India
The Hindu
In this forthright piece, the former Prime Minister says that the state of the Indian economy is “deeply worrying” and is a “function and reflection of the state of its society”. He notes that the functioning of any economy is “the result of the combined set of exchanges and social interactions among its people and institutions” and “the tearing of our social fabric of trust is the fountainhead of our current economic malaise”.
He argues that a “palpable climate of fear” plagues our society today and that “there is profound fear and distrust among people who act as agents of economic growth”. The industrialists, bankers, entrepreneurs etc. live in a “perilous state of fear, distrust and lack of confidence”, adds Singh.
The “root cause of this rupturing of our social fabric” is the Modi government’s “mala fide unless proven otherwise doctrine of governance”, he writes. Singh alleges that the central government views everything “through a tainted prism of suspicion and distrust due to which every policy of previous governments are presumed to be of bad intent”.
He writes that the most “worrying trend” is the latest retail inflation numbers that have shown a “sharp increase”, especially food inflation. Singh calls for the “twin policy actions of boosting demand through fiscal policy and reviving private investment through ‘social policy’ by inspiring trust and confidence in the economic participants in our society”. He “urges” the Prime Minister to “nurse back to a confident and mutually trustworthy society that can revive the animal spirits and our economy soar”.
Decoding Ranjan Gogoi’s legacy
Gautam Bhatia | Delhi-based advocate
Hindustan Times
In his piece, Bhatia reminds readers that on 20 April, a woman “accused former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment” and shortly after, both the institution and the CJI failed the test of “impartiality, of due process, and of the rule of law”.
In the wake of the Ayodhya verdict and “the filling up of judicial vacancies” the manner in which the CJI and the SC responded to complaints of sexual harassment “should not be consigned to forgetfulness”, writes Bhatia. He argues “in its seeming unconcern for natural justice, its opacity, and its desire to paint its critics as malicious individuals attempting to ‘malign’ the institution” the SC and the CJI “exhibited all the characteristics that we have long come to expect from the executive”.
He gives the example of the NRC in Assam where sealed covers were used for crucial decisions such as “admissible documents and methods of proving citizenship”. Furthermore, the abolition of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status saw Gogoi “fashion an unusual remedy” for habeas corpus petitions, which challenged the detention of various individuals, by giving “petitioners permission” to travel to J&K and “meet the detained parties”.
In conclusion, Bhatia maintains that the most “enduring legacy of CJI Gogoi will be that for an ordinary observer, it became no longer possible to tell the difference between the lions and the throne”.
A Lincoln moment
Ram Madhav | National General Secretary, BJP
The Indian Express
Madhav compares PM Modi’s actions in Kashmir to former US President Abraham Lincoln who “put an end to slavery in American South”. He claims that it was “not an easy journey” for Lincoln and he was “severely criticised” and argues that PM Modi “will be seen in similar light in the future” and that he “demonstrated toughness” like Lincoln.
Just like the “slave system was being exploited by the aristocrats of the South”, Madhav writes that aristocratic families in Kashmir were using Article 370 “to uphold their family feudalism”. He compares the “liberal attack” on Modi to the “Papal establishment” that had “joined hands with the liberals in Lincoln’s times”. He states that “‘human rights’ is a bogey that the liberals flaunt easily”.
Finally, he maintains that “like Lincoln, Modi too needed an iron-will” and that Lincoln “had to be ruthless with racial fascism in his time”. Madhav writes that Kashmir was no longer a political issue but a “pan-Islamic movement now” and Modi was, therefore, left with no choice.
Lights are Green, Let’s Move
Jayant Sinha | BJP MP from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand
Economic Times
In his piece, Sinha traces the different steps India has taken and should take for a low-carbon economy, under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi. The creation of green industries in the next 10 years means financial institutions will need to be prepared “to deploy capital”, he writes.
The clean drinking water mission — Jal Shakti Abhiyan, the push for renewable energy and setting carbon reduction targets are just a few steps PM Modi has taken in the direction of environmental sustainability, explains Sinha. Since “environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors [are] becoming ever more important for investors, green businesses are also considered much more valuable,” he writes. They are “classic ‘impact investments’… that offer both investment and social returns”, he explains.
There is a wide scope for entrepreneurship and innovation in green business like electric mobility and transport systems, waste management systems and biodegradable packaging. For example, there needs to be a serious move away from milk that is packaged in “environmentally harmful plastic pouches”, adds Sinha.
The Aatish Taseer case speaks of one blunder after another
Sandipan Deb | Former editor, Financial Express and founder-editor of Open, Swarajya magazines
Mint
Deb discusses the Modi government’s decision to revoke writer Aatish Taseer’s Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and states that it has now become “an international human rights issue”.
Taseer, “a British citizen by birth, grew up in India, and currently resides in New York”, had his OCI status revoked after he allegedly tried to hide information that his father was of Pakistani origin, explains Deb. Oddly, Taseer, an avid critic of the Modi government, has in fact written about his father and done little to conceal his identity. The government is technically in the right since “Taseer’s OCI status was illegal to begin with”, writes Deb, but with BJP officials and supporters branding him as a jihadist on Twitter, it would seem the Modi government has turned him into a “martyr for left-liberals”.
Deb views this as global image mismanagement on the part of the Modi government during a time when it is “faced daily with accusations of authoritarianism and human rights violations”. It has the option to offer facts and details on the “original illegality” yet it “does nothing”, he adds.
What should monetary policy do?
Ajay Shah | Professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi
Business Standard
Shah suggests recent inflation data should not be a cause for concern for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) despite fears that high inflation rates may lead to “rate hikes by the RBI”.
He finds merit in month-on-month consumer price inflation as opposed to year-on-year because the former shows “what is going on in the economy right now” at a time when individual months are seeing values as big as 10 per cent, well out of the ideal 2-6 per cent range. Since the economy is not facing “buoyant business cycle conditions”, however, inflation one or two years from now “should be relatively benign”, adds Shah.
A better understanding of financial sector policy and reforms that “go to the root cause of the problems in the financial system” is required to tackle the current economic conditions, writes Shah. He also suggests that interest rates for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) or Public Provident Fund (PPF) be lowered to around 5 per cent to suit the “new environment”.