Betrayal of Gandhi
Rajmohan Gandhi | Research professor at the University of Illinois
The Indian Express
Gandhi challenges Prime Minister Modi: when the PM says that through the new citizenship law the government is “only fulfilling the dreams and wishes of Mahatma Gandhi”, it does nothing of the kind. On the contrary, it brazenly defies them. Gandhi also puts forth a disclaimer — he says this not as the Father of the Nation’s grandson but as his biographer.
Gandhi recalls two incidents, one when in January 1948, the Mahatma was thrilled when an unnamed Muslim leader from Pakistan told him that he wanted to “witness a fifty-mile-long procession of Hindus and Sikhs returning to Pakistan with Gandhiji at its head.” The other was when he ended his last fast after the residents of Delhi pledged that they would have no objection to the return of Muslims. Gandhi asserts that the claim made by PM Modi that CAA fulfils Gandhi’s wishes is “to turn history on its head.” He concludes by saying, “This, dear Narendrabhai, was Gandhi’s understanding of a government’s duty towards minorities.”
A column by Rajmohan Gandhi’s younger brother, Gopalkrishna Gandhi also features in The Hindu, At the heart of the Republic. He writes about the history of the Indian Republic and the democratic spirit of the country, which is based on the spirit of nonviolence and the refusal to be co-opted by vested interest
Safeguarding free speech from threats is important
Madhavi Goradia Divan | Additional Solicitor General of India
Hindustan Times
Talking about the freedom of speech and expression (Article 19), Divan explains that at the time of drafting the Constitution, many members protested against it because the right was “riddled with so many exceptions that the exceptions have eaten up the right altogether.”
She explains that there were many debates to come to a decision on what should be the grounds on which free speech can be restricted and the decision was: “Libel, slander, defamation, contempt of court or any other matter which offends against decency or morality or undermines the security of or tends to overthrow the state.”
Divan then goes on to cite different cases when the exceptions to this right were tested. The first amendment of the Constitution in 1951 expanded the restrictions from four to eight, however, “one redeeming feature was that the subjects of restriction were prefixed with the word ‘reasonable’”, she notes. This word helps to reign in the restrictions and ensure that they pass the test of proportionality. Divan writes, “There are grave dangers in opening a back door for inroads into Article 19(1)(a), particularly through a right as elastic as Article 21(right to life and personal liberty)”. Article 21 is often invoked to curb the right to freedom of speech and expression.
She adds that the right to freedom of speech and expression “draws a Laxman Rekha and it is important, in the interests of free speech to stay well within that threshold.”
Don’t tighten belts now
Vikram Kirloskar | President of Confederation of Indian Industry
The Times of India
Ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing her second Union Budget, Kirloskar writes it is a good thing that the Union Minister has been engaging with stakeholders and has made several policy announcements towards reviving the economy. “Nevertheless, the Budget announcement is critical, most importantly due to the fiscal numbers that come with it,” he writes.
He notes that in view of the economic slowdown this is not the time to “tighten the belt” as the slowdown will be further reinforced if the government cuts down on spending. “I would argue here that global interest rates are currently at an all-time low on account of the global economic slowdown, and financial markets are awash with liquidity”, notes Kirloskar. He recommends launching sovereign bonds in the global market.
He talks about relaxing litigation, asset sales, creation of a credit guarantee scheme, convergence of tax rates and the most ardent need of creating jobs. He concludes by saying, “A well-rounded Budget announcement that stimulates both consumption and investment will help lift business sentiment in the near term and provide the basis for sustainable growth over the next few years.”
When the cupboard is bare
Omkar Goswami | Chairman, Corporate and Economic Research Group (CERG)
Economic Times
Goswami criticises the assumption that the central government has “hidden kitties to fund their proposals” and if not, “it can always garner the additional funds at little or no extra cost”. “Few realise that the cupboard is well and truly bare,” he writes. Additionally, “Little thought is given on how these magical dollops of money will actually transmit through the economy”, observes Goswami.
He explains that while the Budget Estimate for 2019-20 “projects an excess of Rs 3,80,019 crore…, the actual numbers will be much worse because of lower revenue receipts and a huge shortfall in disinvestment targets”. He also calls for the government to “rein in subsidies” considering, for 2019-20, subsidies were estimated at “more than 13% higher than the Revised Estimate of the previous year”.
Goswami suggests “serious, and hard, fiscal reforms. Starting with slashing subsidies” but adds that this may be unlikely in the upcoming Budget. “We will get new programmes and schemes that shall apparently give relief to the needy; that shall raise much-needed investments; that shall lift GDP growth; all at the cost of a little slippage in fiscal deficit”, he concludes.
The next big development challenge
Arvind Subramanian | Former chief economic adviser, GoI
Josh Felman | Director of JH Consulting
Business Standard
Subramanian and Felman discuss how “emerging markets are losing their dynamism” and what policymakers in developing countries can do to address it.
IMF and World Bank have noted slowdowns in China, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, they explain. In such cases, the Washington Consensus is a common strategy that involves “macroeconomic stabilisation, privatisation, deregulation, and globalisation”, they write. The authors point out two other strands of thought that might replace this.
First, is the post-neoliberal consensuses involving “a larger role for the state… to generate better market outcomes and to correct inequitable outcomes via aggressive redistributive policies”, they write. However, the “dichotomy” between states and markets might be “unrealistic”, they observe.
Second, is the strategy of “going small”, which calls for measures like “distributing free malaria bed nets and deworming children, that clearly seem to be effective and will produce localised benefits”. However, developing countries often do not have the “luxury of a narrow agenda” and have no choice but to aim for “rapid growth”, they write. “New growth and development challenges in emerging markets will have to be indigenous,” they conclude.
Five reasons businessmen are gloomier than they should be
Sandipan Deb | Former editor of ‘Financial Express’, and founder-editor of ‘Open’ and ‘Swarajya’ magazines
Mint
In his piece, Deb discusses that apart from “some serious policy missteps” and having “inherited an economy whose brazenly fudged figures hid some terrible truths”, the Modi government has “brought in a number of far-reaching structural reforms”. These include the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and “a thorough clean-up — from benami companies to ghost subsidies to the public distribution system”, he adds.
However, there is “despondency” among businessmen in India and Deb provides five reasons for this. First, is the “extremely high expectations from Modi, who may have encouraged a superman persona to be created”. Two, the central government’s tendency to announce “unnecessarily grandiose targets like a $5-trillion economy by 2024”. Three, the government’s refusal to admit mistakes despite glaring evidence. Four, its “inability to communicate successes effectively” and finally, the government’s use of fear to “drive home the new rules”.