Suddenly,
the India story is collapsing as there appears to be policy paralysis at the
governance level. India which was riding a growth level of 9+ % is suddenly
finding itself pulled back to 5% level first time in a decade. India which was
the flavour of investors worldwide is finding itself on brink of being labelled
as risky country from investment point of view. In spite of being led by a
renowned economist and father of economic reforms Dr. Manmohan
Singh as PM and sharp Mr. Chidambram as FM , India seems to have lost the
game-plan.
It appears Dr. Singh is missing the political will of late Mr. Narisimha
Rao, as there seems nobody to take the political initiative to secure
ground for the PM to carve out the next level of roadmap for the economic
growth for the country. It is as if the highways that had been constructed by
the previous NDA regime have outlived their utility and new ones have not been
constructed and there is a traffic jam now due to lack of space for movement
ahead. To ensure smooth flow of traffic (growth) we have to ensure there are no
bottle necks and roads (policies) are timely widened (fine tuned to changing
times)to ensure handling of larger traffic movement at the same rate. 2014 is
the election year and options for hard decisions shall close as the next year's
budget - provided UPA is able to get this option, would have to cater to
populist sentiments for obvious reasons.
This year is the last chance to take hard decisions aimed at providing bitter
pills in form of corrective medicines to bring back the health in the economy
and restore its growth. Let us not forget that high growth is the only chance
for the country to bring up the crores from below the poverty line, a point
which has been proven beyond doubt during the last decade. 2013 budget is the
last realistic chance for Dr. Singh and his team to show to the world that they
have the steel to deliver hard punches aimed at restoring the investor
confidence worldwide.
We all know without investments
there shall be no high growth and they shall only come if the investor has the
requisite confidence in the consistency of the government policies in the near
future. India is a growth
story delicately poised which requires careful handling to ensure that it takes
off to new levels from existing launch pad of proven high growth performance of
last decade or it may fall into Hindu growth rate trap which in
turn shall trigger ugly consequences because the common man's expectations have
sky rocketed. It's a genie which has come out the bottle.
Budget session not only marks the beginning of new parliament annual calendar
,it sets the benchmark on the mindset of the government in the coming near
future. By addressing the pending issues of GST- a sure game-changer in India's
economic journey, rationalization of I.tax slabs - adjustments long due as
result of inflation, focused use of subsidies- roadmap for direct cash
transfers, health care initiatives, concrete plan for monitoring the delays in
project implementation - costs nation a amount equavalent to total subsidies in
a given year and to spur rural economies subsidise and incentivise rural farmer
debt - reward honest payer by lowering rate of interest on future borrowing.
On social front taking advantage of the prevailing national mood effort should
be made to get Women's reservation bill passed to empower the 50% of the
national population. Do it and they shall care of the rest. We as nation
probably need greater EQ than IQ given the diversity and it is a proven fact
that ladies are far ahead and are better at multitasking.
If Dr. Singh is able to deliver on the above his place is assured in the annals
of Indian history. Will he grab this opportunity or shall we say- will the lion
roar - only time will tell.
(The writer is a consultant-
change management, and a research scholar and visiting faculty with Faculty of
Management Studies, Manav Rachna International University)
No comments:
Post a Comment