Stuck At Six

The growth rate stagnates as reforms flounder. Job insecurity and the global slowdown compound the dull ache even further.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 5 February 2022 10:52 pm

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Stuck At Six

Disinvest Air-India, Indian Airlines, Maruti, vsnl immediately, perhaps through equity offerings to citizens and workers, and take care of the political economy. Forget best value.

Liberalise agriculture, allow futures trading. Scrap the Essential Commodities Act, the public distribution system and minimum support prices at one go. Offload all grain stock on the employment programmes, despite their dismal track record. Or sell at any price.

Lower tariffs across the board, take off the noose from the exchange rate, free technology imports.

Downsize administration, reform civil services, raise pay, liberalise entry and exit at all levels.

Reform labour laws to allow flexi-working.

Scrap Gadgil formula, adopt Tenth Finance Commission, no bailouts for states, allow borrowing from market with cap.

Let inefficient producers die, encourage market growth, unshackle all investment (from basic minimum needs to power projects), make administration efficient.

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. Meanwhile, the process of politically-led reforms continues. And the administration tries to save face by statistical jugglery. As in January, when four groups of manufactured goods registering negative growth were thrown out of the index of industrial production. Or now, with the final tax collection figures still under wraps as hectic efforts get under way to save the 5.1 per cent fiscal deficit target. While the benighted people of the world's fourth largest economy (in terms of purchasing power parity) smoulder.

Paromita Shastri With Arindam Mukherjee