Some time back, Arun Shourie a senior minister in the then NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government under Vajpayee [1998-2004] and erstwhile member of BJP observed that the economic policies being followed by Modi – government are just a continuation of UPA [United Progressive Alliance] plus the “cow’ [a euphemistic reference to sacred animal worshiped by majority Hindu community in India]. Shourie’s view is shared by many thinkers. UPA – dispensation II [2009-2014] had pushed the country towards economic paralysis with all key indicators i.e. growth [manufacturing in particular], inflation, fiscal deficit, current account deficit [CAD], foreign exchange reserves and infrastructure etc showing dismal trend. In this backdrop and since, Modi is also following the same policies, they aver that outcomes...
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Category: Governance reforms
National Herald saga – How to get 1000,000% return?
With the commencement of the winter session of the Parliament, it appeared that the stage was set for smooth passage of various pending bills including the historic 122nd Constitutional amendment bill on Goods and Services Tax [GST]. The first couple of days even went off smoothly with both houses conducting business. Then, came a decision of Delhi High Court [DHC] rejecting the application of Sonia/Rahul duo [and other leaders of Congress] to quash the summons issued by a lower court in the infamous National Herald [NH] case. DHC concurred with lower court that prima facie there was merit in questioning the top brass of grand old party. The matter is strictly within the domain of the judiciary which acted on...
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NJAC WAS AN IMPROVEMENT
The collegium system is flawed, and the apex court has admitted it. Yet, the court has endorsed the process On October 16, 2015, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India vide a majority vote of four-to-one quashed the 99th Constitution Amendment which established the National Judicial Appointment Commission for the appointment of judges to the apex court and the High Courts. The court also resurrected the collegium system which the NJAC Act had replaced on April 13, 2015. The judges took umbrage to the NJAC being an onslaught on the independence of the judiciary. Their primary discomfiture was with inclusion of the Law Minister and two eminent persons in a committee of six (the other three being...
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Revival of ‘Collegium’ – onslaught on Constitution, yet again
On October 16, 2015, a 5-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court [SC] of India by majority vote of 4 has quashed the 99th constitution amendment and follow-on enactment setting up the National Judicial Appointment Commission [NJAC] for appointment of judges of SC and High Courts [HCs]. With this, the SC has also resurrected the erstwhile “Collegium” system which NJAC had replaced. It has invited suggestions on how to improve upon the Collegium which will be taken up in its next hearing on November 3. The setting up of NJAC was the outcome of a marathon exercise – that started with the recommendation of Justice Venkatachaliah Committee in 2002 [set up by NDA-I] that appointment of judges be made by...
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WHERE ARE THE BIG BANG REFORMS?
The Modi Government should be applauded for bringing in key changes, but action is missing in vital areas such as fertilisers, food, power and kerosene. There is a need for reforms in these sectors which are loaded with subsidies Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be applauded for bringing in governance reforms, liberalising foreign direct investment and increasing ease of doing business, but action is missing in vital areas such as fertilisers, food, power and kerosene. These areas are in dire need of big bang reforms. Inefficiency, cost padding/gold plating, pilferage/leakages and corruption are rampant in these sectors, leading to the ballooning of subsidies and associated difficulties, in adhering to fiscal discipline. An expenditure management commission, headed by former Reserve Bank...
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Supreme Court renders ‘Aadhaar’ dysfunctional
Believe it or not but it is true. From October 7, 2015 onwards if a person wants to open an account in a bank using Aadhaar card, he cannot do so. If, he wants to buy an insurance policy using this card as proof of identity, he can’t. If, he wants to draw pension on its strength, he can’t. A recent order of the apex court has brought all these and a host of other very basic activities to a grinding halt. Let us look at the facts. Aadhaar card is a bio-metric identification card issued by Unique Identification Authority of India [UIDAI]. So far, over 900 millions cards have been issued which is many times more than any other...
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Where are the big bang reforms?
Modi deserves accolades for unlocking stalled projects, expediting approvals, making the state policy driven, bringing-in transparency and accountability in governance and increasing ease of doing business. All of this is yielding good dividends by way of spurt in investment [including foreign], boost to growth and a drastic improvement in India’s image globally earning it the distinction of being the only ‘bright spot’ amongst emerging economies. Alas! action is missing in some of the vital areas which were long crying for big bang reforms. Normally, the first 2 years of any new government are considered to be a golden period and that is the time when, it can really risk some unpalatable steps. Unfortunately, Modi – dispensation has wasted both these...
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Unshackle PSBs via shedding majority control
For generations, public sector banks [PSBs] have been used by the political establishment with impunity to appease their constituencies viz., waiving farm loans especially at the time of elections; salvaging state electricity boards [SEBs] who are made to supply power at throw away tariffs or even free in some states; granting loans to favoured industrial houses without carrying out due diligence and allowing wilful default by certain borrowers [involving quid pro quo] which are clear acts of corruption. All such exogenous imposed actions in total disregard of financial prudence have led to proliferating non-performing assets [NPAs] – a sophisticated nomenclature for bad loans or in simple terms, money lent which cannot be recovered. Together with restructured assets [these are also...
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Stepping on economic independence – Modi’s report card
Commentators across a wide spectrum have felt that prime minister N Modi speech on the 69th Independence Day was stereotyped, lacking in new ideas and did not cover a number of important issues such as foreign relations, relation with neighbouring countries [especially Pakistan], terrorism, internal governance, cooperative federalism, conduct of business in parliament and so on. Some have gone that far to say that the entire 85 minutes address was an extrapolation of his “Mann Ki Baat” [a few have branded this as an exercise in self-adulation]. These are perceptions of all those who for decades have got used to stereotyped addresses from prime ministers who technically though represent the people of India but in their dispositions behave like aliens,...
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Fix coal, fix the economy
If, a person has a vision, chases it with missionary zeal and a robust action plan driven by an apt strategy mix, he is bound to achieve success. Luckily, at this critical juncture when India needs accelerated growth to fulfill the aspirations of millions of unemployed youth and the poor, we have a prime minister in N Modi who embodies all these qualities. The manner in which he has addressed the challenges facing the coal sector proves the point. The position is best encapsulated in a cryptic observation [Anil Swarup, secretary, ministry of coal recapitulated] Modi had made to him 9 months ago when he took charge of the department. Hon’ble prime minister had said “Fix coal, fix the economy”. What...
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