Boundless Aspirations

🔝BOUNDLESS ASPIRATIONS 🔝

🤝THE REPUBLIC HAS PROMISES TO KEEP🤝

This year, India's 70th in its existence as a republic, is also the year its economy is billed to overtake that of Britain in size, and become the world's fifth largest economy. Of course, there could be pitfalls on the way in this, an election year. India could easily spook investors if, say, the Modi government were to raid RBI's reserves now that Urjit Patel- its 'inconvinient' governer- is out of the way; or if elections were to lead to its replacement by an impossibly 'Khichdi' government.

But let us say India manages to surmount the election period and trump its former coloniser in economic terms this year. Would it be history come full circle? Not quite. On the positive side the economy is expected to grow at 7.4% this fiscal- which would make it the fastest growing major economy in the world- and India is likely to keep this status for the next two years according to the UN report. However, there are questions about the quality of this growth as it is largely consumption-led, and not enough jobs are being created.

Such growth could be very skewed and its benefits go disproportionately to few people. As Oxfam's latest Wealth Report points out, the nine richest Indians own as much as wealth as the bottom 50% of the population. India needs a second generation of reforms, as former RBI governed Raghuram Rajan pointed out recently. These have been long pending and what needs to be done is well known. But neither the current NDA nor the erstwhile UPA have demonstrated the political will to see them through. Secondly,   India's institutions must be protected and strengthened, not run down. Indians' aspirations have been aroused irrevocably, and there is no going back. The future of the republic depends on whether its political class can rise to the challenge of meeting them.

Courtesy: "TOI EDITORIAL"