[UPSC Interview Prep Feed 8] Economic Challenges for Aspirational India

Topics Discussed: D P Kohli Memorial Lecture by Sh. Arun Jaitley (organised by CBI). The topic was "Economic Challenges for Aspirational India". I think some of the points he raised were thought provoking and can be useful in the interview. Sharing with you the same and little analysis over them...

• Refelecting the pathetic state of forensics in the country are the figures shared in the lecture. "Only in 5-7% of the cases , we see the use of forensics". It's ironic how we can talk about improving the quality of investigation in our country without improving the state of forensics. This must start at the institutional level. We must have special institutions imparting training in forensics and carrying out research.
• "Our Taxation process has to be simpler to increase tax buoyancy. Our taxation policy has to be non-adversarial. The government does not intend to tax people retrospectively".
• "The corporate tax structure has to be globally competitive and that is why the government has proposed to reduce it from 30 to 25 per cent in this year's Budget".
• "Decision-making has to be much quicker. The process of political consensus has to be statesman-like and mature. Credibility of Indian decision making is being questioned globally. Moreover, 90% of decision making is by executive which unfortunately engages in the Passing the parcel game and in writing non commital notes".
• "Agriculture as well as infrastructure sectors face serious challenges due to lack of investment. Highways programme has slowed down and investment has not come in railways. We have to invest Rs 70,000 crore in infrastructure sector and that is why we have to little delay the fiscal road map". And ergo, the govt. has delayed the objective to achieve the desired range of fiscal deficit. By spreading it over three years, the govt. will have more to invest in the above mentioned areas.
• Meanwhile, he said there is a need to revisit certain provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. This important act predates the Economin Reforms of 1991 which altogether changed the framework of the bureaucracy. Phrases like "corrupt means", "public interest" and "pecuniary advantages" have to be redefined in the present context to differentiate between the act of corruption and honest error.
• "Many agencies can falter. Nobody is expected to be perfect. Country cannot afford to see two institutions-- judiciary and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)--to be imperfect". Even the people of India have great regard for these two institutions and their disfunction can broaden the trust deficit between people and the State as a whole. 
• He also talked about the idea of "Assessee as a partner in development". Great words indeed. If all the tax authorities keep this framework in mind then definetely we can achieve the dream of non-adversarial taxation soon enough.
• Showing optimism about the global economy he said "Global oil prices are going down and this should mean the redistribution of wealth across the globe".
• Talking about the capital inflows to India he said "Capital is sufficient, but not adequate" which further means that there is a long way to go and lots of ground to cover.
• He also emphasissed on the need to have a "Bankruptcy code" something which the Budget also talks about. In this era of entreprenearship and venture capitalist, this is something which is quintessential.
• Referring to the rise of e-tailers he said "Largest retailers today don't own a retail shop" and hence which such changing dynamic situations the regulatory framework should also keep on evolving itself. 
• He said "Make in India canot just run on patriotism" which is very right as this scheme is not there to promote jingoism. The govt. must facilitate the availability of raw materials and other facilties for the domestic industry to make the dream come true.
• "Agricultural income should go up and number should come down. And the solution is IRRIGATION". He said that it has economic and political benefits . Giving the example of the Narmada Project, he expalined how MP and Gujarat both have benefitted largely.
• "The Aspirational Class beneath the Middle class is really restless". We have all been talking about how India has this demographic dividend and how Japan and China are getting older and older. But just the rhetoric will not help and it's high time to convert this rhetoric into something substantial.
• "India's potential is of double digit growth". Let's hope that the global perception of India improves with the politically stable regime and we get the results from the "Make in India" dream to reach the double digit growth!

Jai Hind!