governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Haryana’s folk dances are vigorous and fiesty like its people. Photo credit:alchetron.com Haryana wears its heart and mind on its sleeve. There is a lot of brawn and bravado but little guile here. Last week, the Haryana Assembly listened in rapt attention to a pravachan (teachings of a holy person) by a Jain monk. Alarm […]
Read More The Monk and Haryana’s Assembly“Tribes” exist in India other than the ones provided for in Part X of the constitution. The largest is the “Tribe” of government servants – to be distinguished from the even larger body of public servants. Sheltering under the benign glow of the Ashoka Pillar lions, this tribe is the worst afflicted by the “Us […]
Read More Us versus ThemPopulism, buttressed by dodgy economics, has become the fashion statement in politics. Last year, the Union government approved handsome “real” increases in government salary. There was little justification for doing so since the government salaries were already fully indexed to inflation and the largesse couldn’t have been justified as a reward for higher productivity. The […]
Read More A new “living wage” f0r DelhiBorder controls across India’s 30 states fragment it economically. The Arvind Subramanian Committee Report, 2015 on Goods and Services Tax-GST, cites economic fragmentation as responsible for 15% in welfare loss. Hopefully, with the GST legislation on its way, the sight of trucks waiting patiently to pay tax will disappear. Photo credit: http://www.thehindu.com Expectations are unrealistically high […]
Read More Federated Tax is National GlueLast week’s “revolt” by senior income tax officers, meeting in Mumbai, against alleged micro management by the Union Revenue Secretary is unlikely to bother the average citizen. If anything, citizens would welcome glitches in tax collection behind which they can hide. Mind the growing gap But the revolt deserves attention because it illustrates a growing […]
Read More The tax collectors’ revoltIndian Railways: Lifeline of the Nation” — runs the bold title of a 2015 government white paper. But the reality is that post-1991 the Indian Railways (IR), whilst retaining its high ritual status, ceded ground to competition from road transport. Too many consultant chefs It has only itself to blame. The railways steadfastly stonewalled all […]
Read More Rebranding Indian RailSolar Impulse 2 touches down in Spain completing a historic trans Atlantic flight. photo credit: dispatch.com Air India recently made headlines by offering last-minute unsold seats at the price of AC rail tickets. It makes a lot of business sense for the national carrier: every marginal rupee it earns adds to its bottom line. […]
Read More Don’t demonise air travelRajan the thinking central banker: photo credit: bloomberg.com Raghuram Rajan, India’s central banking czar, will be history by September 2016. He enjoys unprecedented popularity and near cult status as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Some of this has to do with his youthful looks and fresh demeanor — unusual in a profession peopled […]
Read More Rexit technical brilliance, enter political economy expertiseRutba, an urdu word, means status or honour. In sarkari parlance it equates to the “shock and awe” evoked by a single determined officer. Some of this is larger than life, the stuff that legends are made of- like a single Sikh soldier equaling 1.25 lakh opponents in battle or a Gurkha mowing down dozens […]
Read More The death of “rutba”June 3, 2016 things reach a head in Mathura, a pilgrim town two hours by road from Delhi towards Agra. Lord Krishan’s Temple Mathura. photo credit: easydestinations.net The hot spot is a 200 acre plus public park, occupied in 2014 by a set of criminals and land grabbers, masquerading as social revivalist and curiously, political anarchist associations […]
Read More Violence in Lord Krishna’s town
Opinion India 