governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
It seems to be raining rail accidents these days, with two in swift succession. The hapless Suresh Prabhu is a good general but an unlucky one. He made sweeping changes in Indian railways (IR) since November 2014 when he became Minister. Most dramatic was his willingness to diminish his “empire” by merging the rail budget […]
Read More Indian Railways: Slow and unsafeIf Suresh Prabhu has his way this is how Indians would travel routinely on vacation. Today these luxury trains are expensive immersive “period” experiences for foreign tourists. Photo credit: http://www.2luxury2.com The 28 million passengers who use the Indian Railways daily fear March as much as ancient Romans feared the Ides of March. This is when […]
Read More Prabhu tightens “free lunches” in Indian RailwaysLast 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 RailArvind Subramanian Chief Economic Advisor- GOI: Rising star and Rajan clone? The Indian Economic Survey is an annual document that is wrongly titled. The data it reveals is overpowered by large dollops of economic wisdom, literature and policy analysis. Arvind Subramanian, India’s Chief Economic Advisor and the key author of this year’s Survey, has clearly […]
Read More Indian Economic Survey 2016: Bewinderingly optimisticSuresh Prabhu: An accountant in politics. India’s most affable politician: Photo credit: samacharplus.com Even as Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu was presenting the Railway Budget 2016-17, the overriding impression was of a person pressed for time- not just the speech – more than double the length of last year’s- but also to fit his vision into […]
Read More Rail budget 2016: long on potential, short on reform(photo credit: http://www.firstpost.com) Imagine if FM Jaitley had admitted in his budget speech of February 28 that of the Rs 17.77 lakh crores (US$ 287 billion) of expenditure he was tabling in Parliament, less than one third was really available for innovating on the past trends and the bulk of the funds relate to liabilities […]
Read More FM Jaitley’s conundrum: Fat wallet but empty pockets(Photo credit: viewpatna.blogspot.com) We are, for the most part, what institutions make us. Some of us, who are exceptional, disrupt the status quo and change the universe. But generally, such special talents are best in small doses. India has too little of compliance with formal institutional norms and a little too much, of the libertine spirit. […]
Read More Budget to Build Institutions
Opinion India 