Dangerous lurch towards majoritarianism will cast its shadow on India's pursuit of prosperity for all: Authors Soz and Chibber

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Bengaluru International Centre (BIC) aired a talk on how to revive the Indian economy; the podcast was aired by authors of Unshackling India, Ajay Chibber and Salman Soz, in conversation with Ashima Goyal. The conversation dwelled on whether India can use the next twentyfive years to unshackle its potential to become a genuinely developed economy by 2047.

With India in its seventyfifth year of independence, the conventional policy is unlikely to combat the breadth of its economic challenges, the authors opined. They addressed questions on whether India needs the State to be big or small, whether the youth prefer government jobs to private sector employment.

Across a range of areas – human capital, technology, agriculture, finance, trade, public service delivery, and more – new ideas must now be on the table, they explained. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only cost India many lives and livelihoods but has also exposed major structural weaknesses in the economy, they added.

Chronic banking sector challenges have plagued the economy, exacerbated by the pandemic. They also felt that too many regulations are in place, ending up stifling the economy and the inherent energies of its young population. Climate change is no longer a distant threat, while disruptive technology has enormous implications for India's demographic dividend, they added.

The dangerous lurch towards majoritarianism will cast its shadow on India's pursuit of prosperity for all. Ajay Chibber began by addressing the book's name, which he referred to as the State's role, which drives the economies, which runs as a thread in the book.

According to him, the Indian State is highly interventionist and should be that way in a few facets, such as education and health. He further said there are many areas where State is optional, and the second aspect of the role of the State is how still very centralized it is.

Moreover, spending by the Local Government needs to be added in India. Salman Soz initially shed light on how the book isn't about the pandemic but rather about the future. He said what drove him most about the book: "My favourite part is hard truths because India must confront reality."

Further elucidating on education in India, according to a 2018 report, 80% of the 2nd graders cannot read introductory text. Speaking on Women's labour force participation rates approaching those in Iraq and Pakistan, he said, "we aren't enabling women to paid work, but they're not participating in the economy the way they deserve to."

“R&D expenditure as a share of India's GDP is stagnating and decreasing. The way to approach these problems is to first accept that there is a problem. The Instinct to centralize is dominating the Indian Political system”, he said. Ajay Chibber added by saying their book is a perspective of more than 25 years.

They concentrate on "pushing the government to devolve local issues, find local government to raise more resources." "If we want to be prosperous, then we have to include everybody," concluded Salman Soz.