ICYMI#TheTribuneOpinion: Faster economic growth, deeper reforms are the way forward for India
Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have the right to a speedy trial
Some commentators suggest that the economy may at long last be on a higher growth track. This is because growth in the last five financial years (2021-26), taking into account the advance estimates for the current fiscal year, averages a handsome 8.1 per cent — the best on record. However, there hasn’t been enough of a structural change in the economy since the launch of reforms in 1991. Much work remains to be done before the economy can gain significant momentum, writes senior journalist TN Ninan in his Edit article The longer road to faster growth. Key macro numbers suggest caution. Many sectors have benefited from reform, like real estate; and manufacturing may at last be getting some momentum, led by the electronics sector, he writes. A productivity uptick depends critically on three structural changes that are yet to happen: A substantially bigger manufacturing sector, greater formalisation of the economy and rapid urbanisation. There is as yet not enough evidence of any of the three, he opines.
Meanwhile, talking about the preparations going on for presenting the 2026-27 Budget, our economy needs to grow faster in order to escape the middle-income trap, writes senior financial journalist Sushma Ramachandran in her Edit article Budget must spur all-out reforms. Though the restructuring and recalibration of the GST has been a game-changer for the economy, manufacturing has not yet expanded sufficiently to absorb unskilled or skilled personnel. The Budget should be used as an opportunity to bring about greater ease of doing business in the economy, she writes.
Talking of the global headwinds, widespread demonstrations and rioting have shaken Iran. The ongoing demonstrations appear to represent an existential crisis for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Calls for regime change may be premature, but change within the regime is on the cards, writes former Ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra in his Edit piece Turmoil puts Iran at a crossroads. The pattern of past protests in Iran, most recently the 2022 anti-hijab demonstrations, is that popular discontent is initially fuelled by either a social (anti-hijab) or economic grievance and thereafter it rapidly transforms into a political uprising. The current demonstrations are following a similar pattern. However, this time around, the diversity of protesters have shifted into a higher gear with an intensity never seen before.
Talking of something altogether different, Editor-in-Chief Jyoti Malhotra in her weekly column The Great Game Modi govt’s cultural ambition writes there’s something about a museum that appeals to the Modi government. The first gallery of what’s expected to be the world’s largest museum, the Yuge Yugeen Bharat, will open by the end of the year. From the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya, to a museum of Indian temple architecture being built in the shadow of the Ram Mandir, the RSS and the BJP are keen to carve out a special memory in the heart of India, she avers. Modi understands that you may hate them or love them, but monuments are always going to stand the test of time. And that’s why, New Delhi has been slowly rebuilt and reshaped in the last 11 years since Modi became PM, she writes.
Denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 riots conspiracy case continues to be the topic of discussion and debate, with the Supreme Court holding that they were not entitled to bail effectively for another year. If a trial is delayed without any valid justification, the accused should be granted bail, writes former SC Judge Justice Madan B Lokur (retd) in his Edit Speedy trial is Umar-Sharjeel’s right. The apex court noted that it did not want to apportion blame for the delay in framing charges either on the prosecution or the accused persons. But the cause of delay ought to have been apportioned, he writes. Should Umar and Sharjeel be deprived of their personal liberty due to a somnambulant prosecution and a meandering case? Surely, this was a case that should have been decided within six months and not one where documents were supplied to the accused after three years, he avers.
The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids, part of a money laundering investigation into an alleged multi-crore coal theft scam in Bengal, on the political consultancy firm I-PAC, also the election consultant of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. And the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seized the initiative, took to the roads in the form of a rally. She turned the incident it into a springboard for political retaliation, writes senior journalist Shikha Mukerjee in her Op-Ed How Mamata turned the ED raid into a rally. While the raids and their timing, months away from the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections, fits the pattern of similar raids on people and organisations, the speed and Mamata’s extravagant response are a measure of how she understood the effect of the action, she writes. Her reaction sets a benchmark for parties in opposition to the BJP afraid of investigations by "agencies", she avers.
Talking of Punjab, the state’s agriculture remains overwhelmingly dominated by the wheat-paddy cycle accounting for nearly 85 per cent of the state's gross cropped area. This dominance is a matter of policy design, writes our Deputy Editor Harvinder Khetal in her Op-Ed article Why crop diversification has eluded Punjab. Decades of assured procurement at minimum support prices (MSPs), subsidised electricity for irrigation and a procurement infrastructure unmatched anywhere else in the country explains why crop diversification has remained more rhetoric than reality. Faced with uncertainty, diversification becomes a gamble rather than a transition. Not surprisingly, security trumps sustainability. The solution, therefore, lies in redesigning incentives, she avers.
With the passing of noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil, a void has been created on the ecological front. His report on the Western Ghats, a veritable textbook about managing rivers in ecologically important places, was one of his major contributions to India's environmental governance. SANDRAP’s Parineeta Dandekar and Himanshu Thakkar write in their Op-Ed article Listening to the land and its people, the Gadgil way that he emphasised that the local communities knew the local environmental aspects better than anyone else and hence they must have a key role in any decision-making process about the use of the local resources. He did not differentiate environmental governance and conservation by the people of the land, they write.
