By M D Nalapat
A consensus needs to get built that the five member-states of BRICS will renounce the use of force against each other.
That
Europe as a continent gained mastery over the rest of the globe for
close to six centuries is because of the confidence within its
population that little was impossible. They obeyed the ancient Indian
dictum to “aim for the stars even if you miss”, rather than setting
their sights low and then being satisfied with coming close to what at
best would be a miserable result, the mindset of several elites in Asia.
But times have changed, although India’s colonial-style bureaucracy has
survived the British Raj in order to enmesh the population in Red Tape
Raj. Despite the diversity of the country, the effort of those entrusted
with governance has been a constant effort at funnelling the different
needs and systems in India through a single spout, on the way rubbing
off individuality and excellence and creating an undifferentiated
outcome distinguished only for its mediocrity. This has especially been
the case in education, whether it be medical, the humanities or science.
All-India examinations, all-India syllabi, all of these and more work
towards creating mass-produced brainpower far from the cutting edge. Any
sparks of excellence get driven out through neglect, if not outright
condemnation for such effrontery. Whenever the colonial collection of
policy straitjackets got loosened even by a smidgen, such as what took
place in the Industries Ministry when it was handled by Prime Minister
Narasimha Rao in the early1990s, the performance of domestic players
improved disproportionately. Early on, vested interests that thrive on
the stifling controls over individual initiative that are a dominant
facet of the colonial construct (another being the squeezing out of
revenue no matter what the health of the contributing sector) rallied
against Narasimha Rao. They midwifed the efforts of 1994, which resulted
soon after in splitting the Congress Party, leading to the emergence as
a national alternative of the BJP. After what happened to Rao,
succeeding Prime Ministers have been hesitant in enacting fundamental
reform of economic policy, out of fear that only a Robin Hood stance (of
taking from the rich and giving to the poor) would ensure victory
during the elections. The problem is that it is the (relatively) rich
that give employment to the poor, and while it is essential to stamp out
abuse and illegality, the conduct of business and the accumulation of
wealth should not be slowed down by 1950s-1970s-style measures that are
confiscatory and obstructionist. Even such solemn covenants as that
signed between the Princely States and the Union of India were torn up
without a tremor, on the principle that wealth is evil in itself. While
Deng Xiaoping sought to make every Chinese (or as many as possible)
rich, in India, the effort of Nehruvian (colonial-era) policy was to
make poor as many honest but prosperous individuals as possible. Small
wonder that the average income of India remains among the lowest in the
world, far below that of the other billion-plus country, China.
Just as millions voted for Rajiv Gandhi
in 1984 on the promise of change, voters in 2014 chose the BJP led by
Narendra Modi in the belief that he would ensure the substantive and
systemic changes in governance and policy that had been elusive for too
long. Confidence in Modi is still high, visible in the belief that he
will soon begin to accelerate the process of change, now that he has
settled in and mastered the processes of governance at the Central
level. The expectation is that needed reforms, such as horizontal entry
into the Central and state services at all levels from outside the
government, will come about. That Modi is a visionary has been proved by
the 8 November 2016 demonetisation of 86% of the country’s paper
currency, in order inter alia to force through a shift to digital modes
of payment, such as what has taken place in China during the period
since Xi Jinping was put in charge five years ago. That shift in
behaviour came about as a result of expansion of indigenous digital
platforms and improvement in bandwidth, not by rendering worthless
China’s paper currency. The Reserve Bank of India and NITI Aayog were
wrong in assuming that a sharp fall in liquidity would change habits
without seriously impacting employment and output, especially in the
so-called “unorganised” sector. There is nothing unorganised about this
sector. It even pays “taxes”, in the form of bribes to officials and
politicians, and much of it would be rendered uneconomic were regular
taxes to be imposed over and above such “unofficial” imposts. Hence the
importance of Prime Minister Modi’s strenuous efforts at ensuring
corruption-free procedures. Now, after so much has happened to the
economy as a consequence of the DeMon measure the institution
championed, the RBI seems to have accepted the need for liquidity and is
no longer starving the economy of currency. A changeover to digital
systems in place of cash needs a tax structure that has much lower rates
than at present, as well as ways of ensuring compliance that are not
reliant on regulations that empower (and subsequently enrich) officials
beyond the limits that are normal in democracies. Overall, Modi can be
expected to ensure by 2019 that present GST rates fall and compliance be
made easier, given his genius for practicality.
In days, Prime Minister Modi is expected
to head for Xiamen, for the 9th BRICS Summit. There, a consensus needs
to get built that the five member-states will (a) renounce the use of
force against each other; (b) abstain from any action that threatens the
security of any other; (c) ensure visa-free entry within the BRICS
bloc; (d) have Russia and China take up the case of India, Brazil and
South Africa as Permanent Members of the UN Security Council; and (e)
set up a BRICS headquarters that would serve as the coordinating agency
for cooperation between the five, perhaps in Durban, South Africa. The
time for a 21st century Panchsheel among the BRICS Five has arrived, and
hopefully this will become a reality at Xiamen. The five leaders need
to aim at the stars during the 3-5 September meeting and not again keep
their sights low.
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