All governments have failed the people of India: Yashwant Sinha -Governance Now

All governments have failed the people of India: Yashwant Sinha

“Most parties are opportunistic and have been changing their stands rapidly on reforms and also the GST,” said Sinha

Swati Chandra | July 14, 2017 | New Delhi

#Rupa Publications #Pavan K Verma #Jairam Ramesh #Montek Singh Ahluwalia #Indian economy #book #Yashwant Sinha #1991 #reforms

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“The support of political parties to reforms depends on which side they sit in the parliament,” said former finance minister Yashwant Sinha while referring to the 1991 economic reforms and other major financial decisions.

“Most parties are opportunistic and have been changing their stands rapidly on reforms and also the GST. There are a number of issues on which there is no consensus. Though there is consensus in the government, but the same is lacking among political parties,” Sinha said on Thursday releasing his newly edited anthology of essays by well-known economists and policy makers evaluating economic reforms and future challenges.

The book ‘Future of Indian Economy’, co-edited by economics professor Vinay K Srivastava and published by Rupa Publications, comes 25 years after the 1991 economic reforms.

The book contains 18 essays covering pre and post liberalisation era, fiscal and budgetary reforms, PSEs and disinvestment by key policy makers and economists including Sanjay Baru, Mani Shankar Aiyyar, Shekhar Dutt, C Rangarajan and others.

Read: Manmohan Singh had no choice but to go for devaluation of rupee: Yashwant Sinha

Sinha said: “Reforms have not done much for the masses. I come from Jharkhand and have seen people living in extreme poverty. There are no roads, no electricity. Unfortunately, in last 70 years since independence, all governments have failed the people of this country.”

“Though we have moved ahead, but reforms are selective and are generally slow. But things are happening and we need not despair,” he added.

On BJP chief Amit Shah’s claim that over 7 crore people have become self-employed under centre’s Mudra loan scheme, Sinha wondered that going by the same algorithm, why not treat every loan borrower in the same way.

Former commerce secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who played a key role in forming economic policies in 1991, briefed about gradualism in reforms and how policy makers and people were driven by pink press and not social media and WhatsApp unlike the present times.

Read: “Trade policy was pretty fundamentally restructured in about 10 hours”

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, JNU professor Deepak Nayyar, Rajya Sabha MP Pavan K Varma were also present on the occasion.

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