Times of India ⁽⁹²⁾

Read full article Abstract: It's unfortunate that the nation barely remembers Narasimha Rao, architect of the new India. Fifty years from now when historians take stock of the makers of the new India, two individuals from our times will figure prominently on their lists: Prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If justice prevails, by then, the nation would have also honoured them with Bharat Ratna. Today, we celebrate the 91th birth anniversary of Narasimha Rao. An accidental prime minister — he was all set to retire from politics and return to his native Andhra Pradesh when the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 placed him at the centre of Indian political scene — his tenure came to define the dividing line between the old India and the new. If Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave the country a vibrant democracy, Rao (and Vajpayee) gave it a modern economy.

Read full article Abstract: By the sheer loudness of their protests, NGOs, journalists and intellectuals have bamboozled the prime minister into withdrawing the latest Planning Commission report. The report had shown accelerated poverty reduction, a perfectly plausible outcome in view of accelerated growth since 2003-04. But the critics are not happy that India is succeeding in combating destitution. They therefore tirelessly invent myths to muddy the discourse. If we are to avoid costly policy mistakes, we must expose these myths for what they are. The first myth is that the Planning Commission plays fast and loose with poverty lines. This myth, endlessly repeated in the media, is an insult to the country’s finest tradition of letting professionalism rule without any political interference whatsoever in setting the poverty lines. According to Professor T N Srinivasan, arguably the world’s top living expert on poverty, the history of poverty lines in India goes as far back as 1876. That year, Dadabhai Naoroji provided the first set of poverty lines for various regions of India in a paper entitled ‘Poverty of India’.

Read full article Abstract: That Kerala has the best indicators of health and education outcomes among all Indian states and enjoys a low rate of poverty is beyond question. The state unequivocally enjoys the highest male and female literacy rates and life expectancy at birth, and the lowest rates of infant mortality, maternal mortality and malnutrition. Because the communist and other left-of-centre governments have ruled Kerala for the better part of its post-Independence history, analysts routinely attribute its superior achievements in health and education to the high priority these governments have allegedly assigned to equity and related social goals over time. This view has gained so much currency that, while its advocates feel little obligation to offer supporting evidence, detractors remain ill at ease to insist upon it.

Read full article Abstract: In the early 2000s, when the 55th (1999-2000) round of the expenditure survey showed a surprisingly sharp decline in poverty over its predecessor survey, the reform critics descended on the finding like a ton of bricks. Their critique eventually led to a healthy debate, important new research and eventual downward revision in poverty reduction numbers by the reform advocates themselves. In total contrast, almost no objections have been raised to the absurdly high estimates of malnutrition in India trumpeted by journalists, NGOs, politicians and international institutions within and outside India. Not a day goes by without some TV channel or newspaper running the headline that the world's fastest growing economy suffers worse malnutrition than sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Read full article Abstract: Left critics are fond of blaming the post-1991 reforms for the corruption afflicting India today. Astonishingly, two Supreme Court judges recently joined this chorus. But the young among the critics are blissfully ignorant of history while the old suffer from amnesia. Corruption existed aplenty prior to 1991. If you wanted a phone, car or scooter, you had to choose between a many-years-long queue or bribe. If you were among the lucky few to have a phone, a bribe was still necessary to receive the dial tone. If you wanted an airline ticket or a reserved railway seat, your choice was to take a chance and stand in a long queue or resort to baksheesh. Ditto for a bag of cement. God forbid, if you should have to travel abroad, many-hours-long queue and unfriendly customs officials would be awaiting you upon return. As an entrepreneur, if you wanted an investment or import licence or to stop your competitor from getting one, bribing a senior official in the relevant ministry would do.