TOI2011 ⁽⁵⁾

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.

Read full article Abstract: Judging by even our modest standards, governance at the top has taken a nosedive during the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) rule. Some of this can perhaps be blamed on the specific actors involved. But there is a deeper structural explanation for it: the vesting of true power to govern outside the government, in the Congress high command. UPA rule has been the longest in our history that this phenomenon has played out. In all previous such episodes, either the executive successfully wrested power back from the external authority or it fell. Thus, the first time the organisational wing of the Congress seized effective power was immediately following the death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Known as the Syndicate, the organisational wing successfully kept the heavyweight Morarji Desai at bay and installed the more amicable Lal Bahadur Shastri as prime minister. But once the victory in the 1965 India-Pakistan war had turned him into a natio-nal hero, Shastri began to assert his independence. The battle between him and the Syndicate was already brewing when he unexpectedly died in January 1966.

Read full article Abstract: An examination of the key characteristics of those contesting elections and those winning them, a subject of our current research, reveals fascinating facts about our leaders. Potentially, they can also have important implications for policies. Following a Supreme Court ruling, the Election Commission has required since 2002 that all candidates contesting election to either House of Parliament or state legislature file an affidavit open for examination by the voters. The affidavit must furnish full information on the candidate's educational qualifications, assets, liabilities, past convictions or acquittals in criminal cases and any pending charges stemming from offences punishable with imprisonment for two or more years. The information so generated offers an unusual peek into the qualifications of those governing us.

Read full article The multiple mega-corruption scandals have exposed yet again the gaping holes in our governance system. Any "fix" for this problem must include scaling back the role of the government in activities in which the private sector has the necessary competence. Among other things, this calls for bringing the privatization of public sector undertakings (PSUs) back on the policy agenda. Fiscal compulsions have yet again returned the government to minority equity sales in PSUs, but a genuine exit from production activity requires transferring the management into private hands.