Complexities of Governance in a Democracy
Democracy is a work in progress and needs careful monitoring, managing, nurturing and protecting, writes entrepreneur and policy maker Sam Pitroda in his latest book The Idea of Democracy. He examines its workings globally and in India, observing distraction, distortion and derailment in democracy over the past few years
April 28, 2024
A Nation Stuck Between Missing Jobs and Growth Ambitions
India grapples with a job crisis fuelled by factors including high youth unemployment, educational and skill imbalance and low female participation, among others. In their book, The Elephant Moves: India’s New Place in the World, Amitabh Kant and Amit Kapoor explore India’s economic evolution through the lens of competitiveness, stressing the need for, and challenges to, policy changes in its run to becoming a developed economy by 2047
March 01, 2024
The Rich Are Getting Richer, but the Poor Are Not Getting Poorer: T.V. Somanathan
Increasing consumption among the middle class and the poor in India is a valid policy challenge, the answer to which lies in creating more jobs, says T.V. Somanathan, finance secretary and secretary of expenditure in the Union Ministry of Finance. In an exclusive interview, he also discusses why the current income tax rates are reasonable and why he finds the 3% fiscal deficit target questionable among other issues. Edited excerpts:
Neeraj Thakur - February 29, 2024
It Is Too Early to Celebrate India’s New Growth Path, Says Raghuram Rajan
Former RBI governor and economist Raghuram Rajan has been vocal about his ideas on policy matters in India. His latest book Breaking the Mould, co-authored with economist Rohit Lamba, is a deep dive into finer issues of the economy, including welfare schemes, job crisis, misplaced priorities of the government and much more. In an interview, Rajan demystifies the current narrative of growth in the country and why manufacturing-led growth might not be the best solution at hand. Edited excerpts:
Abdul Haleem Sherif - December 29, 2023
What Led to Urjit Patel’s Resignation? An Insider Explains
There have been resignations in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but governor Urjit Patel’s in 2018 over policy differences was a rare event in the history of the central bank, writes former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg in his book. He details the frustration of the government with the RBI under Patel and the circumstances that eventually culminated into the latter posting his resignation on the RBI website
October 31, 2023
The Nowhere Men & Women: How India Abandoned 14 Crore Citizens on a Policy Paper
The government of India runs the world’s biggest food security scheme, which provides free ration to more than 80 crore people. The scheme has won Prime Minister Narendra Modi accolades. But what if we realise that there are over 14 crore people who have been omitted from the benefit of this scheme because the government has not counted Indian citizens in over a decade? Can its intransigence break the welfare structure of governance?
Rajat Mishra - August 28, 2023
Carbon Market Warming Up, But Is India Ready?
Regulation, monitoring, pricing, policy certainty, alignment with international standards, etc. are just some of the challenges the government must face
Shailaja Tripathi - April 29, 2023
Incomplete Capitalism Holds India Back: K.V. Subramanian
K.V. Subramanian, India’s executive director at the International Monetary Fund and former chief economic adviser to the Central government, minces no words while pointing to flaws in the economic policy of pre-Narendra Modi era. However, he is optimistic about India’s growth potential amid the global slowdown and attributes the country’s stability in face of the challenges brought about by Covid-19 to its refusal to imitate others economies. In an interview with Kamalika Ghosh, he recounts the hits and misses of incumbent and earlier governments during India’s economic journey since independence
Kamalika Ghosh - January 30, 2023
‘I Don’t Know What Metaverse Stands For’
In a crisp conversation with Outlook Business, Zoho Corp CEO Sridhar Vembu talks about Zoho University, his company’s open door policy, plans to uplift Bharat through rural centres and why he is elusive to metaverse
Pallavi Chakravorty - May 31, 2022
LIC 3.0 Tale Of Policyholders Vs Shareholders
With the state insurance giant gearing up for an IPO and amendments made to the LIC Act, a question mark dangles over policyholders’ interests
Bhavesh Shah - February 27, 2022