Is India not too big, too complex, too diverse, too varied to be driven by one set of policies and one vision.
Different parts of India are at different development levels, they are grappling with different set of problems, priorities are different. Trying to impose same set of policies whether economic, or for social development, from a central command and control structure is not working. It is slowing those parts of the country that can grow faster and is compromising those parts of the country where focus has to be on the basic social development.
There is too much control with the center, it is time to restrict that and give states the authority and responsibility to chart out the course that suits them the best and hold them accountable.
Let the center only handle defense, foreign affairs and ministries related to strategic research and development, for the country as a whole, rest everything including the finance and economic policies should be with the states. There is perennial fight going on between the center and the states with respect to dividing the tax money. Let the center only levy the minimum that is required to maintain the ministries under its control, rest of the taxes should accrue to the state that is generating the commensurate revenue.
Today, numerous policies and programs are stuck just because not all the states agree to them. Even if the programs and policies are good, they get stuck because they seems to be pushed from outside (center) and because of partisan politics. We can change that. The states should be able to decide what they want implemented and what they want to block. FDI in retail, insurance, policy on natural resources, reforms in banking, in agriculture, list goes on, all of these should get decided at state level. A mechanism must be created where even if only one state wants to implement a policy it should be allowed/enabled to do so, without waiting for the rest of the union to agree to it. It should be possible to create companies / business entities /legal entities that operate in a state, as if they are operating in an independent country.
This will make state governments answerable to their electorate. Today, bucks gets passed around, state governments blames center and center blames states, development and hence the people suffer. No one knows if the poor development in the state is because of faulty union policies or faulty state policies.
State elections should become more important than the union government elections. The political parties should focus more on putting their best candidates at state levels, they should focus on governing the states better, making them competitive, and improving the lot of people in the states that they govern. This will only happen if the states become more powerful and manage more of their affairs themselves.
I know the present state of the state governments and their governance record is pathetic. In fact, that is precisely the reason why I am suggesting, that we change the structure such that we take away their ailbi of always blaming the center for all the ills. The first principal of good governance and good management is to hold someone unambiguously responsible and accountable for it
It is clear and has been clear for a long time that our current system - both political and administrative - is broken, what is required is overhauling of the engine and not just change of oil.
Different parts of India are at different development levels, they are grappling with different set of problems, priorities are different. Trying to impose same set of policies whether economic, or for social development, from a central command and control structure is not working. It is slowing those parts of the country that can grow faster and is compromising those parts of the country where focus has to be on the basic social development.
There is too much control with the center, it is time to restrict that and give states the authority and responsibility to chart out the course that suits them the best and hold them accountable.
Let the center only handle defense, foreign affairs and ministries related to strategic research and development, for the country as a whole, rest everything including the finance and economic policies should be with the states. There is perennial fight going on between the center and the states with respect to dividing the tax money. Let the center only levy the minimum that is required to maintain the ministries under its control, rest of the taxes should accrue to the state that is generating the commensurate revenue.
Today, numerous policies and programs are stuck just because not all the states agree to them. Even if the programs and policies are good, they get stuck because they seems to be pushed from outside (center) and because of partisan politics. We can change that. The states should be able to decide what they want implemented and what they want to block. FDI in retail, insurance, policy on natural resources, reforms in banking, in agriculture, list goes on, all of these should get decided at state level. A mechanism must be created where even if only one state wants to implement a policy it should be allowed/enabled to do so, without waiting for the rest of the union to agree to it. It should be possible to create companies / business entities /legal entities that operate in a state, as if they are operating in an independent country.
This will make state governments answerable to their electorate. Today, bucks gets passed around, state governments blames center and center blames states, development and hence the people suffer. No one knows if the poor development in the state is because of faulty union policies or faulty state policies.
State elections should become more important than the union government elections. The political parties should focus more on putting their best candidates at state levels, they should focus on governing the states better, making them competitive, and improving the lot of people in the states that they govern. This will only happen if the states become more powerful and manage more of their affairs themselves.
I know the present state of the state governments and their governance record is pathetic. In fact, that is precisely the reason why I am suggesting, that we change the structure such that we take away their ailbi of always blaming the center for all the ills. The first principal of good governance and good management is to hold someone unambiguously responsible and accountable for it
It is clear and has been clear for a long time that our current system - both political and administrative - is broken, what is required is overhauling of the engine and not just change of oil.
Well said !!!! Manish Sir .
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