PM emphasis on less government interference is the way to go

Source: Business Standard

Relevance: To understand the direction of the nation.

Introduction:

PM Modi vision/Speech on Independence Day:

1. The government seeks to minimize government intrusion in public lives
2. The government has repealed unnecessary laws and regulations e.g. The government has ended 15,000 compliances.
3. There is emphasis on deregulation and freedom from state and bureaucratic interference
4. For example: The opening up of mapping and surveying to firms, which thereby were empowered to collect geospatial data.

Gaps between the vision and the reality

Actions of the government at various levels have not met such standards/visions:

1. The policy on geospatial data is, unfortunately, more of an exception than the rule
2. Instead of declining, Government’s role has in fact increased in the Economy. e.g. creation of a haphazard import-substituting industrial policy in the guise of “Make in India”

About the new vision in recent Independence day speech

The PM announced a Gati Shakti Scheme. This is a 100 trillion scheme for developing “holistic infrastructure”. However, it is unclear what this means, and how it is different from the Rs 100-trillion investment in infrastructure that the prime minister has talked about in two previous Independence Day speeches.

There were some priorities that seem realistic and cost-effective. These include

• The regulatory support to entrepreneurs and start-ups in Tier-II and Tier-III towns
• The government is making investments in Energy security, environmental security, and national security. All three are closely interconnected.
• Focus on renewable energy production, making India energy-independent, and of new technological advances that might be suitable for India such as green hydrogen.

Way Forward:

It is time that government should spend less time on coming up with enormous targets that are unlikely to be achieved. Instead the government should focus more on doable and forward-looking policies