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Let us first take a look at the key announcements in the Congress manifesto:
Big promises aside, what strikes out is an attempt to marry what former finance minister P Chidambaram said at the launch of the manifesto — “wealth creation” with “guaranteed welfare.” In other words, the Congress sought to supplement — in the words of The Quint’s Editor-in-Chief Raghav Bahl — NYAY with UMMEED.
Here is what Raghav Bahl wrote last week:
While welfare schemes have received the bulk of attention, the focus on unleashing entrepreneurial spirit has been a welcome departure. There is a refreshing admission in the manifesto that “government control and bureaucratic interference are aplenty. Regulators have morphed into controllers.”
In fact, the manifesto has given a clear roadmap of how government’s interference in certain areas is going to be minimised. In that sense, it is a clear departure from the statist policy being pursued in the last five years.
And perhaps for the first time, the Congress has advocated the primacy of the private sector in accelerating growth engine. The manifesto says: “In an open, market economy, the private sector must play the lead role in identifying opportunities, mobilising resources, adopting advanced technology, producing goods and services, and securing domestic and foreign markets. Congress promises to extend full support to the private sector and to revive the animal spirits of our entrepreneurs.”
Don’t we need a new round of animal spirits to be unleashed, now that the investment rate has fallen to a level last seen some 15 years ago? The party also promises to abolish angel tax on all start-ups.
There is also a hint of limited role of government investment in giving a fillip to the economy.
Equally refreshing is the Congress’ promise of reviewing and repealing all laws, rules and regulations within three months that “are inconsistent with a market economy.”
Instead of suggesting dos and don’ts for private investors, the Congress manifesto clearly spells out boundaries for the government and that is a welcome change.
It says: “Unless we are vigilant, the government has a tendency to interfere with markets as well as re-acquire control over trade, industry and business. The government has a role in an open and liberal market economy and it is worthwhile to state the Congress position on the role of government. a) We must get the government out of gratuitous interventions in the market; b) We must get the government into addressing notable market failures through regulation (eg capital market, banking, etc); and c) We must build capacity in the government to do the things it must do (eg taxation, delivery of public goods and services, etc)”.
The party has also promised a comprehensive law on doing business in India “that will incorporate the best business practices and rules.” A welcome boost perhaps for wannabe investors, domestic as well as foreigners.
The Congress claims to have collected inputs from domain experts while formulating its manifesto. It claims to have had 121 public consultations, including 53 sessions with farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers and economists.
The emphasis therefore has been on involving domain experts in key policy formulations. On foreign policy, the manifesto promises to establish “a National Council on Foreign Policy consisting of members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, scholars, domain experts and diplomats to advise the government.”
Similarly, the Congress proposes to establish a “National Commission on Agricultural Development and Planning consisting of farmers, agricultural scientists and agricultural economists to examine and advise the government on how to make agriculture viable, competitive and remunerative.”
In days to come, there is going be extensive debate on whether the Congress manifesto is anything but a document of intent and tough to implement as such. But we must concede that the grand old party has put out a document that has some refreshing ideas.
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