Can India adopt a G20-style inclusive model for economic reforms?
The delegate had a point. India's G20 presidency was, indeed, a Goldilocks moment on the global stage.
Contrast that bonhomie with the bare-knuckle fight that GoI has faced in the last nine years with its economic reform agenda at home. From the passage of GST to the three farm laws, and from land reforms to the consolidation of labour regulations, every inch of the policy reform agenda has been hotly debated, stridently protested and aggressively obstructed.
As a result, many of the 'second-gen' economic reforms have been abandoned (land and farm), kept in suspension (labour), moved at a glacial pace (privatisation), implemented after considerable delay (GST), and, in a few instances, reversed (trade).
The inability to see these reforms through has meant that India's potential growth is stuck at 6-6.5% instead of accelerating to 8-9%.
But what's the big fuss, you would say. Isn't it the job of opposition parties to oppose government policies? But it is the inability of GoI to get buy-in for reforms from a broader swathe of the population — labour unions, farm organisations, civil society organisations and many former technocrats — that has bothered the ruling party.
The current approach of dismissing these opponents as 'left- leaning elites' resentful of the prime minister's success is a way to rationalise the matter, but doesn't solve the underlying problem.
So, is there a more inclusive way to make policies in India? The answer is yes. And it lies in the policymaking architecture of G20.
Why anti-globalisers don't target: G20 Anti-globalisers routinely protest at most global events.
In contrast, G20 events are unremarkable and uneventful. Why? Because G20 New Delhi was designed as a big tent party in which the
. Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
