How to transform the government from ‘the problem’ to ‘the problem solver’
This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. Every incoming government faces massive expectations. This time is arguably greater given the ambitious agenda of becoming a developed economy by 2047.
The ability to deliver on these promises depends critically on the quality of the state’s capabilities. Why is state capability important? A capable state—in terms of its ability to plan and execute—has been critical in the history of national development.
It is essential for designing and implementing policies and programmes, delivering public goods and services, collecting taxes and fees, preparing and managing contracts with the private sector, and regulating markets. Its performance manifests in the form of quality of public services, timely completion of infrastructure investments, improvements to the ease of doing business, the strength of regulatory systems, and so on.
These are the foundational requirements for national development and economic growth. A capable state ensures that the political will and bureaucratic intent on these areas captured in the form of laws, rules, guidelines, policies, and programmes are implemented with fidelity and quality.
This insight on the critical role of the state is often lost amid public debates centering on cliched big-bang reforms like the agriculture subsidies reforms, ease of doing business, factor market reforms, unleashing entrepreneurial energies, privatization, and so on. In fact, all the so-called big bang reforms, even with enabling legislations, are about tens or hundreds of small steps whose
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