India became independent on August 15, 1947, and the People’s Republic of China came into being on October 1, 1949. While India adopted the democratic path of development, the Chinese opted for the communist model. Inspired by the Soviet Union, Pandit Nehru laid emphasis on building heavy industries and large projects like the Bhakra Nangal dam. He evocatively called these the “temples of modern India.” He innately distrusted businessmen and ushered in the permit license raj. His daughter and political heir Smt Indira Gandhi shared much of her father’s disdain for the business community though she used the big ones to cough up funds for her Congress party.
The Manmohan Singh-led UPA governments messed up with economic liberalization by indulging in corruption on an unprecedented scale.
The stranglehold of the bureaucracy over the economy continued. Businessmen survived by greasing the palms of the babus.
It was Rajiv Gandhi who started the process of de-bureaucratising the economy. Little wonder then that noted economist, activist and visionary politician Dr Subramanian Swamy backed him to the hilt despite being in the opposition. When asked about this, Dr Swamy had replied that for him “the nation always came first.”
Following Rajiv Gandhi’s death under tragic circumstances the Congress party elected P.V. Narasimha Rao as the PM. He was called a sly fox, a manipulator and worse. But it was he who truly liberalized the economy in a big way.
India Inc, which was suppressed till then, rose to the occasion with alacrity.
But well before Rao’s program of economic liberalization, China under the brilliant leadership of Deng Xiao Ping embarked on a massive process of capitalist development. Deng rightly felt that his nation’s productive forces can be unleashed only with liberal help from the bourgeois and selective foreign investments. China is what it is today because of the vision of one man, Deng Xiao Ping.
The Manmohan Singh-led UPA governments messed up with economic liberalization by indulging in corruption on an unprecedented scale.
It’s time Modi took a leaf from the life of Deng Xiao Ping and made businessmen partners in progress.
A totally disenchanted electorate powered BJP leader Narendra Modi’s march to Delhi while the business community bankrolled the poll campaign.
There was widespread expectation that under Modi, businessmen, who are the true creators of wealth, will be unshackled and they would help take the GDP on a healthy growth rate of 10 per cent, for starters. But what we are witnessing today is the strengthening of Inspector Raj with businessmen routinely threatened with raids by the DRI, ED, Income Tax department and other central agencies.
Demonetisation, though well-intended, resulted in the ruin of thousands of small enterprises which were being run on cash.
And now with the haphazard implementation of GST, the fear of the tax officials has gripped businessmen across the nation. The government is rightly perceived by businessmen to be hostile to them. Never in the past the trust deficit between the government and the business community been so wide as it is today.
It’s time Modi took a leaf from the life of Deng Xiao Ping and made businessmen partners in progress. Our businessmen are world class…trust them, back them and take the babus off their backs. They will help the Indian economy overtake China in no time.
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..also of there is transparency in business done by business people then why that trust deficit..if you means that honest tax paying business men(not anti india) need to be included in formulating policies then i agree that..you meant that we have to promote vijay mallya kind of business men and government should waiver the debts which they own some lakhs of crores..i dont agree with you..even some of the business men are going to an extent to get ridden of current governmet they are joining hands with anti nationals by funding them
you meant that we have to promote vijay mallya kind of business men and government should waiver the debts which they own some lakhs of crores..i dont agree with you..even some of the business men are going to an extent to get ridden of current governmet they are joining hands with anti nationals by funding them..
A point is missed, that we have democracy and answerable politically and socially, I wonder sometimes why we are hellbend to negelect how difficult it is to guide our energy raising dog fight. Wearer of shoes only knows where it pinches, guess critics are using old shoes having adjusted to the wearer.
With GST one thing is sure fight will become qualitative and not just on price front which has paid in terms of misuse of energy for profiteering costing loss of creativity in terms of refine products.
Let investment made be not in vain.
Its time to wait and watch to follow path of trust which is paid by us all by co operations.