Edits

Editorials

India Today
November 2,1998

Educating Murli

The HRD minister should go easy on his fads. And pick up tips on his deft governance.

Edits There is nothing more exasperating for a nation than its ministers making a spectacular mess of things. For the BJP-led coalition, in particular, lurching from disaster to disaster seems to have become a way of life. The recent education ministers' conference was a classic case of inviting trouble. Murli Manohar Joshi, the human resource development (HRD) minister, roused some passions for trying to "saffronise the educational system". Whatever the veracity of these accusations, Joshi's chief crime is not ideology as much as incompetence -- sheer incompetence. True, in a time of sharp political divisions, forging a consensus on education policy is well nigh impossible. Yet, Joshi didn't even make a modicum of an effort in this direction. Instead, he happily pursued his fads. Take the Saraswati Vandana at the inauguration. What should have been a complete non-issue ballooned into controversy. The validity of morning prayers in schools may make for an engaging debate in societies across the world. Nevertheless, a patently religious invocation has no place in a state function.

More substantively, Joshi's virtually blanket adoption of the proposals made by Vidya Bharati, an RSS affiliate, is extremely questionable. Granted Vidya Bharati has made some worthy suggestions, such as the creation of a regulatory body for education free of political interference. If Joshi had vetted the Vidya Bharati scheme and taken up its better ideas there would have been no quarrel. There is a method, a certain protocol to introducing a subject into the public domain. Vidya Bharati's views, along with any others the minister may have liked, should have been discussed within the HRD Ministry and made public weeks before the conference. By keeping them under wraps till the proverbial eleventh hour, the minister only found himself under a cloud of suspicion. Joshi and his friends could do with some lessons -- in transparent governance.

Back to Reforms?

The insurance sector is a test case of the Centre's commitment to liberalisation

Edits The BJP Government may be short on concrete achievements but it makes up for that by prolificity in policy announcements. For sectors like power, housing, agriculture and telecom, it has come up with bright plans which have been instantly forgotten. Now it seems to be the turn of insurance. Though the group of ministers (GOM) on insurance has allowed foreign equity up to 26 per cent in the sector, there is still a question mark on the subject. The Cabinet is yet to clear the proposal and in an atmosphere heavy with swadeshi jargon it will not surprise anyone if the move is scuttled. One possible ground for objection is that 26 per cent is in excess of the one-fourth equity legally required to block a special resolution in a firm -- and the potential foreign investor must be prevented from having such control. Questions may crop up even on the proposed total cap of 40 per cent on foreign stake, including that by non-resident Indians and overseas corporate bodies.

The need of the moment, however, is not an elaborate debate on policy but some proof of foreign investment actually flowing in. With just about $3 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in 1997-98, a mere seventh of China's tally, India is in desperate need of improving its image as a destination for foreign investment. The image problem is not quite a function of fundamentals. The Indian economy after all is still growing and not nosediving like some of the wounded Asian tigers. What makes investors uncomfortable is uncertainties and about-turns in policy. Even a more stringent cap (20 per cent) on FDI in insurance will be accepted by foreign investors so long as they are sure the other measures are falling into place -- like changes in the Insurance Regulatory Authority Act and the laws governing LIC and GIC. Instead of splitting hairs over policy, the Government must act. Now.

Issue Contents | Write to us | Subscriptions | Syndication