The article, “The fountainhead of India’s economic vitality” (OpEd, December 2), comes at a time when the economy is in a tailspin, unemployment is at a record high, and industries are struggling to survive in general, the selling of some profit-making public sector units... the list can be endless. . Whatever facts and figures the writer has provided may be good to look at in print, but the reality is that the life of the common man is stressful. Talk of a $5-trillion economy is good to hear, but blunders such as demonetisation have almost destroyed the informal sector. It may not be out of place to mention here the important poll promise in 2014 — two crore new jobs every year. The article brazenly depicts innumerable positives of which nothing is tangible.
G.B. Sivanandam,
Coimbatore
The article appears as a Pollyannaish rejoinder to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Cassandraic lament (“The fountainhead of India’s economic malaise”, November 18). It is amazing how the Indian economy’s health can lend itself to extreme interpretations, one overly pessimistic and the other overexuberant, leaving the public in a state of utter confusion. Common sense dictates that the truth lies somewhere in between.
A GDP growth rate of 4.5% in the second quarter appears puny when compared to a base of 8% that was achieved during the UPA rule. The government seems reluctant to admit that growth has slowed down but has taken several steps to create a virtuous cycle of investments leading to greater economic activity and job creation. Resolution of NPAs under the new Bankruptcy Code has been picking up and there is greater discipline in bank lending as well in the attitude of big creditors in repaying their dues. The fact that many corrupt tax officials have been compulsorily retired from service points to the government’s determination to make tax administrators people-friendly and does not square up with the charge that businesses are operating in a climate of fear.
If the government is clueless about the economic slowdown, so is the Congress party because even an eminent economist such as Dr. Singh seems more interested in scoring political points than offering specific and actionable prescriptions to speed up economic growth.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram
