Letters: North Block vs Mint Road

This refers to Rajeev Malik’s article “Silencing the RBI” (January 9). Future historians of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and perhaps Indian economy, would do well to keep this article clipping. Several observations, such as “... a common fixture through the various gaps is a government with its head in the sand...” and “... perhaps Mr Gokarn became the fall guy for resisting calls for interest rate cuts by the government and industry lobby groups...” are comments worth preserving for posterity. Without dampening the underlying hope in the change that 2014 may bring, one is tempted to ask whether this sort of blatant arrogance on the part of those in charge of governance – even if it was prompted by a survival instinct – was called for in handling the financial sector, and through that the fate of the country’s economic development during the last couple of years. The United Progressive Alliance-II leadership and the Central government were selective in showing any respect for institutions like RBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General, which, on their part, have a tradition of upholding the constitutional mandate.

A closer look at the larger agenda in the Centre’s hand, the major part of which it expects to execute in 2013, will reveal that the abnormalities covered in this article are just symptoms of a chronic malice that is troubling governance at the top. Still, how, where and when the undeclared war that North Block is fighting with Mint Road, in an effort to clip dissent ends, will be decisive in the development of Indian economy. If the approach paper notified by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission is any indication, economists, statesmen and stakeholders in India’s growth story should raise their voices against the stifling of institutions.

M G Warrier Thiruvananthapuram

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