Best of BS Opinion: Creative policymaking needed to resolve knotty issues

Policymaking must find simpler ways of resolving seemingly complex problems: such an approach frees up economic agents for productive activity

Far too often, policymakers are more than happy to let things continue as they have simply because upsetting the established order would mean confronting unknown, or uncomfortable, outcomes. But as history shows, upending the status quo and thinking of new solutions has been the pathway to progress, be it the human condition or the body politic. It is in this light that we approach our opinion pieces today.   The new Income Tax Bill tabled in Parliament yesterday is an example of bringing in a fresh new approach to unwieldy laws. Our lead editorial notes that the goal was not to overhaul the tax structure but to simplify it for taxpayers. Simpler laws allow people to focus on economic activity rather than spend time and effort on deciphering the rules. The real test of the new tax codes, though, will be if they can reduce tax litigation, which detracts from economic activity at both the individual and the state levels. However, it is also necessary to simplify the tax structure by reducing slabs and fixing a threshold for taxes.   Public transport, or the lack of it, continues to be the bane of the daily lives of most Indians, says our second editorial. The most recent Economic Survey found that spending on conveyance was the second-highest monthly budget item for most households after food. Investment in safe and affordable public transport will have a multiplier effect on the economy, as the local transport systems in Mumbai and Kolkata of yore have shown. Policymakers must also think beyond metros and include high-frequency bus and RRTS systems. Rural public transport, which is practically non-existent, needs an out-of-the-box solution.   Our first column, by T T Ram Mohan, deals with the need for a new approach to globalisation. He argues that given the geo-economic fragmentation of recent years, policymakers would do well to look inwards at domestic consumption as a driver of growth, and focus more on import-substitution than imports. For this, India will need to strengthen domestic supply chains and find alternative sources of supply. Fostering self-reliance and national security are important considerations in choosing the sources of inputs in today’s environment, he says.   For our second column, Rajeev Kher and Anshuman Gupta call for a new way to look at the challenges of climate change following the US’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The authors call for peaceful co-existence of energy systems (including both fossil fuels and renewables), reinforcing the principle of path-dependency, an idea present in the Baku declaration. However, this depends on how soon carbon capture, utlilisation and storage,  as well as carbon removal technologies can be commercially viable. 

  For our book review , Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay reviews Arun Shourie's 'The New Icon: Savarkar and the Facts', and states that the author takes a new look at the many stories surrounding the controversial freedom fighter. Shourie, he says, has scrutinised the falsifications and untruths authored or stated by Savarkar and later by his ideological legatees. He also overturns Savarkar's claims of meeting Mahatma Gandhi, and notes that Savarkar started writing mercy petitions barely two months after his incarceration in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.