Best of BS Opinion: When oversight blinks, small cracks turn dangerous

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Do you remember those school mornings when, even before the bell rang, the classroom used to be already in turmoil, with benches pushed back, paper aeroplanes gliding dangerously, and one child halfway up a window? Nobody quite knew who started the ruckus, yet the teacher, sipping tea outside and assuming ignorance would somehow translate into discipline, used to stroll in far too late. India often resembles that unruly classroom, where systems meant to supervise fold their arms, naughty kids test limits, and the consequences spill well beyond a single corner of the room. Let’s dive in. 

IndiGo’s crisis, as our first editorial notes, resembles a class monitor suddenly overwhelmed because the teacher never checked homework. Despite enviable punctuality, the airline ignored the upgraded FDTL rules, set up a crisis committee only after disruption, and left the DGCA granting exemptions instead of firm discipline. Like earlier corporate collapses (Kingfisher, IL&FS), the episode signals a bigger classroom flaw, that seasoned board members watched the scribbling on the blackboard yet allowed the commotion to grow. 

In rural India, our second editorial observes something quieter: workers drifting away from MGNREGA because jobs, wages and consumption are rising elsewhere. The classroom door is open, and many seem confident enough to leave. But exits without guidance can turn messy, especially when urban joblessness is simultaneously climbing. Policymakers must be present at both doors, so the newfound optimism does not turn into a crowding problem later. 

Meanwhile, Akash Prakash reminds us that India’s markets are hovering near record highs yet shunned by foreign investors for the global AI rally being the new shiny toy passed around the room. But with valuations now gentler and reforms back on the timetable, 2026 may reward the quieter kid who actually did the homework. Foreign investors, now underweight India, could rediscover interest once the noise subsides. 

Vinayak Chatterjee argues that the FY27 Budget must put infrastructure back on the teacher’s lesson plan. Public capex should rise, PPPs need execution not rhetoric, and city-level mobility, climate resilience and water systems must be prioritised. His prescription, which includes model concession agreements, de-risking tools and land-value capture, is the lesson plan that ensures built assets lead future economic growth rather than becoming playground distractions. 

Finally, Chintan Girish Modi reviews Coffee King by Rukmini Rao and Prosenjit Datta, which presents V G Siddhartha’s CCD legacy like a cautionary tale of charisma without systems, a classroom hero beloved by peers but lacking notebooks and audits. The book’s careful reconstruction of Siddhartha’s rise and the financial gaps revealed after his death is a sober reminder of what happens when admirable dreams run ahead of supervision. In India’s busy classroom, ambition is never the issue, ensuring the teacher actually teaches remains the greater lesson. 

Stay tuned!