Reversing the Congress Party Legacy

Congress Party in a policy statement at the annual conference in Avadhi in 1954 called for the governmental control of the commanding heights of the Indian economy. It reserved many industries for exclusive public ownership. It also set up an elaborate license/permit Raj. India went on to invest over $300+ billions to set up public sector. This doomed a couple of generations of Indians to low or no growth and created a scaricity economy that my generation lived through. This was also the root cause of political corruption as politicians and bureaocrats assumed huge power of life and death over businesses and as result on people's lives.

The return on this capital was dismal, from what I understand, about 1% per year. Jobs creation was also meagre, just a few million jobs when hundreds of millions were required. As a result it was not only greatest destruction of the wealth but also the greatest prevention of creation of the wealth as it also suppressed the entrepreurial drive of Indians.

Indians perfected the art of begging for foreign aid. India recieved almost $100 billion of foreign aid through the years. It was tragic in that it delayed the day of reckoning that finally arrived in 1991. Partial liberalization that finally happened unleashed the animal spirits of Indians. Results were amazing. India developed a world class IT industry without any public investments. I can enumerate many other instances to prove that even a partial liberalization was great for the Indian economy.

Imagine what can be achieved with a full liberalization? Imagine a million entreprenurs doing their magic, nay imagine 1o million of them!

Air India privatization is just a drop in the bucket. It is time to go whole hog. BJP should focus on reversing this aspect of Congress legacy.