Industrialist Anand Mahindra Calls Prime Minister Modi's Agenda For Governance "Brilliant"

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to put the empowerment of bureaucrats at the head of his agenda for governance is "brilliant" and forms a series of pitch-perfect opening measures that the new administration has taken, said Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra, as it seeks to lift the economy out of a slump and ensure accountability.

"I think it is almost brilliant to put at the head of the list the fact that bureaucrats should be encouraged to take decisions without fear. In a sense he's gone to the heart of the problem of the paralysis of the past," Mahindra said in an interview to ETfrom the US, after having just become the first Indian to get the Harvard Medal for service to the university.

As for possible moves by the new government to free up foreign direct investment, Mahindra said he philosophically favoured the complete lifting of any curbs. But in the case of defence, he suggested there should be some riders.

Mahindra said he wholeheartedly supported the PM's early initiatives, which include dismantling the plethora of ministerial groups to speed up decision-making. "Without making much heavy weather of it, he's been a case study for business schools of how to exercise leadership and have an impact from day one in the new job."

The prime minister's initiatives will also allay concerns about him being an autocrat. "If you remember, one of the major apprehensions about Modi was an autocratic style of functioning," Mahindra said.

"By putting right at the top of the agenda the empowerment of bureaucracy I think one has to appreciate and admit it is definitely not the act of an autocrat."

US needs to do fence-building with Narendra Modi

The government is also seeking to put in place a method of measuring the progress that it is making through an agenda for 100 days, Mahindra said. "To me, every decision needn't be a big-bang reform but a signal of proactive decision-making and removal of red tape and bureaucracy. And, a promise of even speedier decision-making in the future."

The Modi government's immediate priorities should include building roads, something that the previous administration was unable to make too much headway on. Mahindra said roads are critical to an inclusive economy.

"Access to markets or the lack of access to markets is one of the most discriminatory things one can do to the poor and especially to the rural poor. It's not a point that we automatically think of but roads are (a) mechanism to create inclusiveness in the economy. So I think the faster he does that the better for the economy. There is huge economic data to show that roads (give) a bigger boost to rural income than even irrigation," he said.

With regard to FDI in defence, Mahindra said: "By definition we do not have philosophical objection to it. We only believe that if 100% is granted then certainly we should as part of the policy have certain riders to also ensure the latest technology is deployed here."

As a member of the US-India Business Council, Mahindra expects ties with the new PM to start improving. Diplomatic and political pundits in the US believe there is some amount of fence-building to do, especially since Modi was denied a visa by the US because of the 2002 riots in Gujarat when he was chief minister.

"They feel the US has lost ground because of the visa controversy and that they should now rediscover the ground and build a strong relationship. There is a feeling that both Japan and China have stolen a march on building this kind of relationship with India," Mahindra said.

But he expects that India's interests will be paramount for Modi and that the PM will do what's best for the country.

By Satish John, ET Bureau | 2 Jun, 2014

Dr. Ambedkar on Article 370

“You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you foodgrains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it.” -- Dr. B R Ambedkar, lawyer, leader and principal architect of the constitution of India, in a letter to Sheikh Abdullah

The Smriti Irani Brouhaha - What's In A Higher Education Degree?

Smriti Irani is bright, young, tenacious, beautiful, a very successful television star, a former member of parliament of India's upper house, the Rajya Sabha, and a former Vice President of India's Bharatiya Janata Party. She was sworn in Union Minister for Human Resources Development on 26 May 2014. Unfortunately, she finds herself caught in a brouhaha which is frankly, unnecessary, and has been catapulted into a state of intolerable cacophony by India's shrill electronic media. There are two issues here: the first, that she has no higher education; the second, that there is a disparity in the two affidavits about her educational qualifications.

Activist and recently appointed academic, Madhu Kishwar, seems overly upset about Ms. Irani's lack of  an undergraduate degree. Ms. Kishwar is a supporter of India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Or, at least, she was, until yesterday. Are we supposed to infer, then, that folks with undergraduate or graduate degrees would automatically be able to understand and do justice to the multifarious educational needs of India? Had that been the case, why are there so many problems in India's educational system?

What is required in a successful minister, in any department, is a high degree of general intelligence, awareness and empathy, an openness and willingness to learn from successful examples, anywhere in the world, and, most importantly, the capacity to implement your ideas with integrity and a strong political will. 

India's Congress party's spokesperson, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, amongst others, was vociferous in his attack on Ms. Irani's educational qualifications right until their beloved leader, Sonia Gandhi's educational qualifications were scrutinized, all over again. (Ms. Gandhi has a high school degree from a finishing school in the UK.) Therefore, Singhvi and his colleagues did a pretty hasty about turn. They changed tack when they recognized that calling credentials into question would leave them and Sonia Gandhi the most vulnerable of all.

Indira Gandhi was a high school graduate; and Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg were college dropouts. Ms. Irani needs to be given a chance, and the electronic media needs to cool off. So does the Congress party. She hasn't been on the job for even forty-eight hours, and the folks who need to manufacture news cannot wait. After all, they need a story each night. Do all Ph.D's or MBA's have innate leadership and administrative abilities? Or, would they be able to handle an educational system as vast and complex as India's? I was pleased to hear Shailaja Chandra, a former top bureaucrat in Delhi, speak out in defense of Ms. Irani last night, basing her support on nearly forty years of working with leaders. Ms. Chandra was dismissive about the assumption that the lack of a degree cannot make you a good minister; or vice versa.

I am sure Ms. Irani will explain the disparity between her affidavits, in due course. And only time will tell us whether she has what it takes to be a successful Human Resources Development Minister. In the interim, she needs to be given a fair chance.

Under Narendra Modi, there will be closer integration of Indian business and diplomacy

The Economic Times, India, 27 May 2014 

By Rory Medcalf
Indian voters and foreign observers have been understandably fixated on Narendra Modi's potential to repair India's economy and governance. Less attention has been paid to the possibility that he might also prove a transformative leader in India's relations with the world — until now.
Modi's invitation to South Asian leaders to attend his swearing-in ceremony as India's prime minister was a powerful and refreshing gesture. It will compel his critics to reconsider their assumptions that his government will be bound by a narrow nationalism or an inward-looking concept of India's development. Nor is his external focus limited to India's neighbourhood.
As the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi pushed the boundaries of Indian federalism, reaching out to great powers, including Japan and China. So as prime minister, he will not be deepening those vital relationships from a standing start. Already, he has made it clear that he wants closer integration of Indian business and diplomacy.
The days of Indian foreign policy being left solely to New Delhi's skilled but absurdly undersized diplomatic corps are gone. Modi's demonstrated strengths so far lie in political mobilisation, domestic administration and economic management. Nobody knows precisely how his vision for managing India's difficult path through a changing and competitive world will unfold. His foreign policy leadership will be tested by events.
It is frighteningly conceivable, for instance, that the welcome presence of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif at Modi's inauguration will redouble the determination of jihadist terrorists to shake India-Pakistan relations. A major act of terrorism early in his term would test Modi's ability to manage India's social fabric as well as its security. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that in this or any other security crisis India's new leader would let nationalist impulses prevail over statecraft.
Indeed, the fact that he is from the right of Indian politics gives Modi an advantage in steering a stable foreign and defence policy. Whether in a future crisis with Pakistan or some fresh dispute with China on the border issue, a Modi government would be well-positioned to resist domestic pressure for reckless reactions. Since Modi cannot easily be outflanked on the right, he will have more scope than Manmohan Singh or even Atal Bihari Vajpayee had for pursuing durable solutions with Pakistan or China on controversial issues.
By the same token, if and when the Modi government speaks in terms of deterrence or assertiveness, other nations' starting point may well be to assume that he means it. The key here will be to ensure that the new foreign and defence policy team has wisdom, experience and a sense of India's national interest.
The Modi electoral landslide — an unprecedented voter turnout leading to decisive change — was a sign of the confidence Indians have in their democratic system. It coincides with another, quieter, democratic revolution: Indians are becoming more interested in foreign policy. So the new leadership in Delhi is likely to take into account the public mood when it is formulating how to deal with the world. Indian public opinion about external affairs is sometimes surprising and more sophisticated than foreign policy elites might assume. This was borne out in a representative opinion poll of adult Indians released last year by Australian think tanks the Lowy Institute and the Australia India Institute. The poll shows most Indian voters concerned about terrorism and Pakistan as leading sources of threat to India, yet a large proportion — 89% — is also of the view that ordinary people in both countries want peace.

On defence policy, too, most voters have clear views. According to the poll, an overwhelming 95% see the possession of a strong military as very important for India to achieve its foreign policy goals. The poll shows complex views on China. Most Indians are understandably mistrustful of what Chinese power means for their interests. About two-thirds want India to work with other countries to limit China's interests, but a similar proportion want cooperation with China — so some people want both. Rather than a contradiction, this may be a formula for Modi's China policy.

There is much to be done to restore the narrative of India as a rising, confident and stabilising force in the world. A good start would be for the Modi government to deepen relations with a web of partners that can offer a mix of economic, security and political benefits. Japan is one place to start: Modi has a rapport with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the Lowy poll showed considerable warmth for Japan and respect for its institutions among the Indian people.

Another, less obvious, starting point could be another Asian democracy, Indonesia. Like Australia, this country is a logical partner for India's expanding maritime security interests. An Indo-Pacific partnership with Muslim-majority Indonesia would reinforce the message that Modi's India will be democratic and inclusive — abroad as well as at home.

(The writer chairs the Australia-India Roundtable on behalf of the Lowy Institute and the Australia India Institute)