Planning for a better India

Some ideas.

After decades, India finally has things going her way. We have a relatively better Government led by an efficient Prime Minister, a population with a median age of around 29 years, an economy which looks promising, a landmark tax reform in the making, an enterprising space program and some well meaning initiatives such as the Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Swachh Bharat.

However, we’re still held back by a lot more traditional systems and practices, some even dating back to British Raj, which are not really letting us evolve as the next superpower. Irrespective of any development, continuing with the same dogmatic practices and principles would keep India forever chained to the tag of a developing nation, at best.

Moving ahead, here are some important changes that can make the job easier for the country.

Timeline Sync

• National Calendar
• January-December Fiscal Year
• Simultaneous Elections

We are losing way too many continuous stretches of productive working days in the name of public holidays, religious holidays, bandh, strikes and the like, peppered generously throughout the year. This just cannot continue if we want to sustain India’s economic growth rate. India has one of the largest backlogs of pending legal cases and our courts take summer vacations longer than most schools, an age-old British practice which was put in place to give the English judges a break from the humid Indian summers. A slow moving legal system (especially one where people take disadvantage of the loopholes) delays workflow and discourages development. We need to realize that a growing economy means businesses spread across different states and a common work calendar is quintessential.

A national calendar can be devised with effective 5-day work weeks, accommodating key holidays seasons like Diwali, Eid and Christmas where the entire country can take a break. All offices, banks, businesses and institutions shall work in tandem, minimizing delays. As against isolated holidays, holiday seasons have also proven to be better for the economy. (Moreover, holidays on days such as Gandhi Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti or Republic Day serve no real purpose other than giving people an excuse to plan an extended long weekend).

About the ‘other’ national holiday: The very concept of bandh is ironic. It is a derivative of the civil Non-Cooperation movement originally initiated against the British rule. By protesting and blocking business-as-usual, freedom fighters hurt the workflow of the British administration, causing large losses to the exchequer. However, doing this against our own Government is plain stupid. A typical bandh these days will not be complete without vandalizing buildings, burning vehicles and forcing all businesses to shut shop. It is the tax payer who is going to be taxed more to make up for the losses; a classic example of a double-whammy.

Another colonial leftover is the April-March fiscal cycle. It is surprising how we never gave a thought about it’s relevance in the Indian setup. We are heavily dependent on agriculture and the Indian monsoon is spread across July, August and September. Budgeting depending on the monsoons would help the agro-economy, which employs half the country’s population and accounts to about than 15% of the country’s GDP.

Moreover, almost every other (non-commonwealth) country and a large majority of the multinational conglomerates follow the January-December fiscal cycle. Going forward, a common fiscal year only makes business-as-usual easier for everyone.

The elections burn a big hole in the tax-payers’ pockets. It not only disrupts routine functioning, but also requires constant redeployment of the armed forces. Holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies has merit and is based on logic. With a pan-country term of five years, political parties will get a continous stretch of time to concentrate on governance alone and not worry about elections. Else, there is always an election happening somewhere, every year. This tends to distract the parties, waste public money and impede efficient governance. Synced election cycles will mean the ruling government is backed by a suppotive Lok Sabha, the importance of which is all the more required now. This results in the Lower House completing its full term with fewer walkouts/disruptions and streamlined parliamentary functioning. The entire country will get a common evaluation period to compare and form an opinion about their elected representatives.

A common national calendar, a relevant, globally compatible fiscal year and synchronized election cycles are great initiatives to start off with.