A Letter to Dr. Manmohan Singh
Respected Dr. Singh,
I do not know if you will read this letter. Most probably
you will not. Because the medium through which we share what we write on the
Internet consists of users who are not ready to acknowledge whatever good is
written about you. With this statement I have in a way disclosed that I will
not be writing anything bad about you. The reason is simple – I am not writing
a critical letter. Instead, I am writing a letter to thank you.
You won’t be sitting on the Prime Minister’s Chair in a
couple of months. I am not aware which party will win the elections but you
have declared that you won’t be in the race for the top post. Hence I take this
opportunity to thank you for what you have done for the country. For what we
are today, in terms of a solid economic power at the global level, it is all
because of you. Yes, perhaps we are not
aware of what happened in the country way back in 1991. Or maybe we have conveniently
forgotten that. ‘Dr. Singh opened India’s
economy’ is what we are taught. But we do not know that it was you and your
party that brought back India’s lost glory and accelerated the growth and brought
us to where we are now.
Times have changed since 1991. An entire generation has
grown up. We are imbibed with opportunities and ready to face the world. But
with this we have become more reactive rather than becoming responsive. Calm,
encompassing personality has lesser takes now. Gradual decisions are less cool.
Being flashy has a greater appeal. Long
term decisions are not given due consideration.
The nation today wants everything on the plate in a single day and it
does not bother them if it comes by snatching someone else’ plate. We react. We
do not respond anymore. I belong to this
very generation but over the years I have become aware of your contribution in
building a new India. And yes, this awareness entered within me way before I
gave those theoretical presentations in my MBA class.
.jpg)
Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first Prime Minister was
accused of not opening up the country’s economy and hence resulting in a slow
economic growth. The opposition then demanded
the economy to be opened and criticized the socialist tending policies of the
Congress government. Nehru insisted that the government did not oppose the
private sector as ours was a mixed economy; however the nation being new, the
government had to think from the point of view of the masses. However in 1991 when you decided that the time
was ripe for opening the economy – due to the ‘balance of payment’ crisis and
also to unleash the potential of India as a nation, you were again opposed.
Such has been the sorry state of the opposition party which is eyeing for power
in the coming elections!
However, it becomes essential for me to make my countrymen and
especially my generation aware as to what was happening in the country when you
were appointed as the country’s Finance Minister. Many of us were under the age of five, some of
us were under the age of ten, and some of us were not even born!
Around 1991, there
was a crisis in the country. Foreign Exchange Reserves depleted greatly. The
image of India was that of a closed, restrictive state with an over emphasis on
socialist principles of economy. The
gulf war in the late eighties swelled the import bills as the petroleum prices
grew by leaps, exports slumped and the general investment sentiment in India
was low. This problem became so severe that by the mid of 1990, India only had
3 weeks of foreign exchange reserves left for its imports! In short, the nation
had no money for its survival and it was heading towards a default! The then
Prime Minister Chandrashekhar had to pledge the nation’s gold to the Bank of
England and Bank of Switzerland to borrow money. How insulting it is for a nation
to undergo such a situation! And in this critical situation, P.V Narasimha Rao
became the Prime Minister and you were appointed as the Finance Minister.
Your opposition party
always cries ‘loss of National pride’ when the enemy attacks our soldiers at
the border. But the same party opposed your policy of liberalization which
ultimately made us recover this gold and hence recover our national pride! Alas,
this scary chapter is forgotten and is a part of student presentations in all
the management schools of the country! You
were called a ‘world bank agent’ by the opposition and your initiative to join
the WTO was opposed! The funny thing is that the governments that followed you
did not change the policy initiatives taken up by you but continued their
opposition when you were heading the government. This fact is enough to prove
that it was only you and Mr. Rao who had the vision to lead the nation. No one
from the left or from the right had the vision as to how the country would
stand after decades. They continued their opposition for the computers, for
WTO, for liberalization and for every good initiative you took!
As eminent journalist
Kumar Ketkar remembers that there were strikes in government institutions when
the computers were first introduced! The trade unions were represented by whom?
The communists and the BJP! These parties delayed the entry of technology into
Indian minds and the result is that a lot of Indians post-50 years of age
struggle at computers as compared to their counterparts in the western
countries!
But what happened post-liberalization? A lot of foreign investment
turned up in our country. We brought our gold back and so also the lost
national pride! A diversity of jobs was created in the country. Opportunities
increased by leaps. Different industries set their foot in the country. Cities
other than the usual metros gained prominence and are now on the verge of
expansion. Different brands entered the country. Travelling to other countries for studies and
work did not remain a new thing and had an increasing trend! Unfortunately, the
people who made it to the foreign countries for work or otherwise are the ones
who are very critical about nothing happening in this country! Same can be said
about the people working in the top hierarchies of corporate! Irony, right? But
you have seen this all. We have slowly
become a nation of people getting the benefits of your visionary policies but
never acknowledging that they got it!
The Narsimha Rao government did not get a mandate for the
next five years. But you had set the ball rolling! The governments later did
not reverse the decision of liberalization; they did not cancel the membership
of the WTO. The accusation that you are a WTO agent, an IMF agent and you will
be bringing the East India Company back to rule India had died out! Political
parties opposing you followed the same policies and that’s where your vision
was proved. The nation saw your
prominent presence when you became the Prime Minister later in 2004.
