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Rohit Chakraborty's avatar

Percolation of bureaucratic hassles in citizens' lives seems to have increased with increased digital penetration. It's probably is a sign of less innovation or apathy towards it, less afinity towards dynamism and uncertainty that entails entrepreneurship, business et al. India's loss is world's gain, sooner the bureaucracy realizes it (which they won't) better it is for India. However, the government of the day, should catch the bull by their horns. Scrapping PSCs is a good step to ensure that, or hire and fire policies. There's also judicial reforms. All of these depends on how society perceives business, risk management. The exodus of Indians to developed nations is linked primarily to such apathy. Hopefully, it'll change (doubtful with this bureaucratic structure). Bureaucracy, by nature, is status quo, politicians need not be, especially when voters are interested in giving the parties clear majority to govern. If fruitful employment, businesses and an environment for the same is not a priority of the governments, then polarisation will rise. Waiting for the concluding piece of the series, Anil ji!

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Dear Rohit,

Thank you for your thoughts. Not sure if hire and fire can provide the much needed fix. If that was the case then the sloth in the private sector should be history.

To me it is a larger malaise flowing from a sell past the date mindset. This needs to be reset by transitioning to a rules based society from one that is based on exceptions--wherein we seek out favourites over talent, corruption over efficiency and so on.

Your point on judicial reforms is spot on. The system needs an overhaul. Especially in dealing with the backlog.

Good news that India is changing. Bad news is that it is not fast enough.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts. Look forward to more inputs.

Best

Anil

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Vandana Bahl's avatar

Dear Anil,

Interesting, crisp and very well researched article on the bitter truth of our economy. The hurdles are too many and the common man keeps going in circles.Getting any clearance , license or no objection certificate is still a herculean task.We need to remove the bottlenecks and red tapes in the system.

Looking forward to the conclusion next Monday!!

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Thank you Vandana. You are spot on. The tendency for retail corruption endures. To be sure though the incidence is down. One way out is to resolve red tape. Just like an ATM allowed us to skip the torture of a visit to a bank branch.

Best

Anil

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Gautam Dasgupta's avatar

A very interesting article Anil and a very important one too; as on the one hand it highlights an urgent need and on the other the ramifications of this "unease" of doing business in India, run very deep. In many areas repetitive and time consuming submission of forms have been streamlined and procedures shortened and yet the approval process is stuck at some point; this is where someone with the vested power is awaiting gratification. This person is sometimes protected by people with power, as the graft in big deals, reaches the people with political power; where else will the huge amounts required for fighting elections come from ? Things may have improved a bit under this government but one has to remember the jibe "Hum do hamare do"; so things are very smooth for organizations that know the system. South Korean companies like LG, Sony and Samsung have done exceedingly well in India. If an overhaul of the system has to be done, it has to be done from top to bottom. I will look forward to your article on Monday Anil.

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Thank you Gautam. Couldn't agree with you more: The system is long overdue a reset.

Best

Anil

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Hemant Kulkarni's avatar

Eye Opener-

Competitiveness between Domestic Industries.

If Ignored - Will be in trap of being Middle-Income country.

If Declined - Will prevent us from becoming Higher-Income country.

Now,

How could BALANCE tasks such as-

1) Our aim to become 5T $ economy with foreign exchange reserve.

AND

2) Promotion & Support to domestic industries only for being 'आत्मनिर्भर' in technology & other Sectors.

And EXPORT of such advanced tech after fullfiling our requirements to increase our FR.

Of Course, It'll require bold steps such as Admistrative policies, Gov tax reforms, Domestic wages, Techno-Legal aspects (IP Regime), Survival & Sustainance assurity.

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Dear Hemant,

Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, you are right. It is a tightrope walk. The thing is that there has to be a mindset reset across the administration. The leadership believes in it.

The second part sure next Monday will shed some light on this strategy.

Best

Anil

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Hemant Kulkarni's avatar

Loved your word Sir,

"There has to be a mindset reset across the administration. The leadership believes in it."

Of Course, Being Optimistic will surely ease such tightrope walk.!

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Atul Chopra's avatar

So well written Anil ! This experience is in your face from the time you even land here ! Last evening at the airport the Customs guy wanted to know why I was carrying 3 mobile phones! There is huge trust deficit and a legacy every where - the number of forms you now have to sign for even simple transactions and KYC is only increasing - there may be a grand intention at the leadership level but the operational aspect of it just kills every thing !

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Thank you Atul. Your example actually exposes a flaw in public policy. It mixes policing with policy - - flowing from the perception that misuse should be prevented. Consequently policy success is compromised.

Best

Anil

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Niranjan Gidwani's avatar

As always, very well researched and well written. We all do hope that all such articles of feedback are taken in a positive spirit, and that rapid reforms are made to capture this current global phase which could be India's moment of glory.

While much has changed for the better, a lot still needs to be done.

Agreed, its a large, complex nation with legacy issues. Yet we owe it to ourselves, and to our future generations to make it happen in this decade.

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Thank you Niranjan. You are so correct in flagging the progress and the journey ahead. Yes, we owe it to the next generation. India has to realise its potential.

Best

Anil

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Kartik Varma's avatar

I see the point in the report, and given the ‘stupid money’ in the startup markets, I’m not too enamored solely by what the unicorns experience. Real value creation (including digital business) is happening in the real economy and I’m curious how they experience ease of doing business. Also, what mechanisms make it possible for a large federated country like ours to ever reach ratings of smaller nation-states?

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

Dear Kartik,

Thank you for your thoughts. Actually the real economy is worse off. Do watch the clip I shared. Some reps very candidly shared their concerns.

Licence Raj dismantling began in 1980. Forty years later India is still trying to shake off that legacy. Tells us how change is never easy. Doable, but needs perseverance, patience, calling out and cmelebratingeven small victories.

Best

Anil

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Kartik Varma's avatar

Thanks - yeah that’s the story of our post liberalization generation after all. To expand on my second exploratory point: smaller nation states are inevitably going to be quicker on the ease of doing business as these are tightly coupled systems. Similarly, a South Korea with a certain history has had a different trajectory. In india, I’ve not seen a consistent narrative on the ‘how’ the change will happen, only the ‘what’. We seem to shift between top down approaches, to highly federated approaches. Indices are merely outcomes.

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Anil Padmanabhan's avatar

True. A large and diverse nation like India can slow the process of change, especially with regions experiencing multiple speeds of growth. But then diversity is also India's strength. Only way out is to foster a national consensus--like it happened with GST--on a common economic manifesto. Tough but doable.

Best

Anil

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