India can grow only on an inclusive basis, says finance minister P Chidambaram

Speaking at the ET Awards, finance minister P Chidambaram outlined a vision of India’s development that merits wide attention (we carry edited excerpts alongside). He essentially made four points. One, India continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace in a slower world economy. Two, India is a diverse nation, whose many constituents have hugely different expectations from growth. It is vital for India to meet these diverse expectations, to keep the soul of India alive, and so India needs not one model of development but a nuanced, multi-pronged approach to growth. Three, the game changers that drive growth are ideas, not individuals. And, finally, in a democratic polity, growth is sustainable when a balance holds amongst the judiciary, the legislature and the executive. In India, today, the balance has been badly skewed in favour of the judiciary, hurting growth.

We would readily endorse these views, with two qualifications. The consequence of India failing to respect the sensibilities of its diverse constituents is not likely to be confined to a metaphorical death of India’s soul. While India’s millennia-old tradition of coexistence of multiple identities and cultures involved hierarchy, subjugation and ideological acquiescence, modern-day multiculturalism in a globalising world calls for an altogether new basis to sustain. Equality, respect and justice are seen as not just natural but also legally guaranteed rights of individuals and collectives. A growth model premised on muscular majoritarianism that denies any of India’s constituent groups its rights is likely to produce violent resistance deriving covert and overt external support. Violence and counter-violence by the state would cripple democracy, stability and prosperity. Whether the soul dies or not, India would bleed and growth would turn anaemic. Further, the judiciary did not conspire to get an upper hand. Unethical conduct in and by the executive hollowed out its moral core and gave the judiciary its undue prominence. Restoring balance also means reforming the working of the executive.