According to R Jagannathan's column in Business Standard, India has repeatedly missed reform opportunities across multiple sectors including manufacturing, labour, land, agriculture, education and health. The country adopted the mixed economy model after independence when high-flying countries were going capitalist, and adopted the licence-permit raj and shackled our entrepreneurs when Japan and the Asian Tigers were building manufacturing competitiveness. As reported by Business Standard, delayed reform does not merely postpone gains but changes the nature of what is still possible, with deregulation today not creating the same manufacturing jobs that might have emerged three decades ago. The column emphasizes that when reforms come too late, businesses get around the problem by using other alternatives, with entrepreneurs pole-vaulting over state-created hurdles in pursuit of a "socialist pattern of society."
According to Business Standard, the urgent reform space now lies in education, health and agriculture, where change must be explained to citizens rather than attempted by stealth. The column emphasizes that reform done late delivers less than reform done in time, with a government that waits too long to rethink policy running into fiscal exhaustion. As reported by Business Standard, delayed reforms cost the exchequer much more as employment growth lags GDP growth, forcing the state to offer freebies to prevent restive youth from turning violent. The column notes that political parties that abandon their own strengths allow rivals to occupy that space, highlighting the importance of strategic timing in policy reform.
According to Aditi Phadnis' column in Business Standard, the Congress government under Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu faces fiscal stress, shrinking expenditure and growing restlessness ahead of next year's Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh. The column notes that while the BJP may have an advantage after urban local-body results, its leaders have not offered a clearly articulated alternative vision for the state. As reported by Business Standard, anti-incumbency extends beyond dissatisfaction with the ruling party to whether either side can bring fresh thinking to states caught in recurring fiscal constraints.
According to Business Standard, primary education sucks for it does not enable most children to master the ability to learn, which is crucial for succeeding in a tech-mediated future work environment. The column notes that most children learn only by rote, if at all, with the purpose of undergraduate studies to equip young adults to solve problems and learn skills for employment, but our undergraduate education — especially in non-engineering courses — does not produce graduates with usable skills. The piece suggests experimenting with using private sector educationists to operate state-owned school systems, where additional investment requirements for refurbishing run-down schools and retraining teachers can be funded by philanthropy. It also proposes promoting cheap, community-based home schooling since cities have huge numbers of educated home-makers and unemployed youth who can teach primary skills.
According to Business Standard, our medical education is so expensive that we are more likely to produce mercenaries than caring doctors, with those spending ₹50 lakh or more becoming doctors needing to earn returns on their investment rather than helping patients. The column suggests upskilling qualified nurses and physician assistants to do work that only doctors can do now, including doctors who have done Ayurveda or Unani courses by giving them bridge courses to diagnose and prescribe allopathic medicines. For agriculture, the solution lies in merely sticking to the Constitution that puts this sector in the State List, with the bulk of costly and inefficient spending done by the Centre through its minimum support price architecture. The column recommends devolving the entire money spent on food and fertiliser subsidies to states, with many states happy to accept this money and additional responsibility.
