India Grows at Night

Title: India Grows at Night – A Liberal Case for a Strong State

Author: Gurcharan Das

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2012 (First)

ISBN: 9780670084708

Pages: 307

‘India Unbound’ was a phenomenal book translated into all Indian languages which told the story of how the economic giant, asleep in a body controlled by fetters of excessive state control was at last unbound and found immense success in the world of trade and commerce. Gurcharan Das, a former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, and now fully dedicated to writing, told the story in a sad, yet moving way. ‘India Grows at Night’ may be considered as a sequel to the first one, in which the author identifies the loss of steam and determination to move forward with reforms. The title of the book is a euphemism for India’s economy which is said to grow at night – when the government is asleep! If the second round of advance is not forthcoming, India may be caught up in a ‘middle income trap’ as observed in some of the Latin American countries like Brazil. It was a great achievement to get rid of the license-quota-permit raj, as the author had himself met officials in his career who didn’t understand a thing of his business, yet had the power to ruin it. But there are unreformed sectors yet, in which crony capitalism is still at large. Das proposes a package to carry forward the reforms which will inculcate the concept of the modern state which the architects of our constitution had in mind. A liberal, but strong state is the need of the hour, with an unbending rule of law that severely penalizes graft. This is a must-read for India’s young generation and an eye-opener for bureaucrats and politicians.

India always had a weak state, which ruled over a strong society. The populace regulated their daily lives according to swadharma (the code of ethics applicable to one’s own community), from which even the king was not potent enough to dissuade them. The ruler’s power was not absolute, as he also was expected not to waiver from the branch of dharma applicable to him. India’s society is inherently heterogenic. It admitted all groups of people who came here – either as merchants or invaders – into the multilayered fold of its castes, until the arrival of those guided by strict monotheism. This paradigm of a weak state and strong society is antithetical to the case of China, where they traditionally had a strong state and a weak society. Chinese emperors were sons of god and their empire was celestial. Groups of people were assimilated into the great melting pot of Chinese culture in which all traces of their previous existence was obliterated. The strength of civil society is one reason why the state is powerless to impose rules or laws that are unpopular. Seeing the working of the Indian government in Nehru’s time, noted economist Gunnar Myrdal had remarked it as a soft state, which is still applicable. The strong, liberal states rest on three pillars: first, the power to act independently and resolutely; second, a rule of law which constrains political power and limits corruption; and third, democracy and accountability which allow the people to change their rulers when they start to behave badly.

India obtained political independence in 1947. But to obtain economic independence from the clutches of greedy, self-serving bureaucrats and politicians, we had to wait till 1991 when the economy was unshackled at last. The country’s growth rate was a dismal 0.8% during the British years 1900 – 1947. So much for arguments of benevolence under the colonial administration! The rate increased to 3.5% in the four decades after independence leading to 1991. We derisively call it the Hindu rate of growth, which is a misnomer. The growth rate was pinned down because of the unwarranted state control at the commanding heights of the economy. When the license-quota-permit raj was finally scrapped, the growth jumped to 6-9%, until 2010. Das provides glowing tributes to economic liberalization that changed the face of the land.

The author presents a litany of measures to escape from the pathetic lot into which India is entrapped. Some are the results of genuine introspection done by him, like reform of the institutions of governance, radical devolution of powers to the States at first and then to local self-government bodies, ushering in second generation of economic reforms and strict and speedy delivery of punishment (danda niti) to the corrupt. But his suggested remedy out of this sorry state of affairs is pure wishful thinking. Having lost faith in all political parties now in the national and regional platforms, Das suggests setting up a liberal, secularist party on the lines of the erstwhile Swatantra Party of Rajaji by the Middle Class, which will number almost half of the population of the country by 2020. This book was written before the inception of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party, which was set up on similar lines of thought. However, as soon as the party came to power in Delhi, it also fell into the trap of offering free giveaways to the affluent using public money. He also mentions an anecdote in which a very effective World Bank project to ensure continuous water supply to the inhabitants of Delhi was scuttled by the NGO, Parivartan, established by Kejriwal and his cronies.

Even though the book is written in a simple, yet elegant style, frequent breaking of the thread of continuity is somewhat irritating. Presenting an idea or person, Gurcharan Das suddenly drops it midway with an offhand remark that he will continue the discussion in another chapter or at the end of the present one. The book makes bold assertions like the Indian state was traditionally weak, but the society was strong. However, I couldn’t help thinking that this postulate is based on a selective and simplistic reading of Indian history, not at all supported by solid fact or rational judgment. The Middle Class identified by the book as holding the potential to change the destiny of the country through sheer numbers, is living in metros and drinking latte and cappuccino! This class has no roots on the countryside in fact, and the author expects that the rural middle class also will transform in due course into the chimera of the metro cities which he admires. The book is to some extent, hastily concluded, but sports a good index and a comprehensive bibliography.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star