Incoherent outbursts

NRIs should recognise ground realities

Mr Kanwal Rekhi, the angel investor from the US, has stirred a hornet’s nest by accusing the government of incoherence. Protection of any kind is anathema to him and he finds a correlation between the government’s incoherence and protectionism. According to him, by giving cover to industry in one form or another, the government is doing more harm than good. Mr Rekhi’s potshots at the government come close on the heels of the hardware industry’s plea to forward the IT Agreement’s implementation under the World Trade Organisation from 2003 to 2005. In the process, he has also had a swipe at Wipro chairman Mr Azim Premji, for his protectionist postures. In a frontal attack, he accused Mr Premji of espousing his own cause. This is most uncharitable. Mr Premji is essentially a software czar and if he has spoken on behalf of the hardware manufacturers, it only goes to show his larger concern for the IT industry, without any sectoral bias. And, Mr Rekhi cannot be oblivious to the fact that unlike software, the hardware segment has not received the attention it deserves.

Over the years, it has almost become a pastime with non-resident Indians (NRIs) to find fault with our economic policies. Criticism for the sake of criticism is no good. One would expect Mr Rekhi to rise to the occasion and come up with positive suggestions underlining Indian conditions. His argument that India should emulate the Chinese example is well taken. But to break away from an economic system followed for more than 40 years, takes time. Ten years of reform have certainly helped the economy open up, even if to a limited extent. We need to audit the performance of these 10 years before totally dismantling controls. That said, there is a case for speeding up the process of liberalisation within a time-frame so that India is not left behind other emerging economies. But the process itself is time-consuming and the government ought to tread cautiously. The trouble with NRIs is that they look at us from the outside, without realising ground realities. That their patience is running out only goes to show their desire to see a resurgent Indian economy. Rather than hurl accusations at the government, Mr Rekhi and his compatriots will do well to wait, watch and perhaps invest in India in a big way.