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The politics behind Vajpayee's economics

On the whole, people are quite optimistic about the prime minister's economic initiatives. But there are apprehensions over the lack of co-ordination between the finance ministry and the PMO. Finance ministry bosses would, I am sure, take Atal Bihari Vajpayee's measures as an encroachment into their area. So they may not be very co-operative.

Most of the decisions taken by the PMO under the new initiative will have to be implemented by the finance ministry. Since there is no representation of that ministry in the PM's advisory committee, the mandarins at North Block may offer bottlenecks. The advisory panel only comprises Brajesh Mishra, the PM's principal secretary, and secretary at the PMO, N K Singh. Neither Yashwant Sinha nor Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar figures in the list. In any case, the new initiative is the brainchild of N K Singh -- and everybody is aware of what the finance minister thinks of Singh.

By and large, the exercise from the PMO seems to be a genuine endeavour to improve the economic situation in the country. In a bid to be balanced, the council has got people of the old school like I G Patel, P N Dhar and Arjun Sengupta on one hand and crusaders of liberalisation like M S Ahluwalia, N K Singh and Ashok Desai on the other. The middle path too is represented.

The formation of the Council on Trade and Industry will give prominent Indian industrialists an opportunity to voice their views in the highest office of the country. Though it includes Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and Kumaramangalam Birla, there is an effort to ignore vocals of the Bombay club like Rahul Bajaj and Adi Godrej.

The above exercise, according to the PMO, is part of a series of measures that the prime minister is taking to boost the realisation of his economic goals. The PMO will be announcing other schemes shortly. This gives a clear indication that Vajpayee is not satisfied with the finance ministry's working. These initiatives, hence, can be seen as an intervention by the prime minister, sensing the deteriorating economic condition of the country.

I hope the prime minister will not sit quietly after forming these committees. He will have to devote time to get feedback and act on the committees' recommendations. Besides pulling out the country from an economic recession, Vajpayee will have to ensure that certain unfinished affairs are also tied up.

India needs to bring in new policies on civil aviation, shipping, coal and mines. The petroleum sector reforms, too, should be initiated. Decisions have to be taken on the privatisation of ports, the Company Affairs Bill and the opening up of insurance sector. The issue of buy back shares is also awaiting government nod. And the much-promised new income tax bill has to be realised.

Another issue that has raked enough controversies is the disinvestment of public sector undertakings. There is still tremendous confusion about the nodal agency to carry out disinvestment. The finance ministry was looking after it earlier. But now, the responsibility is with the industry ministry.

Luckily, Vajpayee has got a good team of bureaucrats to work with. Everyone has appreciated the recent reshuffle of secretaries. He has got a dynamic officer as his secretary and an eminent economist with pragmatic views as finance secretary. The new revenue secretary is known for his integrity and the new telecom and petroleum secretaries for their hard work. So it is time for the prime minister to come out with some wonders.

Rajiv Shukla