HomeEconomy NewsHistorically, India has been appreciated for world class decision making: Professor Kaushik Basu

Historically, India has been appreciated for world class decision making: Professor Kaushik Basu

The quality of decision making that traditionally took place in India is top class, the whole world appreciates that," said Professor Kaushik Basu.

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By Shereen Bhan  July 21, 2021, 8:01:16 PM IST (Updated)

In 2009, Professor Kaushik Basu, took a break from academia and entered the world of policymaking as Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, for a stint that lasted almost 3 years.



His latest book, A Policymakers Journal, is an account of his time in office but not written in hindsight. Diary entries from his first day in North Block to his tenure as the Chief Economist at the World Bank, give us an inisght into the complexities of policymaking in India. Many of the issues he dealt with as CEA continue to remain relevant even today- his writing also helps to put in perspective India’s tryst with reforms & liberalisation.

On CNBC-TV18’s special series to mark 30 years of the landmark 1991 reforms, the channel spoke with Professor Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics, Cornell University and former Chief Economist of the World Bank. In the interview he touched upon various topics like policymaking, budget, decontrol, privatisation, corruption and Aadhaar.

On policymaking, he said, “The bureaucratic decision making was slow and it did frustrate me immensely mainly because bureaucratic talent is high. I did think of manners in which everyone would participate in every decision was slowing things down and I argued that this decision making should be much more partitioned --some domains where I take the decisions fully and some domains where the finance secretary takes the decision fully etc. Fully, means there are final checks and balances for important decision, the finance minister signs off and for less important decisions it doesn’t even come up this side.”

“Having pointed that out and seeing what has happened subsequently, I should warn that quick decisions must not be wrong decisions and there is that risk of that I feel in India. The demonetisation was a wrong decision - it may have been a quick decision but it was a wrong decision,” he said, adding that one has to be careful, balancing out --taking decisions quickly and speedily but having checks and balances and most importantly, because that is in deficiency now and hurting India’s economy in big way currently is that expertise needs to be brought in.

According to him, the Indian economic service could to be broadened not made larger but scattered within India, so that there would be experts sitting in different state capitals, which would beef up the quality of decision making that was taking place in India.

Also Read: India needs reforms in judiciary, health, education, says YV Reddy

“The quality of decision making that traditionally took place in India is top class, the whole world appreciates that. However, on expertise, we are on backward position on that but historically India has been appreciated that top level decision-making is world class but a lot of structural problems going back to the states needed improvement and that is what I was addressing in the diary,” said Basu.

For the entire conversation, watch the accompanying video

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