Cutting Down On Licence Raj: Chief Economic Advisor Provides Philosophical Support From Ishopanishad

In the preface to the Economic Survey 2023-24, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Dr V Anantha Nageswaran has said that letting go is part of good governance.

Recalling India's economic growth since the 1990s, he said, "For all its flaws and warts, the system has delivered accountability through the democratic process and public discourse."

He said that now India should not miss an opportunity to strengthen a system to steer the country through an uncertain future and for that, it needs the government to focus on larger and wider conflicts with longer-term effects.

"The Indian state can free up its capacity and enhance its capability to focus on areas where it has to by letting go of its grip in areas where it does not have to," the CEA said.

He said that the government should further lighten its Licensing, Inspection and Compliance (LIC) requirements burden at all levels. He acknowledges that already a lot has been done in this regard.

"The burden is felt more acutely by those least equipped to bear it – small and medium enterprises. It holds them back, leashes their aspirations, and, in the process, holds the country back," Nageswaran said.

"On the face of it, it does not seem to matter because the economic growth rates are good, and there are visible signs of progress. But, we will never know the counterfactual: 'what it might have been'," he added.

Quoting Ishopanishad to suggest that it enjoins all of us to let go of (renounce) our possessions, be free and enjoy that freedom, the CEA refers to a shloka (Sanskrit hymn):

ईशा वास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्। तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम्॥

It has been explained as, "Power is a prized possession of governments. They can let go of at least some of it and enjoy the lightness it creates in both the governed and the governing."