Is policy paralysis back?

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Bikky Khosla | 05 May, 2015
Nothing is happening on the ground to boost the economy - that's what more and more people are saying these days. A year ago, when the BJP government stormed to power with a clear majority in the lower house, there was widespread expectation that the new government would bring an end to the so-called policy paralysis that had throttled the Manmohan Singh government. But now with every passing day expectations are rapidly subsiding due to policy logjam, especially in the Rajya Sabha. The economy is suffering and people are getting impatient.

One of the major factors that ebbed popularity of the new government is promulgation of the land acquisition ordinance. There is no doubt that some of the newly introduced norms deserve praise, but I think overall the decision was a hasty one. The government could have waited for some time to study the experience of implementation of the act; it could have introduced the new version of the act as a bill in the Parliament and referred it to a committee for appraisal. But it didn't do so.

In addition, we cannot ignore the ground reality. Land acquisition has always remained a highly sensitive issue, which in turn demands high level of transparency, particularly at least about aspects like compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement of farmers. So, the Centre has to lay its cards on the table and make its stand clear on interests of the farmers. It has to first make the land acquisition process acceptable, if not attractive, to farmers, to make it industry-friendly. Otherwise, Act or no Act, it will always remain politically difficult to take land from farmers, which may potentially lead to more Singur-like situations.

Labour laws present a similar dilemma. Any effort to reform labour laws, good or bad, immediately attracts opposition from the opposition parties and the labour unions. I'm not asserting that the government cannot err, but at the same time opposition should not be for opposition's sake only. Recently, the Labour ministry has sent three key proposals - involving child labour, EPF and employment at small factories - to the Cabinet and I'm wondering what will be the fate of these proposals and other key bills. Will the Cabinet, the PM, the floor managers in the Parliament be able to eke out some solutions, or the contradiction will kill the bills?

I invite your opinions.