LET'S GO THE ‘XI’ WAY

You go anywhere, talk to most and the debate almost always comes to CAB and NRC. And then at the root of everything, everyone agrees on one aspect – nothing is being done to either revive the economy or create employment opportunities. A recent survey shows that people still remain very hopeful that the Govt will come to this eventually but WHEN is the big question.

For someone who constantly talked about development and ‘vikas,’ we are currently sputtering like a man parched for water on the hot sands of a desert, with the sun beating down, not knowing how long he will last. Get the picture?

And in this midst of this disillusionment, we read the news about President Xi of China trying to battle his slowdown with a new strategy – he has put 12 by putting financial experts in provinces to manage risks and rebuild regional economies. Many of these experts are those who have struggled with banking and debt issues when the financial meltdown happened. There is a former deputy central bank governor and a deputy provincial governor who rose through the country’s biggest commercial banks, from Agricultural Bank of China to Bank of China. The vice mayor until this year led the central bank’s monetary policy department. The objective of putting these ex-bankers and regulators is to prevent and mitigate major financial risks.

President Xi, while maintaining his centralized control over the country, by appointing these experts is trying to get local governments to take the lead in managing their financial scares and cutting the cost of rescue with local intervention. The strategy is brilliant – put experts chosen by the central power to manage and mitigate risks at local level. Solving problems at local levels will eventually lead to the overall success at the center.

Why can’t we have a similar strategy in India? We currently have a FM who is learning on-the-job and is not an expert in the field of finance. Why can’t the Modi Govt put some of the best financial brains in charge like the way Xi did? We cannot, at this juncture have someone who is a beginner, especially when the economy is hurting.

Also, the big problem we have here is that power comes from just two people at the top; this needs to get decentralized because then irrespective of whom you put in charge, if they do not have the power, well, they are like a cat trying to catch a mouse with no claws.

This is indeed the best time to garner the best brains in the country, tap into them and use it to take the country ahead. Let us make use of some smart brains for progress within the country or else we only see them winning accolades as citizens of other countries.