We are what we are !!

 Indian Central Govt. successfully pushed  3 Farm bills through both the Houses of Parliament last week. Since the ruling NDA led by BJP has a majority in the lower house i.e Lok Sabha the passage of these bills happened without any hiccup there. But when the same bills had to be passed by the higher house i.e Rajya Sabha, where NDA has a thin majority, pandemonium reigned and all hell broke loose. But the Chairman of the house went by voice vote amidst allegations that he chose to ignore the call for division of the house. Now the opposition is upset not by the farm bills per see but the way it was carried by the Chairman by the Upper house by not allowing them to stall this reform in the garb of discussions et al. Several Agricultural Commissions and Committees incl the Sen Committee and Dr.Swaminathan Comittee over the last 30 years, have strongly suggested on this unshackling of Agri markets across the country. This reform is long overdue. Even Congress Govt. wanted to imp...

 Import Trade wall or barriers are not new to India. The country had very steep walls in terms of Tariffs, licensing ,quotas etc. all in the name of safeguarding the domestic industry. When the country gained independence, many of the industries were either nascent or anemic and in order to restore their health, Central Govt had no option but to erect some import restrictions so that local industries in the economy are nurtured. This grooming of domestic industry with level playing field took a new turn in the late 1960s and 1970s with widespread nationalisation of private enterprises, ushering in an era of erratic socialism all in the name of protecting the citizens from private profiteering. This concept led to erecting walls within the country between the commanding heights of Govt. undertakings and the Private enterprises. The private sector was neglected and was left to fend for itself and scaling up an enterprise became a uphill challenge for private sector. Inorder to protec...