EXTRA ORDINARY ISSUE Time to go, Sir Pritish Nandy

I don't believe the PM is a corrupt man as Team Anna claims. But like most Indians I think he is past his expiry date. His critics were saying this. Now his defenders are saying the same thing. There's nothing more, it seems, he can contribute to our political discourse. It's best someone more capable steps in who can better handle the affairs of State and control quick-fingered ministers from dipping into public funds for personal gain. 

    Of all the people I know, Singh suffers the most from Wilful Blindness. He sees what's happening around him and yet he is detached, pretends he knows nothing. Point out a wrongdoing to him and however bad it may be for India, his first reaction is to look away. He is convinced that what he does not see, does not exist. It can be crime or corruption, injustice or human rights violation, he can will anything away just by shutting his eyes. 
    While this may be wonderful for his conscience, I am not sure it's good for India. As everyone knows, I am no admirer of the Opposition. If it's possible to find a more effete bunch of bickering idiots, you will find them sitting on that side. But I don't grudge them that, as long as they sit there and scream their lungs out. What we really need in these difficult times are better people in Government to take India ahead. Tinkering around with minor policy changes can achieve nothing. What we need is more definitive action and zero tolerance towards crooks. 
    To begin with, Singh believes (unlike earlier PMs) that his job is to take only economic decisions. He sees himself as a Super Finance Minister; that's all. He is neither interested in Science nor Technology. Arts and Culture do not exist for him. He has never involved himself in Education or Medicare. Justice and Human Rights don't matter to him. Nor do issues of Environment or Public Health. He occasionally concerns himself with Foreign Policy but only to the extent that touches upon Trade and Commerce. In short, none of the real issues matter to him. So people with actual problems have stopped approaching him. 
    The joke is that the one area where Singh is focused is where everything's going wrong. One stupid decision after another has killed the economy. Reforms are stalled. Foreign investors have fled because of a series of incredibly foolish steps taken within a short span that have driven the rupee down from 44 to the dollar to 56. To get 
    11,000 crore in taxes from Vodafone, a case which the tax guys lost in the Supreme Court, the law was changed retrospectively and GAAR introduced. This has cost us dearly. Today the Government is borrowing 
    15,000 crore every week to meet expenditure. Cash strapped banks are borrowing 
    100,000 crore every day from the RBI. 3,000 crore is what equity investors have lost every day in the past six months. The economic costs are staggering compared to the tax amount the Government is pursuing. Not only have foreign investors fled, even Indian businessmen are relocating since no one feels secure in an environment where the Government and its agencies can harass anyone they want on the flimsiest grounds. By raping the rupee, they have also destroyed our savings, reduced our wages, and raised inflation to scary heights.
    And what is being done to correct this? Fuel prices are raised every few months. There are talks about more taxes. We who were once claiming to be a Super Power are on the verge of becoming Super Poor. But what's worse is the return of the Inspector Raj, harbinger of the dreaded Emergency. The officers who killed our economy have not been replaced. Instead, efforts are being made to bludgeon public protest. By trying to control social media and ban everything in sight, from cartoons in textbooks to films, music, art, books, public performance, internet sites the Government is damaging India's credibility every day. 
    Is this the legacy Manmohan Singh wants to leave behind? An economy in coma, a harassed citizenry, the media under siege, our savings gone, and India's fabulous growth story now a distant memory. 
    (Views expressed by columnists in Bombay 
Times are their own, and not that of the paper.)