Time magazine’s editor-at-large Ian Bremmer wrote a piece titled Modi Is India's Best Hope for Economic Reform in which he argues that despite some setbacks, Modi is the best bet to guide the Indian economy forward.
Even as the everybody and his uncle react to Aatish Taseer’s Time article, there’s another one which went under the radar.
While the BJP is condemning and the Opposition rejoicing over Time magazine ‘divider-in-chief’ article on PM Modi, there’s another article by Ian Bremmer from the same magazine which appears to have gone under the radar.
Time magazine’s editor-in-large Ian Bremmer wrote a piece titled Modi Is India's Best Hope for Economic Reform in which he argues that despite some economic setbacks, Modi is the best bet to guide the Indian economy forward.
“Modi has the instinct to dominate and the thin skin of other strongmen, but he also has a genuine track record in providing the kind of reform that developing India urgently needs,” writes @ianbremmer https://t.co/nYtWM1D4YJ
— TIME (@TIME) May 9, 2019
1. Praise for GST
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Calling his economic record ‘mixed’, the article goes on to praise PM Modi for enacting the GST which the article states ‘has streamlined an enormously complex system of state and federal tax collection, broadening the tax base and sharply reducing the amount of money lost to fraud’.
It calls GST a historic accomplishment in a country with so many development needs and also praised the infrastructure work done in the last five years.
2. On Modi's big infra push
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He writes: “Modi has directed unprecedented amounts of money toward the country’s seemingly endless need for new infrastructure. Construction of roads, highways, public transport and airports have sharply increased the country’s long-term economic potential. Although the process remains unfinished, the government has also brought electricity to remote villages that have never had it, a boon for economic potential, public safety and basic quality of life.”
3. Aadhaar - a boost for the formal economy
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It also hails Aadhaar noting that it could bring people into the formal economy and make the government more responsive to their needs. It also states that it could help the state cut waste and fraud and allows it to provide better services at a lower cost.
4. On Ayushman Bharat and other schemes
Praising Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health insurance scheme, he writes: “Health care reform could help half a billion poor people afford treatment for cancer and heart disease.”
It also notes the work done in the Ujjwala Yojana scheme and the Swacch Bharat program and hails Modi’s commitment to renewable energy.
The article notes that Modi ‘benefits’ form a lack of a creditable opposition.
The article ends up stating that despite hiccups, Modi ‘has a genuine track record in providing the kind of reform that developing India urgently needs’.
Read the full article here.
