Stop suspecting everyone:  Manmohan Singh’s advice to PM Modi

In an edit page article in The Hindu on Monday morning, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh urged the Prime Minister Modi to set aside his deep-rooted suspicion and ‘ nurse us back to a confident and mutually trustworthy society’.

Warning that the country faces the very real prospect of ‘stagflation’, the former Prime Minister states that urgent steps are need to restore consumption and revive private investment through ‘social policy’.

The economy reflects the state of society and is the result of social interactions, he writes and mentions that industrialists tell him of their fear of harassment by government, bankers say they are reluctant to sanction new loans and entrepreneurs are hesitant to put up fresh projects. Technology start-ups seem to be under ‘a shadow of constant surveillance and deep suspicion’.

“Public trust in independent institutions, such as the media, judiciary, regulatory authorities and investigative agencies, have been seriously eroded,” he writes and adds that this toxic combination of distrust, fear and a sense of helplessness in society is stifling economic activity and growth…,” writes Dr Manmohan Singh.

This, he suggests, is far more worrying than the following indicators that do suggest a slowdown:

· Nominal GDP Growth at a 15-year low

· Unemployment at a 45-year high

· Household consumption at a four-decade low

· Bad loans at an all time high and

· Growth in electricity generation at a 15 year low.

Blaming the Modi Government’s doctrine of ‘ Malafide unless proven otherwise’ style of governance and the suspicion of the government that every citizen, every industrialist and banker is out to defraud the Government, writes Manmohan Singh, has halted economic activity.

But will the PM and the Government heed his advice ? Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram feels it is unlikely. He tweeted on Monday morning:

Government seems knowledge proof and refuses to accept valid criticism and genuine advice.

I have asked my family to tweet the following on my behalf:

When Parliament opens today, @INCIndia must lead the Opposition to expose the utter mismanagement of the economy.

Which aspect of the economy is doing well?