• Invest
    Investment Suite
    Stocks
    Mutual Funds
    Future and Options
    IPO
    Exchange Traded Funds
    Commodity
    Stockcase (Stock Baskets)
    Currency
    Non Convertible Debentures
    Sovereign Gold Bond
    Exclusive
    NRI Account
    Private Client Group
    Features
    SipIt
    MTF
    Investment Suite
    Exclusive
    Features
  • Platform
    Product Suite
    Kotak Neo App & Web
    Nest Trading Terminal
    NEO Trade APIs
    Features and Tools
    MTF
    Securities Accepted as Collateral
    Margin Requirements
    Payoff Analyzer
    Calculators
    SIP Calculator
    Lumpsum Calculator
    Brokerage Calculator
    Margin Calculator
    MTF Calculator
    All Calculators
    Product Suite
    Features and Tools
    Calculators
  • Pricing
  • Research
    Research Calls
    Long Term calls
    Short Term calls
    Intraday calls
    Derivatives calls
    Pick of the week
    Top Monthly Picks
    Research Reports
    Fundamental Research Report
    Technical Research Report
    Derivative Research Report
    Research Calls
    Research Reports
  • Market
    Stocks
    Market Movers
    Large Cap
    Mid Cap
    Small Cap
    Indices
    Nifty 50
    Bank Nifty
    FinNifty
    Nifty Midcap India
    VIX
    All Indian Indices
    Mutual Funds
    SBI Mutual Funds
    HDFC Mutual Funds
    Axis Mutual Funds
    ICICI Prudential Mutual Funds
    Nippon India Mutual Funds
    All AMC's
    IPO
    Upcoming IPO
    Current IPO
    Closed IPO
    Recently Listed IPO
    Stocks
    Indices
    Mutual Funds
    IPO
  • Learn
    Resource
    Market Ready
    Kotak Insights
    Infographic
    Podcast
    Webinars
    Youtube Channel
    Quarterly Results
    Investing Guide
    Demat Account
    Trading Account
    Share Market
    Intraday Trading
    IPO
    Mutual Funds
    Commodities
    Currency
    Futures & Options
    Derivatives
    Margin Trading
    Events
    Budget 2024
    Muhurat Trading
    Share Market Holiday
    Market Outlook 2024
    Resource
    Investing Guide
    Events
  • Partner
    Business Associates
    Fund Expert
    Kotak Connect Plus
    Startup connect
  • Support
    FAQs
    Circulars
    Bulletins
    Contact Us
    Forms Download
    Get your Statement

Beyond Alliteration

  •  4m
  • 0
  • 20 Apr 2023

Anyone can string together alliterative words, but are they a substitute for serious thought and coherent action? Real economics involves choices, or every day would be Christmas, writes T N Ninan

Narendra Modi is back at his alliterative best (or worst). He told the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) early this month about five I’s: Intent, Inclusion, Investment, Infrastructure and Innovation. And on Thursday he told the Indian Chamber of Commerce about the three P’s: People, Planet, Profits. This harks back to the three D’s (Democracy, Demography, Demand) and five T’s (Talent, Tradition, Tourism, Trade and Technology) of the early Modi years. We also had, somewhat embarrassingly in the current context, INCH to MILES: India-China towards a Millennium of Exceptional Synergy.

Other elements of the current approach to economic revival also hark back to earlier promises. It should be not command and control but plug and play, Mr Modi says. That reminds one of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. Should one believe in such wordplay, given the experience so far? The political acronyms provoke a laugh (RSVP for Rahul, Sonia, Vadra and Priyanka!), but the rest stand in danger of getting reduced to a yawn. Anyone can string together a few alliterative words, but are they a substitute for serious thought? And do they make for a strategy or plan for coherent action? Can one really make sense of the five I’s and five T’s?

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has become expert at translating such slogans into power-point presentations. One package of slides was presented as a strategy for double-digit economic growth, and we know where that has led. It is equally embarrassing to recall another acronym, EPI (Every Person is Important), while looking at the travails of millions of migrant labourers. Where did slogan translate into policy or action? But to be fair and present the positives as well, the Modi government has delivered in different ways on the three S’s (Speed, Skill and Scale), through highway construction, bank outreach and other programmes.

To be sure, some of the acronyms are simply evocative ways of describing government programmes, like Usttad for Upgrading Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development, or Uday (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana). Unfortunately, discom debt is reported to be at a peak, and one doesn’t know about Usttad. The other problem with proliferating acronyms and alliterations is that they make recall difficult, and therefore lose meaning as guides to thought and action. Anyone remember SMART, for instance? It apparently stands for a “Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive, Techno savvy and Trained” police force!

There is no limit to the things that an ambitious government wants to achieve, but resources are finite. Real economics therefore involves choices. Or every day would be Christmas, with all the goodies we wish for under the tree. So how does one prioritise, or choose when there is a conflict implicit in two goals (eg. manufacturing and pollution control)? People, Planet and Profits sounds appropriate just now, but if providing for people and the planet eats into profits, can we also ask for ambitious investment? The prime minister spoke on Thursday of building into global supply chains, but so far that has yielded precedence to the protection of local kirana stores. It is also made more difficult by rising tariffs, designed to achieve Make in India. And, if Every Person is Important while unemployment soars, should giving meaning to that slogan force monetary and fiscal policy to make room?

In short, one needs a coherent worldview for a given context, and clearly stated priorities that fit into it like a jigsaw. If the resources available are x per cent of GDP, how should they be allocated between defence, health and education, and physical infrastructure? Should direct benefit transfers take precedence over investment for growth? If resources are shrinking along with the economy, should one indulge in expansive talk, or hunker down as the defence brass are at last doing? No more dream-world talk, for instance, of a third aircraft carrier. We need to go further down this road. How about giving up on expressway projects that cost about Rs 100 crore per kilometre, and build hospitals instead at between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore per bed? Alliteration does not obviate such choices.

Did you enjoy this article?

0 people liked this article.

What could we have done to make this article better?

Read Full Article >
Enjoy Zero brokerage on ALL Intraday Trades
+91 -

personImage
Enjoy Zero brokerage on ALL Intraday Trades
+91 -