Goldman Sachs has a good paper on key priorities for India to achieve its potential. High on the list is to improve governance at various levels, including:
- Improving accountability of politicians
- Enhancing clarity in roles and responsibilities
- Organization of citizens to demand better services
The broad roadmap suggests more public-private partnerships, transparency with respect to information and decentralization. Incidentally, GS has also come up with its expectations from the budget and the list on governance looks pretty interesting.
I agree (as most developmental academics also now do) that innovation (driven by an egalitarian middle class) and internal governance/institutional reforms are the key for India’s growth.
I will put electoral reforms at the top of the governance reforms list though. To seriously contest and win a parliamentary seat in India, one needs to be corrupt and spend much more (5 Cr+) than the official limit (Rs 25 lakhs). This is one root cause where corruption begins and accountability ends.
Freedom Team of India offers a solution. Visit http://freedomteam.in to learn more and/or read the book “Breaking Free of Nehru: let’s unleash India” by Mr. Sanjeev Sabhlok.