#GDPGrowth : Trust between the Voter and Government has started to pay

India’s GDP had been sliding for the last 5 quarters. India's GDP growth rate for the second quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal stood at 6.3%. (The GDP growth for the corresponding quarter last year stood at 7.5%). The previous quarter's (April- June) growth rate at 5.7% was at a 3 - year low.

 

Voter’s and businessmen’s trust in the Demonetisation and GST and in turn trust in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government are the factors behind the growth.

It is a fact that Demonetisation and GST did cause unemployment and discomfort to the citizens as well as the corporate. They had a choice to the crib but they didn’t and both stood by the government, suffered and worked hard to make both the milestone decision of the government a success.

William M Isaac, in his article “Too Big to trust” (Forbes, 21 July 2010) wrote: "Trust"--confidence in the honesty, reliability and fairness of people and things--is essential to democracy, a free market economy and the financial system. The breach of trust in recent years by our government and major financial institutions has been enormously damaging on many levels.

While William Isaac was writing in the context of American government it is true about any government and more so in the Indian context. Amount of corruption one suffered during Sonia Gandhi & Congress-led UPA was mind-boggling. There was not a single department which was untouched by the corruption involving the highest and biggest names in the government of the day.

From zero trust in the government to rebuild the trust, almost blind trust in the government has been a huge achievement by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One must not forget that under Raghuram Rajan even RBI was losing its focus and trust in itself, and government of the day had to manage that also.

When the government implemented Demonetisation there was a section of Economist who expected a civil unrest in the country (and a section of politicians did attempt to create one). But people of this country are smart and they could see the benefits of the same and stood by the government. One must note that a Demonetisation call under UPA would have surely led to unrest in the country because of the lack of trust among the citizens in the Sonia Gandhi led government.

Noah Smith in his article, “Mathematical theories didn't predict the Great Recession. Research grounded in data should hold up better”, (Bloomberg March 2017) sums up the failures of an economist in following words “In the years since the crisis, a popular narrative has sprung up about why economists have been getting so many big things wrong. It goes something like this: Economists are obsessed with theory. Entranced by the beauty of elegant constructs, they’re disconnected from the way the world really works.”

The beauty of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government is that it is connected to the world/ground not only through government machinery alone but also through the party and affiliated organisations.

William M Issac concluded his article “Too Big to trust” saying, “We need to elect people to Congress we can trust to put the government's fiscal house in order and bring proper regulation to the financial sector, both of which are critical to getting the economy going again and restoring our faith in government and the American dream.”

Indians definitely understand the same and voted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power with absolute majority. Their trust in government is paying off. One must remember the common citizen of India doesn’t go thru the reports and rankings of different international organisations but goes by the experience. (Although, international organisations do factor in, trust in the government by the citizens in their reports).

This experience is not of an individual but of the experience of community, society as a whole. This experience helps him build trust.

Trust is the factor for the long-term growth of economics. India works on the basis of trust, which is the core of Integral Humanism. Nehruvian economics borrowed from the Communists can only throw scams, not development. While Integral Humanism builds trust. It is Integral Humanism that can bring schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Loan Yojana to name a few.is based on the intent of government, displayed through various programs, which are rooted in Integral Humanism. The growth based on Integral Humanism is clean growth, uncorrupted growth hence it is sustainable growth.