‘1991 economic reforms marked paradigm shift’

Terming the economic reforms of 1991 by late Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and then finance minister Manmohan Singh as a “paradigm shift”, former Congress minister Jairam Ramesh has lauded efforts of the duo in his latest book To the Brink and Back released on Friday at the Mumbai Lit Fest. In a conversation on his book, Mr Ramesh unfolded the story of liberalisation and its impact on Indian society ahead of the economic reforms completing a quarter-of-a-century next year.

Lavishing praise on Rao and Mr Singh, Mr Ramesh noted that if the political leadership in power made genuine efforts to create a larger consensus, they could bring sea change. “If prime ministers behave as prime ministers and not as peacocks, you will then have change,” he said in a discussion followed by the book release.

Senior journalist Vir Sanghvi, James Crabtree, and Professor Nirmalya Kumar participated in the discussion.

Comparing the 1991 reforms with those in the 80s under the leadership of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Mr Ramesh said that the latter were like homeopathy treatment where efforts had been scattered. “I was part of both reforms. The 1991 changes were like drastic surgery, a paradigm shift. It brought fundamental changes in our economy,” he said.

Mr Ramesh said his aim was to let ‘Generation Now’ know the story of liberalisation. Heaping praise on Rao and Mr Singh for liberalising the Indian economy, Mr Ramesh narrated how reforms were pushed by the twosome. “Reforms were pushed by two most unlikely individuals — the jugalbandi of Rao and Mr Singh. Here is a prime minister who was famous for not taking decisions and in those 33 days, he proved to be one of the most remarkably decisive individuals. You had a finance minister whose broad background was leaning towards straight economy not market oriented. But the duo between June 21 and July 24, 1991, managed to completely transform India’s economic policy,” said Mr Ramesh.