You go on increasing administrative prices and withdrawing subsidies; that is the easiest way of bridging gap, but that is not expertise

Once an Englishman, who happened to be in a Press Club for some function, an academic, commented to me about the magnetic effect of liberalization process going on in India during the P V Narasimha Rao regime. The gentleman was commenting about the administration’s success in bridging budget deficit so nicely.

True to my self, I bluntly asked him a question: “Is there any difficulty in bridging the deficit by going on increasing the administrative prices of commodities and at the same time withdrawing subsidies”. The gentleman was dumbfounded.

I was not expressing any ideological hiatus, for my ideology, if it is one, is co-existence of quick and efficient growth, at the same time taking care of ordinary people, whose income is much less.

I always say Indian capitalist system that has been wafted in has not cared to introduce the welfare measures introduced in copy-book capitalist countries.

No doubt, they are now finding it difficult to distribute the largesse of welfare measures as in the past. And there is considerable resentment in those countries. We have not even introduced the same and we are boisterous about the success.

What I mean to say is: Not much of economic expertise, least of all the wisdom of Dr Manmohan Singh or Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalliah, is essential if the fuel companies are given untrammeled powers to hike prices saying international prices are soaring.

This is unilateral, for the consumer does not know how the companies manage their financial affairs. Mismanagement costs are not accounted for. The easiest thing is to raise prices. There are many more taxes and levies on petrol and diesel, over which the people have no control.

Efficiency system calls for a set-up which minimizes the impact on common man. You have to think about streamlining and reducing other levies on fuel.

You speak about bringing down food prices inflation, but you simply think that the system, that is the common people would absorb hike in prices in course of time. But there is a limit to this.