Emergency darkest phase; dictatorship not possible now, says Arun Jaitley
San Francisco: It is not possible today for the world's largest democracy to become 'dictatorial', Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said, while terming the Emergency imposed by the then Congress government in 1975 as the darkest phase of independent India.
Jaitley said Emergency was a phase, which showed that a democracy can be converted into a dictatorship by using some provisions of the Constitution and all the major institutions like bureaucracy, police, media and judiciary can collapse.
"I think, today the global awareness is in favour of the democracy and the kind of sanctions which can be imposed on a dictatorship itself can be a deterrent.”
"I think, the media is also strong, the polity is strong and the global institutions are also strong. The world would not accept the world's largest democracy becoming dictatorial today," Jaitley said in an interview on Wednesday.
A major controversy broke out recently after BJP patriarch L K Advani expressed concerns that "forces that can crush democracy are stronger" now and that Emergency-like situation could emerge again. The comments were seen by the Congress as being aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Aam Aadmi Party felt it was the "first indictment" of Modi's politics.
Other opposition parties also said that Advani's comments should be taken seriously.
Without referring to Advani's comments, Jaitley said the media censorship is not possible today "because of the technology itself".
"You have news travelling through the Internet and the Internet can't be censored," Jaitley said.
Jaitley said that the polity was strong even during the Emergency, but "the media had by and large caved in".
Recalling his own experiences from the Emergency days, Jaitley said he hopes that "the judiciary today is far more independent and does not cave in to any dictatorial tendencies as it caved in during emergency".
"But the fact that detentions are no longer possible without a basis, media censorship is no longer possible and hopefully judiciary would be far more independent, it would not be possible for anybody to convert a democracy into a dictatorship without these three limbs," he said.
To a question on the Opposition planning to disrupt the Monsoon Session of Parliament on the Lalit Modi issue, Jaitley said Parliament is meant to discuss and not to disrupt business.
The Finance Minister also said that the reforms can even take place outside Parliament, but there are also legislative reforms for which Parliament must function.
On the much-needed recapitalisation of public sector banks, Jaitley said the government is working on it.
"Both this year and next, we intend to make an investment. I agree with that viewpoint (that the amount mentioned in the annual budget for recapitalisation is too less). It has to be increased."
Asked to elaborate on his earlier comments that the next two-three years were going to be critical for the Indian economy, Jaitley said: "The reform process has to continue. We are going to have our hands full.
"...this is the time when India has to cross 8 per cent and get into higher growth league...this is to be done in an environment where there is a global challenge. The low oil prices gave us a great opportunity because that is transfer of wealth from producing nations to the consuming nations. And therefore we can use the opportunity created by that to our advantage.
"So the money saved from there can easily go into the social sector and infrastructure creation."
Asked about reforms other than land, labour and taxes, the Finance Minister said there are a large number of structural reforms that are required, for instance in public procurement, bankruptcy law, resolution of disputes in relation to public contracts and for easing business processes.
Besides, reforms are also needed for higher investment in infrastructure, even higher investments in irrigation and to provide facilities similar to urban areas in rural parts of the country. "I think there is no end to reforms," he said.
The Finance Minister also said there are some individual investor concerns, which were important and the concerned departments will have to look into them.
"There is also a suggestion that was made in the Silicon Valley that you must have a permanent consultation mechanism. I am going to suggest to my colleagues in the government that we must find an appropriate platform for that consultation," he said.
On labour reforms, Jaitley said the Centre has made some changes while some states have also taken the lead and the government is agreeable to those proposals.
On land reforms, he said: "Land of course is required whenever an investor comes in. Even without the land bill, I think purchase of land from farmers at good rates is an option, which is always open.”
"And if the land bill is passed, land for industrial corridors and rural infrastructure would also be available."
Terming his US visit as "extremely productive", Jaitley said, "I have spent seven days in all - two days each in New York and Washington DC and three days in San Francisco – and my interactions has been with several categories of persons. I have had meetings with the senior members of the US administration.”
"I met with a lot of industries and investors one-on-one in all of these places. I have had meetings with two important think tanks, both at New York and Washington. I had the opportunity to speak at Columbia University in New York and Stanford University in California with the academics.”
"I have addressed meetings of the Overseas Friends of the BJP and at all these places. I have had series of meetings with businesses and investors... and had more than 20 speaking assignments in seven days.”
"It has been a very productive and very educative for me. I utilised this as an opportunity to market to these people to convey to the general body of investors and others the India growth story.”
Jaitley also said three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh -- have done very well in agriculture. While Madhya Pradesh is riding on the strength of agriculture, the other two states have also established industrial bases.
"India has now changed and the exasperation in the last decade was why we are not growing and why we are not reforming. Indecisiveness, policy paralysis, all these phrases were being used because the country knew of its potential and the fact that it was being held back," he said.
Jaitley said the last general elections were fought entirely on governance issues.
"Therefore the restlessness of the people and within the government that we deliver fast is now being recognised. And it is for this reason that we have now become a highly aspirational society," he said.
Talking about his takeaways from the US trip, Jaitley said the investors here expect a stable policy regime.
"Investors expect to work under a particular environment and they have a particular dislike to any form of unpredictability.”
"The second important message I got, particularly from this part in the US, is that in whichever area we continue to restrain the energy of the Indian people, we would not be helping the country. There is a huge amount of entrepreneurship that is inbuilt in India. And that entrepreneur must be allowed to be unleashed.”
"The third very important point is how technology is going to create jobs. It is impossible for any society to defy technology. The rapid pace at which reforms can be itself implemented is through the use of technology," he said.
The Finance Minister further said that the "other loud and clear message that I get from the investing community is that investors have a choice".
"They (investors) are the choosers. My regime has to be competitive with others destinations and also time is of the essence in that decisions. An investor expects a total amount of transparency he is investing. Corruption adds to cost, instability to the investment.”
"They expect a rate of taxation that is globally competitive...the time taken between investors deciding to invest in India and the actual launch of the project has to be hugely shortened. This gap can't be in years. Therefore the FIPB clearances, if necessary, the availability of land for projects if necessary, clearance by environmental authority, all need to be fast," he said.
On black money, Jaitley said the government has taken a number of steps to compress the flow of black money.
"The most important step is to weed out the root causes. The timeframe of the compliance window will be announced very shortly. We are in the process of consultation (on the time frame)," he said.
