Shift gear

When,recently,the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra decided that Mumbai taxi drivers were not Marathi-speaking enough...

When,recently,the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra decided that Mumbai taxi drivers were not Marathi-speaking enough and proposed changing that,most immediate reactions focused around how this was another attack on the idea of the multi-ethnic,accepting Indian city. Understandable; urbanisation will be the major defining social force of the coming decades. But that silly decision was also an entry into another conversation we should have: about how incomplete is Indias post-1991 relaxation of the licence raj. In particular,about how the states dealings with regular people and small entrepreneurs or the self-employed,like taxi drivers has not been freed up as much as has its dealings with corporate India. How interesting that it should be someone near synonymous with corporate India Mukesh Ambani,speaking at the launch of a book

co-published by The Indian Express to point that out.

It is certainly true that questions should be asked not only about the intent underlying the attempt to get Marathi-speaking taxiwallahs onto Mumbai streets but also about the methods that they assumed should be used. They did not consider,for example,making it easier for working drivers to try and learn another language. No,they went straight to the most statist

response: a rigid control over the number of permits issued,and strict restrictions on who would be eligible for those permits.

The fear is that this is representative of the response of too many ministries and governments,at both the state and the Central levels,to anything they might view as a problem. Control,regulate,license. Post-1991,an understanding may have built up that big enterprise,much-needed large-scale investment,will suffer if the states interaction with it is premised on the need to control. But that lesson has not been extended to how the state handles those a lot less large,whether as individual or as entrepreneur. In order for the gains of liberalisation to truly impact everyone in India,to deepen and broaden those gains,the ideological shift needs to be completed. A reformist mindset benefits us all. Our politics must make that point repeatedly. Only then will governments not reflexively believe they can control every Indian.