What India can learn from China: Dictatorship, democracy and the road not taken

The Indian economy has grown fast and poverty has reduced considerably since the “opening up” of the economy and the International Monetary Fund’s bailout in 1991.

Could India have done better? More importantly, should it do better? These were questions Manmohan Singh posed to me when I joined the Planning Commission in 2009.

I was surprised by his invitation to become a member of the Planning Commission and asked him if he might have made a mistake. I pointed out that I was not an economist, nor an academic and I had no experience of working in government – qualifications which seemed necessary for a country’s apex policy-making body.

On the contrary that was why he wanted me, he said. The country already had eminent economists in the Planning Commission and other advisory roles. Moreover, he himself was considered a good economist, he admitted shyly. Yet, the country’s economic policies were failing to create enough employment though its gross domestic product was increasing fast.

My perch in India’s governance cockpit gave me a perspective of India’s complex socio-economic system. I had been a consultant to organisations in many countries on how they could accelerate their learning to reach their aspirational goals.

The special task the prime minister assigned to me required...

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