A veiled threat?

If one of India’s most respected industrialists Rahul Bajaj, known for not mincing his words, says India Inc. is afraid of criticising the Narendra Modi government in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and two of his senior cabinet ministers, he should be taken seriously. He was only reiterating in his own characteristic style what the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier said — how a “toxic combination of deep distrust, pervasive fear” was “stifling economic activity and hence economic growth”. He too needs to be taken seriously. It is highly ridiculous for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to raise an alarm that criticising the government “can hurt national interest, if it gains traction”. Does she mean that the government is beyond criticism in a democratic set-up with a Constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression? Is that a veiled threat?

S K Choudhury

Bengaluru economy is more deep -rooted than anticipated and is not going to go away anytime soon.

Manufacturing activity has shown contraction in Q2, thereby becoming the prime factor behind this abysmal growth figure. The only silver lining in the figures released for the second quarter is that government consumption expenditure has risen significantly. But given the slowdown, government spending needs to go even higher.

When private spending is not picking up, it is the government that ought to spend higher to boost demand which will push growth in the manufacturing sector. Though higher fiscal deficit is a concern, the government needs to do a balancing act, that is, increase expenditure even at the cost of some rise in the fiscal deficit. The stimulus measures announced by the government over last few months would certainly bear fruit, but a quarter is too short a period to observe the changes.

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

Jabalpur

Inc. He has always been forthcoming with his views on key issues affecting the economy and the business environment in the country. So when he asked if the present government was open to criticism and that there was a sense of fear amongst entrepreneurs and businessmen, then it's really worth pondering over. It was heartening that the Home Minister acknowledged his concerns and promised that indeed if what he said was true then his government will work on the issue. It is really surprising that the Finance Minister came up with statement that Bajaj's comment can hurt national interests. Our economy grew at 4.5 per cent in last quarter of the present financial year, the slowest in last 26 quarters. This is proof that something is seriously wrong in the way economy is being managed by the present regime.

Yes, there could be some external factors that impact our economy but we can’t have an ostrich-like approach.

Bal Govind

Noida