Modi backs repealing more British-era laws
JUMP IN INDIA’S BUSINESS EASE RANKING AND ‘TENACITY’ OF ECONOMY HAILED
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (10) said his government scrapped around 2,000 obsolete laws from the British era, including one that required industrialists to be sent to jail over minor issues, as he stressed the country’s ranking in the ease of doing business list improved after he took office in 2014.
Despite an “upheaval” in some developed economies, India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, is moving ahead with stability and tenacity, Modi said. He was speaking at a rally in Jamnagar, Gujarat, which goes to the polls later this year.
Modi was the chief minister of the state for three consecutive terms before becoming prime minister.
“There was a law stating that if you have a factory with a toilet, and if you did not wash it for six months and the government learned about it, you will be sent to jail for six months,” he said.
“The (outdated) laws continued from the time of the British rule. (On becoming prime minister) I roped in an entire team (for review of such legislations) because I did not want to send businesspersons behind bars (over trivial issues).
“We scrapped 2,000 such laws. I have to do more,” he added.
On his watch, Modi said India’s position in the World Bank’s annual ranking of countries for their ease of doing business jumped from 142 to 63 in five years.
“If we push hard, we will go below 50. Such a massive improvement is not confined only on paper; small businesses are helping improve things on the ground,” Modi, who was on a threeday visit to the state, told the rally.
He highlighted the performance of the Indian economy while the UK and the US, among others, are reeling from high inflation rates.
“There is an upheaval in the world economy. The Indian economy is the only one which is going ahead with stability and tenacity,” the prime minister said. India, which ranked 10th in 2014 in terms of its economic size in the world, was fifth now, he added.
Modi also recalled how the late Maharaja Digvijay Singh, the erstwhile king of Jamnagar, helped Polish refugees during the Second World War.
“Even today India continues to benefit from the deep relationship that Maharaja Digvijay Singh forged with the people of Poland during the Second World War through his work.
“When Indian students were stranded in Ukraine (after war broke out in February 2022), thousands of students were to be rescued.
“The crisis was huge, but we managed to bring them out (of Ukraine) because of the relations we developed (with Poland). The help provided by Poland (in evacuating Indian students) was reminiscent of the kind nature displayed by (late Jamnagar ruler) Digvijay Singh,” Modi said.