Reforms initiated by the United Front government have not got their due

As we move to the real possibility of some kind of strategic planning in June, the effectiveness of coalition regimes becomes an interesting question. The late T S R Subramanian, cabinet secretary in the Deve Gowda/ I K Gujral United Front ministry, wrote an interesting book setting out the contours of reform during his tenure in the ministry. It is an impressive chronicle by any standard.

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Planning in a strategic sense was revived and agriculture was accorded priority after the thoughtless WTO agreements signed by the Narasimha Rao government. A special programme was designed to revive water deliveries and public sector investment in agriculture was revived, inducing private on farm revival. [Readmore]