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I grew up in India in the 90s, saw first hand the transition from the disastrous socialism of the Nehru era to open markets, capitalism and deregulation. (The e

I grew up in India in the 90s, saw first hand the transition from the disastrous socialism of the Nehru era to open markets, capitalism and deregulation. (The end of "license raj".) It started with PV Narasimha Rao as PM and Manmohan Singh as his finance minister in the early 90s. Thankfully Singh himself had a fruitful tenure as PM later. All it took for India to take off was the shackles of govt control to come off. Sad to see that the lesson hasn't been learned and even today there is a strong strain of socialist reasoning calling for more govt control on markets. Concrete example: before deregulation one had to pull strings (e.g. have family or friends in the civil service) to get a phone to your house, then wait a few months after approval to actually get the wire to your house. That was also the era that there were two channels on TV, both state controlled (Doordarshan) that broadcast maybe 5-6 hrs per day.

ganeshkrishnan 4y ago
>both state controlled (Doordarshan) that broadcast maybe 5-6 hrs per day. We just had one channel DD1 It would start in the evening around 7 pm I think with this tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7JmGB9BRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7JmGB9BRA
softveda 4y ago
The license raj is still there for business, except maybe some sectors like tech startups. Yes there has been improvements in citizens life like mobile phones etc. But official harassment and bribery is as prevalent as before. Want to get a passport issued or renewed have to pay Rs 500 to the police. Just last week a mother and her kids died as they were turned away from a govt hospital as they could not show the Aadhar id card. Read the Indian news and this kind of cases as their every week.
- cuteboy19 4y ago
  Aadhar card actually lessens corruption. Before aadhar government aid could go to whoever. With aadhar the points where corruption can happen is drastically reduced (to 1).
- sbmthakur 4y ago
  I wonder which city this would be where you still need to bribe the police for getting a passport. I got mine in 2015 and the process was hassle-free. But this was in a tier-1 city, so my experience might be an exception.
  - valarauko 4y ago
    > I got mine in 2015 and the process was hassle-free. Funny story - I had my police verification the week of demonetization in 2016. After the cop was done, we both silently knew that even if he asked for something, there just wasn't cash available to give him. He looked heartbroken.

ganeshkrishnan 4y ago

>both state controlled (Doordarshan) that broadcast maybe 5-6 hrs per day. We just had one channel DD1 It would start in the evening around 7 pm I think with this tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7JmGB9BRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7JmGB9BRA

softveda 4y ago

The license raj is still there for business, except maybe some sectors like tech startups. Yes there has been improvements in citizens life like mobile phones etc. But official harassment and bribery is as prevalent as before. Want to get a passport issued or renewed have to pay Rs 500 to the police. Just last week a mother and her kids died as they were turned away from a govt hospital as they could not show the Aadhar id card. Read the Indian news and this kind of cases as their every week.

cuteboy19 4y ago
Aadhar card actually lessens corruption. Before aadhar government aid could go to whoever. With aadhar the points where corruption can happen is drastically reduced (to 1).
sbmthakur 4y ago
I wonder which city this would be where you still need to bribe the police for getting a passport. I got mine in 2015 and the process was hassle-free. But this was in a tier-1 city, so my experience might be an exception.
- valarauko 4y ago
  > I got mine in 2015 and the process was hassle-free. Funny story - I had my police verification the week of demonetization in 2016. After the cop was done, we both silently knew that even if he asked for something, there just wasn't cash available to give him. He looked heartbroken.