Another day and yet another faux pas. The government seems to be having little trouble saying things and backtracking later. The latest in the series is the government's economic Advisor Dr Kaushik Basu saying that one can expect Big Bang Reforms only after elections in 2014 as the new government will have the requisite majority in the Parliament. Though embarassing, Basu was speaking the truth. But honesty and politics perhaps don't go hand in hand, do they? Once the principal opposition party BJP latched on to the statement, the government said that the economic advisor was "misquoted". How's that for an original excuse? If you take a close look at some of the economic reform legislation pending, be it Direct Taxes Code or the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or the pensions or insurance bills, one will realise why Basu was speaking the truth. They don't seem anywhere near the horizon when it comes to being passed by the Parliament. We will be lucky if we see DTC and GST through by 2014. Moreover, the present government isn't getting the support it needs from its allies to pass these legislations. So, why the denial? Will it help delude people? You bet it won't.
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