MUMBAI, Dec 7: Making a strong case for a correct balance between the executive, legislature and judiciary, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India cannot achieve sustainable growth unless powers of the executive to govern are restored.
“Governance cannot be taken away from executive. Parliament must make laws to support executive decisions. More so, judicial institutions cannot take over governance. We have to rediscover balance among the institutions and we have to reassert balance between reform, development and inclusiveness,” he said while addressing the ET Awards function.
The minister regretted that the power balance in India has swung from the executive as well as the legislature “and the judiciary has taken the upper hand.”
Chidambaram said countries that have struck the right balance between the three institutions were moving forward smoothly.
Governing India, he added, “cannot be done under one model. Governing India is a complex task and that complex task can only be done by elected representatives.
“They may govern India badly, they may govern India well, but they will govern. If they govern India badly, the people will throw them out. If they govern India well, people would reward them.”
Indians, Chidambaram said, will have a chance to choose the path they want to follow.
“That chance comes to us every five years, sometimes sooner. The collective wisdom of people will decide on which path they want to travel,” he said, referring to the general elections next year.
The minister said the country needed new game-changers to promote growth, which has slowed in the past few years.
The new game-changers, Chidambaram added, would be the Direct Taxes Code, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Aadhaar and Direct Benefit Transfer, among others.
In a veiled attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Chidambaram said, “GST is acknowledged as a game-changer, even though there are reservations from some states and blind opposition on part of one state.” (PTI)
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