Democratizing Policy Action in India

Over the years, the Indian state has responded to changing domestic and international circumstances through reforms, the most notable being the liberalization measures of 1991. The substratum for reforms was steadily built using a reservoir of knowledge drawn from ancient texts, the colonial state, and the Indian constitution, which eventually shaped the contours of public policy. Since independence, various governments have constituted and reconstituted India through reforms. As a developing country, in a world riddled with cascading crises ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change, India needs a smart mix of innovative reforms for the future. Public policy has a critical role to play in shaping this new vision of a human economy—to bequest the “India way” of reforms for people and the planet. The idea of growth and development in India today is human-centric and it resonates with the global discourse on sustainable development and transitions for a resilient future. Continued policy reforms are needed to ensure a thriving human economy and to close opportunity gaps that lead to social fragmentation. A human economy is one in which the thoughts, actions, and lives of people are valued above everything else. When people thrive and are able to live up to their full potential as workers, creators, and engaged citizens, the economy and society benefit greatly. Against a backdrop of the emerging and persistent challenges the world is currently facing, reforms to achieve resilient growth go beyond mere structural transformation. They call for using a multi-level and multi-stakeholder approach to build an environment that enables the transition to an economy that is human-centric, socially inclusive, and environment friendly. To live up to this ideal, India needs reforms that include significant investments in infrastructure, sustainability, and education. So what should today’s citizens expect from policy reforms in India? The mantra for today’s rapidly developing India is “Everyone’s Partnership, Everyone’s Prosperity, and Everyone’s Trust.” This is a call to action for the citizenry to shape future reforms. It is the active democratization of the policy space in India, a process that began much before the rise of human economy.