Suppressing criticism is a sure fire recipe for policy mistakes, says Raghuram Rajan
New Delhi: Suppressing criticism is a "sure fire recipe" for policy mistakes, cautioned former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in a hard-hitting blog arguing that people in authority should tolerate criticism.
Rajan also said it is only criticism that prompts government to take period policy course correction.
"If every critic gets a phone call from a government functionary asking them to back off, or gets targeted by the ruling party's troll army, many will tone down their criticism. The government will then live in a pleasant make-believe environment, until the harsh truth can no longer be denied," Rajan said while recalling the achievements of noted jurist and doyen of liberalism in India Nani Palkhivala.
People in the authority, he emphasised, have to tolerate criticism.
"Undoubtedly, some of the criticism, including in the press, is ill-informed, motivated, and descends into ad-hominem personal attacks. I have certainly had my share of those in past jobs. However, suppressing criticism is a sure fire recipe for policy mistakes," he said.
Rajan, who is currently a professor of finance at University of Chicago, said constant criticism allows period course correction to policy.
"Governments that suppress public criticism do themselves a gross disservice," he added.
Rajan's observations come in the backdrop of the Modi government removing Rathin Roy and Shamika Ravi from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister as they were critical of the government's policies.
Shamika Ravi, the director of research at Brookings India, and Rathin Roy, the director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, had questioned the government's decision to borrow funds from overseas markets through sale of sovereign bonds.
Rajan, too, earlier cautioned the government about the consequences of raising funds through overseas sovereign bonds.
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India bans sugar exports till Sept 30
New Delhi (PTI): India has banned the export of sugar till September 30 this year, according to a government notification.
The notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on May 13 said this order does not apply to sugar being exported to the European Union and the US under the tariff rate quota scheme.
The order is also not applicable to the shipments under the advance authorisation scheme, government-to-government exports and consignments already in the physical export pipeline.
"The export policy of Sugar (Raw Sugar, White Sugar and Refined Sugar)... is amended from 'Restricted' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect till September 30, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the DGFT said.
