WEEKEND LIGHTER: "I Do What I Do": Raghuram Rajan
WEEKEND
LIGHTER: “I Do What I Do”: Rajan
(September 9/10, 2017)
Section II Leisure: Say your prayers regularly
I
Cover Story
“I Do What I Do”: Rajan
Former RBI governor Dr Raghuram G
Rajan’s book “I do what I do: On Reform, Rhetoric and Resolve” released on
September 5, 2017 and Rajan’s speeches and
interactions following and preceding the book release, to be precise, from from
September 4, 2017 the day he came out to speak after a one year self-imposed
silence (claimed to be not to embarrass his successor Dr Urjit Patel while
settling down as governor!) are becoming food and fodder for a hungry media and
starved analysts. The euphoria is likely to last much longer than the interest
generated by two memoirs published in quick succession by his two illustrious
predecessors at Mint Road, namely Dr Duvvuri Subbarao and Dr Y V Reddy in that
order.
We will not attempt a review of
Rajan’s book at this stage for two reasons. One, the content of the book
comprise speeches he delivered and articles he wrote which, we have read only
very recently, except for explanatory notes prefixed and suffixed by the author
to explain the context and add clarity. Two, the interviews given by Rajan and
the reviews already published make another recap of the content of the book or
comments thereon redundant. We will restrict the scope of this article to
select observations by Dr Rajan himself about the book and comment on two or
three select questions he has/should have asked himself about his performance
as governor for which he has not been able to provide satisfactory answers.
Dr Raghuram Rajan, with his long teaching
experience and deep knowledge of the ins and outs of Indian financial sector,
has been using his excellent communication skills ever since he started taking
interest in India’s economic development. Viewed in this context, his new book
“I Do What I Do” which comes out after the one year’s self-imposed ‘silence’
(Rajan claims this silence was not to embarrass his successor when he settles
down as RBI governor!) will be more popular among economists, analysts and
policy makers than the memoirs his two immediate predecessors brought out in
quick succession in recent years.
“I Do What I Do” interprets events
during the three year tenure of the author’s stay at Mint Road by just adding
notes or explanations to what Dr Rajan has already spoken or written as RBI
governor.
Demonetization
The cautious observation about
short-term economic costs outweighing long-term benefits of demonetization now
being made public is a masterstroke. As the opinion was given ‘orally’, it is
always possible to play with the words like long term benefits and short term
losses. The present observation makes it abundantly clear that RBI was
associating with the groundwork for demonetization from February 2016. The present revelations can also expose Dr
Rajan to the allegation of having evaded the responsibility of not getting
himself involved in preparing RBI adequately to implement the ‘Note ban’, once
a decision was taken by GOI.
RBI’s capital and reserves
Rajan remained a mere spectator when
the central bank’s capital and reserves eroded to an all time low during his
tenure. Depending on an internal report which said RBI had “adequate reserves
for three years” he saw the transfer of entire surplus income of RBI to GOI
from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Result: The percentage of reserves to total assets
came down from a self-set target of 12 (which the Bank had almost touched in
2009) to 7.5 in 2015-16.
Parity of pensionary benefits for RBI retirees with GOI
His having shown pedestrian apathy to the
cause of parity with central government staff in retirement benefits for RBI
retirees, is intriguing, as, on record he was convinced about the genuineness
of the long-pending demand from the staff. On page 211 of the book, Rajan
laments:
"...On
the internal front, my biggest regret is that I could not solve a long-pending
matter that I inherited from my predecessors: securing for retired RBI staff
the same pension benefits that government employees enjoy, despite repeated
assurances from the government that the matter would be addressed. I hope the
government will do the right thing here..."
On his return to academia
As always, Rajan has
pre-empted his adversaries from reading between the lines. One of two examples
is about his exit on completion of his “sanctioned leave”. Now he blames the
absence of “offer on the table”, while everyone knows his one foot was all
through in Chicago!
Credit should go to Rajan
Rajan’s contribution
to sorting out some of the long-pending relationship issues between the
government and the RBI and expediting banking sector reforms will be remembered
in India with gratitude.
************************************
II
Leisure
Light in the funeral pire
Today (September
10), Mathrubhumi Vaaranthappathippu carried a full page article Rathi Narayanan
on Ramesh Korappath, who has, by choice, accepted a life time (24X7) occupation
serving humanity, intermediating between death and post-death "life".
You've guessed correctly. He is a post graduate in History and Economics and is
overseeing a crematorium "Iver Madom" on the banks of River Nila in
Palghat District. Iver Madom accepts maximum number of dead bodies, next only
to Banaras.
Rathi Narayanan has brought
out the approach to life and death, attitude to charity and service to humanity
and a philosophy that Ramesh nurtures and preaches.
Human beings like Ramesh
helps humanity survive.
M G Warrier
Say your prayers, regularly!
No, I have not been able
to practice this regularly. But, since my early childhood, I've seen my father
doing this.
Once he wakes up in the
morning, he used to sit in the bed for about a minute, touch the floor with his
right hand and say:
"Samudravasane Devi
Parvathasthanapandithe
Vishnupriye Namastubhyam
Paadasparsham Kshamaswa Me"
While going to bed, his
prayer, translated into English was:
Protect, me and my family
Let everything good happen
Protect us from
Poverty and dreaded
ailments (Mahaavyaadhi)...
Let all good things
happen..."
you will amused to know
the context I thought of sharing these thoughts:
I was reading an interview
with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in one of the "Onam Special"
magazines. A seasoned journalist who was asking questions touched God and
Astrology and asked specifically whether Pinarayi Vijayan had got the
horoscopes of his children prepared. The answer was revealing:
"You know, this is
the age of computer horoscopes... They are there... But so far no occasion came
to take them out and see..."
I thought, there's no harm
in being regular in saying our prayers, the content, of course will depend on
the individual’s attitude.
I may pray, "My SB
account balance should not go below the benchmark attracting fines"
and one of the Ambanis may
pray, "Please ensure, next year my position improves in the list of
billionaires"
I don't think anyone will
follow my father.
M G Warrier
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