Thread by @Raja_Sw

Strategy needs nuance and due diligence.
Communication needs absolute clarity.
Execution needs clinical efficiency.

Trial and error is an oft-used, but usually poor, and often very expensive, excuse.

It's a sign of incompetence, more than anything else.

In extremely complex situations (where the alternative is worse), or in low-impact ones, it could be considered.

Otherwise, no.

Before Demo, surely Modi knew 86% of the country's currency would be demonetised?
86%!
And even IT authorities had said barely 6% of seized undisclosed income comes from cash.
Didn't that ring any alarm bells at all?
What due diligence did the govt do?
Did they do any at all?

Remember the no. of notifications and clarifications after Demo?
Happening daily.
Sometimes multiple times daily.
Remember how ATM machines weren't even ready for the new notes?
Execution is about clinical efficiency.
Demo: from strategy to communicaton to execution - disaster.

GST : same story.
It's a no-brainer that the biggest stakeholders in transition to GST were the users of the new GST system.
Businesses, big & MSME.
Yet, govt & the IT folks (Infy?) neglected MSME.
Inputs from CAs & big biz (which has staff/resources).

Force GST system on MSME.

Modi, as usual, made a mega spectacle of GST.
One Nation One Tax, midnight speech, and what not.

In the early days, problems were passed off as "teething" problems.
Almost 3 yrs now, many MSMEs are STILL complaining.
State Govts lost a fair share of federalism too.
Disaster.

Many say that GST was a good idea, even if the implementation could've been better.

I disagree.

I think GST takes away a lot from federalism, which is at the core of India's structure.

In fact Modi himself opposed GST when he was CM - for precisely this reason.

I said earlier today, with every policy, always ask "who benefits, who loses"?
So who benefits most from GST, as implemented now?
Central Govt, no?
Much more power, even over the States, than it had.

As a citizen, yr influence/power keeps decreasing as the frame of reference gets larger.
You have more influence in your RWA than in your ward.
And more in your ward than in yr state.
When your state relinquishes power to the Centre, in a sense, you are relinquishing this power.

Post-GST, states have very little room to raise revenue on their own. Only a few items left to states now.
Decisions are taken in GST council - the chairperson is the FM. So Central Govt is the boss here too.
Besides, Centre hasn't cleared GST arrears yet.
So much for federalism.

It hurts to see states begging the Centre to release funds that it owes them, and is their right to receive.
You can question governance at state-level, but that's btwn the people of that state and the state govt. Centre has no role to play in this. It just has to clear its dues.

The day-to-day life of a person is most affected by LOCAL governance. Municipality, panchayat, ward councillor, state govt.
It's easier for a person to hold these levels accountable than the Central Govt.
These levels need funding to deliver services.
But Centre hoards the funds.

I've said this before.
We need an inverted structure.
Instead of Centre collecting taxes and then allocating a portion to states (thus enjoying power), funds shd be collected by states first.
Centre shd place its bottom-up reqt, be scrutinised - and beg states for funds. :-)

States, after ensuring they've accounted for all their own needs (education, healthcare, housing etc), can decide how much they can spare for the Centre.
If we adopt this approach, we won't see Central Vista like indulgences.
Today Centre collects too much - hence wastes too.