Delhi policies will lead to chaos: Masani

Summary

This Free Press Journal report covers M. R. Masani’s address to the Rotary Club of Bombay on the political and economic situation following the recent parliamentary elections. Masani warned that the high expectations raised by the Indira Gandhi government could turn into public disappointment and anger within a few years, potentially producing violent disorder and chaos unless citizens were educated in democratic values and the facts of economic life.

Key points

• M. R. Masani warned that Delhi’s policies could ultimately produce chaos.
• He associated the post-election political crisis with excessive public expectations of the Indira Gandhi government.
• He urged businesspeople and intellectuals to provide leadership to poor and illiterate citizens.
• He identified restoring law and order and strengthening discipline in national life as the government’s first task.
• He called for removing the economy from the economic policies pursued in Delhi over the previous twenty years.
• The article presents Masani’s remarks as a critique of governance and economic policy rather than as a detailed policy programme.