00:00 Namaste, our special guest today is special for you too.
00:06 Why? Because his talks and his things directly relate to you, your pocket and your future.
00:16 We have got the opportunity to talk to him because his book has been released, Breaking the Mold.
00:24 In which we are discussing such things, you are discussing, the writer of that book,
00:32 which is related to your future, our children, our youth and our parents.
00:40 The writers of the book are Raghuram Rajan ji and Rohit Lamba ji. Let's talk to them.
00:45 Welcome sir. Thank you.
00:49 The first question is, it is being discussed continuously that in the next one year, two years,
00:55 the economy will be of 5 trillion and by 2047, India will become a developed country.
01:02 What is the truth in this?
01:04 In one year, 5 trillion cannot be made.
01:07 If you do mathematics, the rate of production will be 6% to 14-15% in one year.
01:21 That cannot be. So these numbers, people sometimes spread like this, but they have no meaning.
01:30 If you say that we want to become a developed country in 2047, then we have to work, do homework.
01:41 The homework is how to increase the rate of production because 6% will not work.
01:48 If we work on 6% or even 7%, let's say we work on 7%, then it is very difficult to go to 7% for 24 years.
02:05 But if we do that, we will only reach $10,000 per capita income.
02:14 That is even lower than China in today's time.
02:19 So we have to increase the rate of production a lot if we want to reach South Korea or America's per capita income.
02:29 So what should we do to increase the rate of production?
02:33 So we write in this book, which is also translated into Hindi, that the most important thing is to increase our human capital.
02:49 How to increase it?
02:52 First, we have to focus on education. Second, we have to focus on health care.
03:02 And when we say education, we have to focus on every aspect.
03:07 So how to increase primary education?
03:12 Because students in 5th grade are not able to do 2nd grade math problems.
03:22 50% students are not able to do it.
03:25 So how to increase their learning?
03:28 Because if they cannot do 2nd grade math, then what will they do when they graduate?
03:36 Because in every job, these skills are needed.
03:41 So we make a plan in the book, how to strengthen all these things, education, health care, nutrition.
03:51 35% of children suffer from malnutrition.
03:58 How to increase their nutrition?
04:01 We have to do this in mission mode. Because if 35% children suffer from malnutrition, then in 20 years, 35% of the workforce...
04:17 There is a report by the Union Trust, which says that by 2050, around 35 crore people in India will be above the age of 60.
04:28 So our productivity will decrease.
04:33 That is why you are talking about a plan.
04:36 Yes, we are saying that we have to become rich, we have to become a prosperous country before we become an old country.
04:45 And the demographic dividend that you are talking about, will be reduced by 2050.
05:02 So we have to work a lot from today onwards. Because we have to give skills to every youth generation.
05:14 So that they get good jobs and we can become a prosperous country with that.
05:24 So we have to focus on them from today.
05:27 And we write in the book how to focus.
05:32 One question that comes up, you are saying that the path that we take is through education and health care.
05:39 How far will this path take us? Will it take us to the developed India?
05:46 We are saying that we have to follow this path if we think about manufacturing or services.
06:00 But there is a change in the environment.
06:06 Nowadays, we can reach straight to America or Europe by doing services.
06:14 Like in the pandemic, the consultant who was sitting in Denver was working for a Chicago firm.
06:30 Working at a distance.
06:33 So if you can work for a Chicago firm in Denver, why can't you work for a Chicago firm in Bangalore?
06:46 So nowadays, many firms are seeing that here they give 200,000 to 200,000 dollars to employ.
06:58 If we employ the same person in India, we will have to pay at most 40,000 dollars a year.
07:08 So they are coming here to find consultants, legal lawyers, doctors.
07:20 So they can work at a distance.
07:24 And many jobs are being created.
07:28 Like this Global Capability Center.
07:31 It is a center that is established here, like in Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur.
07:40 And by working here, they sell their work there.
07:44 Like Goldman Sachs' biggest office.
07:47 Goldman Sachs is an American investment bank.
07:50 Its biggest office is outside New York, in Bangalore.
07:54 What do they do? They make trading models, risk management models for Goldman Sachs.
08:01 All these engineers and financial consultants are working in Bangalore.
08:06 So we can expand these types of jobs.
08:12 But what do we need for this?
08:15 We need to increase education.
08:20 Because people come here and see if they are IIT graduates, NIT graduates or IIM graduates.
08:26 But our graduates are very few from those institutions.
08:31 1000-2000 graduates.
08:35 We need 200,000 graduates.
08:38 Every year, there are 2.5 million engineering graduates from here.
08:45 But many graduates are not of high quality.
08:49 So we need to increase the quality.
08:51 So that everyone gets this job.
08:54 The world is coming here to find our engineers, our management graduates.
09:01 So we need to increase the quality so that they get jobs here.
09:07 When it comes to Raghuram Rajan,
09:11 Is there a perception that he is the one who criticizes the current government?
09:21 Or is he the one who will join Congress in the future?
09:27 Many people ask this question on social media, comments, digital.
09:33 I would like to hear your take on this.
09:36 I talk to every politician who wants to talk to me.
09:40 A few days ago, I spoke to Mr. Rewandt Reddy.
09:45 I spoke to Mr. Udhav Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray.
09:53 Because they have a vision.
09:56 I want to ask what is your vision for India?
10:00 And I learn something from that.
10:03 If there is a BJP politician who wants to talk, I will talk to him too.
10:09 It doesn't mean that I am going to join a party.
10:12 I am an academic.
10:14 And I want to think about what is the best path for India.
10:21 And how to strengthen it.
10:25 I am a consultant with DMK.
10:28 It doesn't mean that I am joining DMK tomorrow.
10:32 I want to work for India.
10:37 And if I don't talk to anyone about that work, I will never learn.
10:44 I talk to entrepreneurs, I talk to students.
10:48 When we talk, people make 2 and 2 make 50.
10:54 So it should be done.
10:57 So we are ending this talk with a very good line.
11:02 If the leaders of the BJP want to talk to Raghuram Rajan, he is open for that.
11:07 Today he has spoken and said that he wants to work for India.
11:12 These things are mentioned in his book.
11:15 Breaking the mold is his book.
11:17 Hindi translation is also available.
11:19 In Tamil and other languages, the translation of the book will be available.
11:22 It won't be that the book is in English and some other terminology.
11:29 You have said this in today's session and in other places.
11:32 This book is less about economics, more about India's future and people.
11:37 It is written in simple English.
11:40 One question is that the freebies are being given by the taxpayers.
11:46 And the taxpayers don't seem happy with this.
11:49 What is the reality of this? Is the gap increasing between the rich and the poor?
11:54 Will they feel that they have given away their money and distributed it to people for free?
11:59 There are two types of tax.
12:02 One is direct tax and the other is indirect tax.
12:04 Direct tax is the one that is deducted from our salary.
12:07 Indirect tax is like GST.
12:10 Like you buy a product or go to a restaurant, you have to pay a tax on it.
12:14 One fact that we keep in mind is that this is a big failure.
12:21 Historically, the middle class is paying taxes but because they are not seeing the benefits.
12:33 There is a famous phrase by Albert Hirschman, who says that the state's system is exiting it.
12:42 What does it mean to exit?
12:44 If I come from a middle class family, my parents are paying taxes but they are not seeing anything.
12:51 They are not sending their children to government schools or hospitals.
12:56 This creates a catch-22 situation.
13:00 Because as long as the middle class does not pay these services, it is very difficult to improve those services.
13:11 This is seen all over the world.
13:13 So, what we say in the book is that services for the poor is poor service.
13:16 If only the poor are going, because they are not paying the taxes properly, it becomes difficult to improve the services.
13:26 We get stuck in a vicious cycle.
13:28 The middle class thinks why should I pay taxes?
13:31 So, they try harder not to pay taxes.
13:34 They use all techniques.
13:36 We have written in the book that in many countries, it is considered a bad thing to sit for tea and say that I have not paid taxes.
13:48 This is considered a bad thing.
13:50 In India, to some extent, it is considered a skill.
13:53 How you paid taxes.
13:55 So, this cycle can break like this.
14:00 When the middle class sees that if they go to a government hospital, they get good treatment.
14:06 They will also feel that their tax is being used well.
14:09 If I go to an educational institute, I want to send my child there.
14:14 Like what is happening in Delhi, the condition of the central school is very good.
14:18 Government schools, the results of the children are almost government.
14:22 So, this should be India wide.
14:26 Secondly, as you said, in indirect taxes, we have implemented a system, GST.
14:35 It is a good system.
14:36 There are some shortcomings in it.
14:38 We should iron out them.
14:39 We should simplify it as much as possible.
14:42 We should make the tax system easy for producers, consumers, everyone.
14:46 Secondly, the system in which the central state is sharing taxes, it should be a little more solid.
14:54 The question arises again and again that in those states where the central and state governments are different.
15:00 There is no same party government.
15:02 There, the taxes of state governments are not able to come in that way.
15:06 It is stopped.
15:07 Again, this is not a problem of this government.
15:11 This is an institutional, what legacy are you leaving?
15:14 If the government changes tomorrow, should we go ahead with this evidence that if it is my government, I will release taxes.
15:21 If it is not my government, this is a dangerous precedent.
15:24 The courts should take notice of this.
15:27 And GST council should be made a little more autonomous.
15:29 It should be seamless here.
15:31 So much tax has been collected from Andhra Pradesh or Telangana.
15:36 Whether it is my government or not, if so much tax is coming from Hyderabad and this is the formula, then it should automatically go to that government.
