“Cultural issues and saffronisation” have resulted in a slow growth in India’s economic sector instead of big bang reforms, according to a top US think-tank, which said the NDA government has not yet fulfilled the expectation of moving towards a new India. In its recent report ‘Modi Two years On’, the think-tank said in its two years, the Narendra Modi government has instituted significant reforms, with the most significant of them being passing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill. It said the bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha last month, will over time create a much needed pan-Indian market. “India needs to become an open, non-paternalistic society focused primarily on economic issues but over the last two years, cultural issues and saffronisation have resulted in slow incremental change instead of big bang reforms,” it said. He has travelled to countries where his predecessors have not travelled to in decades, including countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, it said.

Source: Hindustan Times September 23, 2016 13:41 UTC