Making India Work

"India is not a poor country. It is a poorlyBissell recommends a voucher system - Targeted
managed country." ~ William Nanda BissellCatalysts - ensuring that every poor person is
William Nanda Bissell is an interesting guy withguaranteed six essential services - nutrition,
interesting ideas. He is the CEO of Fabindia - adrinking water, sewage disposal, education,
company that sources and markets the productshealthcare and legal assistance. These vouchers
of 40,000 craftspeople across India - potters,would be honored by private providers of these
weavers, carpenters and many others who liveservices against re-imbursement by the
by the ingenuity and skill of their heads and theirgovernment. Bissell suggests the value of the
hands. He has written an immensely readablereimbursement to the provider will increase based
book, called "Making India work", that wowed meon his or her quality rating; those who provide
with its originality, and the breadth and depth ofbetter service will get paid more.
his ideas for India.3. Simplifying Taxation:
Taking India's poverty head-on, Bissell makes theThe current plethora of taxes - income tax,
point that we cannot consider ourselves acapital gains tax, sales tax, excise duty, etc.
superpower while 60% of our population lives in-discourage productivity, and carry high costs of
miserable conditions. His transformative ideas aimcompliance and collection. Instead, Bissell suggest a
at generating wealth at the bottom of thesimple system based primarily on a property tax
pyramid, rather than waiting for a trickle-down(1% of property value annually) collected by the
effect.Community. He says that while the current tax
Inspired by Gandhi's ability to anticipate offersystem raises around $120 billion of revenues, the
solutions to the problems that India would face innew system can generate $300 billion at a
the twenty-first century, Bissell's ideas are basedfraction of the cost. This would also lead to
on Gandhi's fundamental principles of sustainableempowering the Community government because
living. Gandhi said need, not greed, should be thethe bulk of the revenue collection and spending on
basis of all consumption; he called for appropriatelyTargeted Catalysts would happen at the
scaled institutions - decentralized, local institutionsCommunity level.
that are accessible to the people; and he4. The Real Cost:
cautioned us not to blindly ape the industrializationBissell puts his finger on the reason today's
and consumption of the West.capitalism is failing - because it does not value the
The book has four central ideas:real costs of a product, including its production
1. Scaling down government:cost, its environmental cost and its disposal cost.
Bissell recommends a 4-level structure ofHe says we need to factor the real costs into the
governance: The Community, representing aroundpricing. Similarly, as citizens, we are entitled to
25,000 people, as the basic active unit ofclean air and water. Through environmental
government (replacing the Panchayats); an Areaexchanges, communities that invest in biodiversity,
that is a collection of 100 contiguous communitiesforests and clean water will be able to trade
(replacing the district); a Region consisting of 10these credits with communities lagging behind,
Areas (replacing the State); and the Nation at theleading to a more investments in 'greening' the
highest level. He is for simplifying the governmentenvironment. Bissell has also worked out a
and reducing its role mainly to enforcing individualtransition plan and the creation of a National Asset
rights, setting standards, and regulating andCorporation that would use the value of public
monitoring compliance. Bissell says this structuresector assets to fund the downsizing of the
would reduce the Indian bureaucracy, now 22government as well as other transition costs.
million strong, to a mere 2 million government'Making India work' is a must-read for the New
servants.Constructs community. While the ideas in the
2. Ending Poverty:book will evolve with dialog, they form a great
Instead of its current scattered approach tofoundation for reinventing governments not just in
alleviating poverty, where less than 10 paise toIndia but across the world. Do read the book and
the rupee actually reach the intended beneficiary,share your thoughts with all of us.