Having worked closely with Atal Bihari Vajpayee for three-and-a-half years, I have known him for very long. Even though he will be remembered for many things, I would place his innate belief in economic reforms as the most important one.
Even though economic reforms were initiated in 1991, from 1993 onwards they became sporadic. It was Vajpayee’s government that set about the difficult job of restructuring the economy.
Rigid licensing terms had stifled the telecom system from growing and providing services to the people. Companies were becoming bankrupt and the people were not able to afford the services.
To take the courageous decision to move out from high, fixed licence fees to revenue sharing was a very courageous and correct decision. There was lot of resistance, including from then telecom minister Jagmohan. However, this change was necessary to ensure that the system didn’t collapse.
Ultimately, the country saw a telecom revolution and the government’s revenues actually went up.
On the infrastructure side, to understand the importance of a good road system was again a revolution in thinking.
If India had not started building the golden quadrilateral and other road corridors, the economy would not have reached where it has today. Subsequently, in the post-1999 government, public sector units were privatized, though this, unfortunately, lost momentum after the 2004 defeat of the National Democratic Alliance, or NDA.
Similarly, reforms in simplification of taxation went a long way in reducing transaction costs of business and ensuring economic efficiency.
Therefore, while many would rightly remember him for the Pokhran nuclear tests, the repeated attempts to improve relations with Pakistan, the successful conduct of the Kargil war and the resetting of India-US relations, his economic policies possibly has had the greatest impact on the country.
Contrary to the popular impression of being a hands-off leader, on important issues, he could be completely hands on.
He recognised his limitations in terms of details of economic policy, but even here he gave very clear instructions.
This was clear in the many budget meetings that I had attended along with him.
On issues of foreign policy, he would read the briefs (despite their name, they are very lengthy documents) very carefully and was the master of details.
So, in the actual briefings he would ask all the pertinent questions and while he gave a free hand to everyone to speak, he used to take the final decision.
His equation with national security adviser Brajesh Mishra was of a very high level and despite the fact that he trusted him completely, the latter always checked with Atalji before taking any decision.He was always respectful with everybody, which reflected his strong sense of self-confidence.
As told to Utpal Bhaskar of Mint.
Shakti Sinha, an Indian Administrative Service officer of 1979 batch, was Vajpayee’s private secretary/joint secretary to the prime minster from May 1996 till November 1999. He is currently director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.