WE HAVE LOST THE PLOT ON ECONOMIC REFORMS

Subhash Chandra Garg has let his pen speak his mind far too often. Serving as finance secretary to three finance ministers-Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal, and Nirmala Sitharaman-he churned out opposing views, much to Sitharaman's displeasure.

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

When things got too hot, Garg took voluntary retirement, but his pen kept talking. His third book in four years since retirement, We Also Make Policy (HarperCollins India), has caused a flurry with its fly-on-thewall descriptions of what goes on in North Block.

In an exclusive interview, his first on the book, Garg explains why what happens in the power corridors need to be told, and sheds light on how things went wrong with Sitharaman. Excerpts:

Q/ In the book, you talk about the wonderful relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his mood changing towards the latter part of your tenure. You also mention how he wanted to align the financial year with the calendar year. How would you evaluate his viewpoints?

A/ I had a clear view that Modi is a man who can take a lot of reform measures. [Though] he had also tried misadventures like demonetisation, I had a very positive view about him, [with] the kind of hard work he was putting in and [his] ability to take hard decisions.

I was looking forward to serving [as finance secretary] where I could bring reforms which were as good, if not better, than the 1991 change, and India's trajectory to move towards a private sector-led government, away from the dominance of the public sector-led inefficient financial system. On the whole, it was a very functional and professionally satisfying time with him as prime minister. When I was proposed to be transferred, I told P.K. Mishra (principal secretary to the prime minister) that even when I go out of the government, I would like to work with him.

Of course, there would be issues, particularly in the latter part of my tenure. There is a chapter where I record Nripendra Misra (former principal secretary to the prime minister) telling me 'You are not in tune with the thinking of the government; the finance minister is not happy with you, [and] the prime minister is not happy with you!