MARKET PERSPECTIVE

By J Mulraj

Sep 26-Oct 2, 2026

Structural Weakness Cannot Deliver a Viksit Bharat

In George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, released in 1945, the commandment was that ‘all animals were equal, but some animals were more equal than others’.

Sadly, this appears to be the situation in India today.

A citizen needs to be a graduate in order to get a bank job, based on the sound logic that a bank is a custodian of public funds, so the employees must have a graduate education. Why, then, is there no such educational criteria to get a Government job? There is no educational requirement to become a Finance Minister, whose job is the pinnacle of custodial guardianship! Why are some animals more equal than others?

Ever so often, there arises a need for political parties to form a coalition Government. The electoral mandate has not given a majority to any party. In order to get support of other parties, ministerial berths are promised as a quid pro quo.

So India has created more ministries in order to accommodate these coalition partners, and eased their elevation by not requiring any educational qualification. Peter Principle at work! India’s Government has a whopping 53 Ministries and no, so many aren’t justified by size. China has 26. UK has 23, Germany 16, USA has 15 departments (equivalent to Ministries), and Japan 14.

So, it is quite possible that one day an Education Minister can himself be uneducated, a truly Kafkaesque situation!

This is certainly not the road to a Viksit, or developed, Bharat.

With the advent of AI, and the several technological disruptions which are occurring, all countries will need the best and most qualified people in Government. Mr Modi would do well to change the law to mandate at least a graduate degree for a position in Government.

Consider pensions. An elected MP is guaranteed a lifelong, taxable, pension even if he was an MP only for one day! However a corporate executive under the EPS Scheme, (Employees’ Pension Scheme) must have worked for 10 years across all companies, and reach the age of 58 to become eligible for pension. Under the EPS Scheme, the pension is capped at Rs 15000 pm. The MP is entitled to a base rate of Rs 31000 pm, even if he lasted just one day, stepped up by an additional Rs 2500 pm, after five years, for each additional year of service.

The Indian Animal Farm, by George!

Consider arrest in civilian cases. Whilst an ordinary citizen can be arrested at any time, an MP cannot be, during a legislative session of Parliament, nor 40 days before its start nor 40 days after it ends. Now see the timing of current Parliamentary sessions to see how ludicrous this is. The budget session was from late January to early April/May. Add 80 days for no arrest, 40 days after it’s end and 40 before the start of the next. The next, Monsoon, session was July to August. Add 80 days. Winter session was November to December. So the days available for arrest are too few to be practical.

Animal Farm!

Over the past 5 years, the Indian Parliament has worked 55-65 days each year. An employee in corporate India works 215-260 days, nearly 4 times.

PM Modi should look at these unequal disparities in pension eligibility and payment, in virtual exemption of civil liabilities for MPs and in working hours of MPs, impossibly low.

The Indian judicial delays are a lamentably high of 53 million, a world record. Of these 42 million are criminal cases and 11 million are civil cases. This is an abject repudiation of the concept of justice; the pathetic delay being justice denied. And nobody has been pulled up for the delay. Here, too, the Animal Farm is in operation, with courts opening their doors and delivering speedy judgements to the rich and powerful, whilst the poor spend their lives and savings in adjournments. The US backlog is just over 1 million cases. Judicial delays is one of the main reasons why foreign investors are loath to invest in India unless it agrees to jurisdiction in venues like Singapore.

The animal farm plight of victims of the NSEL Ponzi scheme is an example. The scam was revealed in 2013 and, barring small payments made to those owed Rs 10 lacs or less, around 13000 other victims are still waiting. FM Nirmala Sitaraman, approached by the Investor Forum, promised to act, but did nothing. Finally, in 2025, after waiting 12 years, over 90% of the victims agreed to a one time settlement (OTS), settling for pittance to get the funds faster. But faster relief is inconsequential to the Indian judiciary, and a mere 13000 voters is inconsequential to an uncaring Government.

The Government and judiciary could try to introduce AI judges in different ways, from studying relevant case laws, providing summarised backgrounders, with citations, to judges, and ultimately to add AI judges to the roster. It could provide courts with apps like Speechify, which can read aloud the immense amount of documents after someone clicks on them.

This is certainly not the road to a Viksit Bharat.

Last week the BSE Sensex closed at 71909, for a weekly fall of 1986 points.

Foreign portfolio investors are pulling out from India. Due to the falling Indian rupee, their $ returns are poor. The fall would have been faster, but for the inflow, via SIP ( Systematic Investment Plans) of Indian retail investors. The Iran war, and its impact on crude oil, and thus on petrol and diesel, is negative. The 2026 season ended with a 13% shortfall in the Indian monsoon. The US Government debt has crossed $ 40 trillion, and is moving in the wrong direction. When it tries to rollover its repayment dues, by borrowing more, it will be competing with not only other countries, but also the US hyperscalers hiking investment to feed the AI boom.

It’s a good idea to be cautious.

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Comments can be emailed to: jmulraj@asiaconverge.com
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