Dear Modi-ji,
It is one year since you assumed office. Your government can surely point to a general boost to the country's morale and self-confidence. But actual accomplishments remain modest. Against the scale and magnitude of what is required to catapult India into the ranks of the first powers within our lifetime, the effort is frustratingly half-hearted and the pace of change frightfully slow. At this rate, far from catching up with the world's A-listers, India will keep slipping farther behind with each passing year.
There are four portfolios that you should prioritize with a sense of extreme urgency. First, choose a tough law minister to chop, rationalize and simplify the plethora of laws surplus to requirements for running a modern economy. S/he should ask: Is this regulation really necessary? Excessive rules — a sad legacy of 60 years of License Raj mentality — add to the cost burdens and incentivize corruption. Please trash them.