Economies are not run by governments but by people: Lord Meghnad Desai at 'Arth - A Culture Fest'

The second edition of India's first multi-regional culture festival 'Arth' (Arth: A Culture Fest) started today at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. 

In an interactive session 'Whose economy is it anyway?' with Principal Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance Sanjeev Sanyal, economist Lord Meghnad Desai said that economies are run by the people and not by governments. 

"Over the last 70 years in India, we've had the peculiar delusion that economies are run by governments and by budgets and by regulations. 
Economies are run by people, people who run businesses, people who make jobs, people who make businesses, people who cause progress, people who do inventions," Desai told Sanyal.  

Lord Desai also emphasised on the need to give a boost to the private sector. 

"We have to change our mindsets. The politicians, ultimately they exist to enable and encourage people to do a better job with the economy and not come in the way of people. So I think the economy should belong to the people," he said. 

"We have to be able to use the quality and the talent of the people in the private sector because they go through a much harder system to survive and prosper than the government system. They take the risk, they are the risk-takers," he added. 

"This is my message to all political parties - to learn to respect business more," Desai said. 

Also read: Arth Fest - A glimpse of India's culture begins in Delhi

Desai gave the example of South Korea and said that after the difficult phase of its partition with North Korea, it picked up its economy on the premise of a "simple idea". 

"Their government said to their business people, if you do well, we will subsidize you, if you export and sell abroad we will give interest and subsidy not otherwise. And for 60 years continuously, South Korea's had a growth per cent of 6 per cent," Desai said. 

All this and much more discussed on the first day of the engaging fest. 

Arth: A Culture Fest, will last for three days (21, 22 and 23 February). In the three-day festival, people will get a glimpse of the culture of India.
'Arth' is a cultural celebration intended to showcase the ways of India's culture. Starting from today, the festival will focus on literature, culture, society, music, traditions, history and art.

Schedule of Arth: A Culture Fest (day 2 & 3)

Second day (22 February 2020)

11am- Guru's song: Gurbani, Artist: Bhai Manohar Singh

11:45pm - The Warp and Weft: The Grandeur of Indian Wear (Panelist): Shaina NC, Sudeep Bhutoria, Suvankar Sen, Moderator: Shefali Vaidya

12:30 pm - Men whose ideas have shaped India: Netaji, Swami Vivekananda and Savarkar, (panellists): Anuj Dhar, Makaranda Paranjpe, Vikram Sampath, Lord Meghnad Desai, Moderator: Good morning

1:15pm - From Literature to Cinema: Literary Impact on Celluloid (Panelist): Anant Vijay, Bhagwandas Morwal, Manoj Rajan Tripathi, Moderator: Arpit Wageria

2:00pm - Happiness without any reason - Mandira Bedi talks with Satyadev Burman

2:30pm - Lobbying for the 'Right' cause, Panelists: Anurag Saxena, R Jagannathan, Ratan Sharda, Shaina NC, Moderator: Shubhrastha

3:15pm - From God's Own Country: Ottan Thull from panellists in Kerala: Mohana Krishnan

4:00pm - "Becoming the World Guru: Recovering India's place in the new world order, (Panelist): Anurag Saxena, Baijayant Jai Panda, David Frawley, Hindol Sengupta, Moderator: Raghav Awasthi

4:45pm - India's civilizational ethos and its intersection with secularism: Mayank Singh's conversation with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan

5:45pm - The Abrogation of Article 370 and what it means to 'Kashmiriyat' (Panelist): Gohar Geelani, Jamyang Shering Namgyal, Sushant Sarin, Syed Salman Chishti, Vivek Agnihotri, Moderator: Abhijeet Iyer Mitra

6:45pm - Nationalism in times of strife: New dimensions of nationalism - Sudhir Chaudhary's conversation with Amit Shah

7:45pm - Desert echoes - Mame Khan's performance

8:45pm - Euphoria's performance

Third day (23 February 2020)

11am - Cymbals from the North-East: Manipuri Pung and Dole Cholam artist: Sinam Basu

11:45pm - Sacred ecologies: Indic Faiths and their Message (Panelist): David Frole, Dushyant Sridhar, Hema Hari, Moderator: DK Hari

12:30pm - Life in Literature - Ruskin Bond talks with Premak Goswami

1:15pm - Discussion on culture and art: Conversation between Prasoon Joshi and Yatindra Mishra