"Government Must Listen To People Speaking Truth To Power": P Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government must listen to people speaking truth to power, referring to observations made by economists Arvind Panagariya, Raghuram Rajan and Arvind Subramanian.

"Government must listen to people speaking truth to power. Three eminent economists have done that today," said Mr Chidambaram on Twitter.

"Firstly, Dr Arvind Panagariya has written eloquently about the folly of the government''s trade policy and its rush towards ''import substitution''," he said.

"Secondly, Dr Raghuram Rajan has spoken passionately about the ''need to tolerate dissent'' in order to become a knowledge society. Thirdly, Dr Arvind Subramanian has spoken from experience why the CEA must always provide honest and disinterested advice. He must be pained that he was not consulted on demonetisation!" Mr Chidambaram added.

Mr Chidambaram was referring to Arvind Panagariya's article in ''The Times of India'' which said import substitution would take the economy down from turnpike to dirt road.

The former finance minister was also referring to Mr Rajan's remarks made at an event organised by "The Hindu BusinessLine" where he said: "... In an atmosphere, that tolerates dissent, you can exchange ideas and have new ideas created... This strength will carry us going forward when we build top universities because scholars will be able to debate without fear of voicing their views."