Ex-Congress MP Milind Deora Reveals why Modi's Vision is the way to go for INDIA? IBP Episode 7
Executive Summary
Ganeshprasad interviews Milind Deora - former Union minister and Congress MP for South Mumbai, now with the Shiv Sena - on how citizens should judge a government. His tests, per the episode: does the government disintermediate the citizen from the bureaucracy (CoWIN, Passport Seva, faceless tax assessment); does it avoid overburdening taxpayers and future generations (disinvestment, debt, the old pension scheme debate); and does it make laws black-and-white so interpretation cannot breed corruption. He concedes Congress liberalized a decade or two late, calls CAA a once-bipartisan policy opposed 'for the sake of opposing', lays out a Maharashtra growth map from Atal Setu to Gadchiroli, argues Mumbai's competition is Dubai and Singapore, and names warehousing, indoor farming and strategic electronics as the sectors he would bet on as an entrepreneur.
Key Takeaways
The disintermediation test
Deora's first yardstick: does a government remove layers between citizen and service the way Uber removed the taxi dispatcher - Passport Seva Kendra with TCS ended the era of needing an MP's letter for a passport.
CoWIN as proof of Indian e-governance
Eligibility notices, dose reminders and globally valid certificates were automatic; his American friends got a paper card at Walgreens and tracked their own second dose. India offered CoWIN open-source to the world.
Reform has been continuous across parties
Vajpayee-era initiatives carried forward under Manmohan Singh (RTI, e-governance - Deora was IT minister) and expanded under Modi (DBT, Aadhaar); the 15-paise-of-a-rupee leakage Rajiv Gandhi described is now substantially plugged.
Don't burden the future
His fiscal tests: no overburdening today's taxpayer (loss-making B2C PSUs should be disinvested - private firms already carried 90%+ of exim shipping when he was shipping minister) and no debt traps; he cites America's $8.3T war-on-terror borrowing and China becoming its lender.
Congress liberalized too late
Deora concedes: Singapore liberalized in the early 1970s, China in 1978, India only in 1991 under bankruptcy duress - 'we would have been at par with China'; his father advocated reforms in the late 1970s; bank and textile nationalizations set the private sector back a decade.
Public service before party
On leaving Congress after 2014-2024 reform attempts failed: loyalty to country and public service must precede party; his hope for a third loss - a constructive opposition that works with government where it should.
CAA and pension as case studies in opposition
He calls CAA originally bipartisan - quoting Dr. Manmohan Singh's on-record advocacy as leader of opposition - and says the fearmongering (Muslims losing citizenship) never materialized; he argues the old pension scheme deprives government employees of equity-linked growth and burdens future taxpayers.
Black-and-white law kills corruption
Gray rules invite interpretation, harassment and bribery - define what is legal precisely, automate permits (a cafe license in 24-48 hours), and hold officers accountable; RERA is his model of watertight consumer protection.
Maharashtra: many engines, not one
MMR's infrastructure burst (coastal road, Atal Setu as Mumbai's Brooklyn Bridge, metro, Navi Mumbai airport) plus new centers at Nagpur, Nashik, Pune and even Naxal-affected Gadchiroli, where the CM courted ArcelorMittal; investor confidence requires ending extortion-era politics like the Antilia bomb-planting case.
Mumbai must benchmark Dubai and Singapore
Not Bangalore or Chennai: fintech and financial services, creative services (DNEG's Oscar-winning VFX), drones and robotics (ideaForge) - while upgrading Brimstowad-era storm drains against coastal flooding and building public transport the wealthy will actually use.
Cluster redevelopment beats tower-by-tower
Single-building redevelopment strains roads, water and schools; cluster planning (he brought India's first to South Mumbai - Abhudaya Nagar, Bhindi Bazaar) re-plans whole blocks with transit housing, as Singapore did when 'Singapore was a slum'.
Three entrepreneurial bets
Warehousing for e-commerce, indoor/urban farming, and high-end strategic electronics riding China-plus-one supply chain shifts - solar ingots (99% China) and battery chemistry included; the first two need no IIT degree.
The Conversation Breakdown
How to judge a government
⏱ Untimed topicThe Weber quote, disintermediation as the master test, continuity of reform across three prime ministers, CoWIN versus Walgreens, and fixing the 15-paise leakage.
Disinvestment and the debt trap
⏱ Untimed topicWhy India built PSUs, why loss-making consumer-facing ones should be sold, the 90% private shipping share, America's $8.3 trillion war borrowing and China's lender status - and the demographic dividend at stake.
What went wrong with Congress
⏱ Untimed topicLate liberalization, nationalizations, his father's early reform advocacy, a decade of attempted internal reform, leaving the party, and the case for a constructive opposition - plus CAA and the old pension scheme as case studies.
E-governance's next frontier
⏱ Untimed topicFaceless income-tax assessment, municipal e-permits, black-and-white drafting to remove interpretation, RERA as the model, and accountability for officers who harass.
Shinde versus Thackeray, and Maharashtra's map
⏱ Untimed topicThe governance-style contrast (humble origins, work ethic, open-door Varsha); MMR's infrastructure boom; new growth centers from Nagpur to Gadchiroli; the Antilia extortion-era lesson; and reimagining Navi Mumbai.
Reimagining Mumbai
⏱ Untimed topicBenchmarking Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore; fintech, creative services and drone manufacturing; ferries and metro culture for decongestion; storm-water upgrades for a coastal city; slum rehabilitation and cluster redevelopment; and urbanization at China's pace without ghost cities.
Where Deora would build, and the closing word
⏱ Untimed topicWarehousing, indoor farming and strategic electronics; solar, lithium and supply-chain gaps; his answer to the dictatorship narrative; and 'you are the owner' - citizens as the government's proprietors.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Disintermediation as governance KPI
Count the layers between citizen and service; every removed layer is delay, discretion and corruption removed.
The taxpayer-burden test
Ask who funds every ongoing loss - if the answer is future generations or today's taxpayer for a service the market provides better, the policy fails.
Black-and-white lawmaking
Gray zones are corruption zones: define legality precisely, automate the permit, and audit the officer who still harasses.
Constructive opposition
Oppose on merit and cooperate on national interest; opposing for the sake of opposing produces fearmongering, not accountability.
Cluster-scale urban regeneration
Plan blocks, not buildings: infrastructure, transit housing and amenities must scale with the towers or congestion and service collapse follow.
Benchmark upward
A city competing with its domestic peers is already behind; Mumbai's reference class is Dubai and Singapore - choose the frontier, then build the drains, trains and rule of law it requires.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Use Deora's checklist on any government you evaluate: disintermediation delivered, taxpayer burden, future debt, and how watertight its rules are - not its speeches.
- ✓When using any public service, refuse the shortcut: the episode's point that citizens must walk halfway - no bribes, no agents - is what makes disintermediation stick.
- ✓If you run a business needing permits, push for the written, black-and-white criterion and the online route; gray verbal processes are where harassment lives.
- ✓Entrepreneurs: map your idea against the three bets - warehousing, indoor farming, China-plus-one electronics - and check which supply-chain gap you can fill.
- ✓Before believing any 'you will lose X' political claim, apply the episode's CAA test: find the on-record primary source and check what actually happened in the years since.
Notable Quotes
“For me, public service came before party.”
“liberalized its economy in the '80s, in the '70s even, we would have had great opportunities.”
“We would have been at par with China.”
“religious minorities in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh who are being persecuted must be given citizenship.”
“Singapore was a slum, Singapore was a big slum.”
“Government is owned by you.”
The One Thing to Remember
Deora's yardstick for any government: shrink the interface between citizen and state - through technology, watertight rules and honest finances - because every layer of discretion is a door to delay, harassment and corruption; all political views expressed are the guest's own.