What are reforms?

First, thanks to Sudhir for this invite. The title of this blog, Sudhir told me, was inspired by the phrase “reforms with a human face.” I have a question here: is it possible to have reforms without a human face?

From this online dictionary, I find that ‘reform’ means “a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses” and “a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices” and “self-improvement in behavior or morals by abandoning some vice”. On seeing that a question comes to mind: is what has taken place since 1991 in India ‘reform’? Has it really been “a change for the better” when there are still so many poor people in India? Has it managed to “correct abuses or malpractices” when farmers still commit suicide because the government cannot look after them? And in this age of Page 3 and celebrity culture, has there really been any “self-improvement in behavior or morals”?

No. My answer is no. What we have been calling “reforms” for the last 15 years is not “reforms” at all, but just the opposite. The time has come now to think about what real reform means. That is what this blog is about. Reforms. That those reforms have a human face is understood. Isn’t it?