In Focus by The Hindu Reading between the lines of Economic Survey 2025–26
Jan 31, 2026
Trishna Sarkar, Assistant Professor of Economics at Dr BR Ambedkar College, offers academic analysis of the Economic Survey. She unpacks reform metaphors and cautions on matching urgency with institutional capacity. She discusses manufacturing’s missing middle, skill and MSME gaps, strategic self-reliance, and the idea of an entrepreneurial state. The conversation ends with a call to focus on capability-driven development.
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Reform Express Needs Strong Tracks
- The Economic Survey's 'reform express' mixes sprint and marathon metaphors to stress speed plus sustained institutional depth.
- Trishna Sarkar warns rapid reforms risk running on weak institutional tracks without parallel human-capital and process strengthening.
Jobs Are Growing But Quality Lags
- Job growth has largely been quantitative and informal, not quality employment supported by skills and health investments.
- Sarkar says accelerating GDP without upgrading education, skills and public health risks trapping India in a low-productivity equilibrium.
Fix Processes, Not Just Policies
- Strengthen implementation processes, monitoring and accountability rather than only announcing policies.
- Fix documentation, transparency and performance-based monitoring to convert policy intent into real outcomes.