Former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has called for a broad overhaul of India’s economic decision-making apparatus, arguing that the country needs “fresh faces” and new thinking at a time when policymakers appear to be reacting to events rather than shaping them.

Speaking at an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, against the backdrop of growing concerns over the economy from the West Asia crisis, Subramanian said there was an increasing perception of “drift” within the policymaking establishment, which was contributing to anxiety among businesses and investors.

“We’re in the midst of a difficult economic situation, and there is a sense of drift and of events overtaking decision-makers rather than decision-makers being on top of events,” he said. “That’s a widely held perception which is contributing to this anxiety about the economy.”

Subramanian argued that the case for bringing in new personnel was not merely about accountability for recent economic outcomes, but about changing entrenched institutional habits and injecting fresh ideas into policymaking.

“We need strong, open, non-defensive interlocutors to deal with situations such as these,” he said, adding that the demand for change stemmed from the need to address “deeper instincts and habits and staleness of ideas”.

While acknowledging that the current leadership had overseen important policy reforms, he suggested that continuity alone could not be the basis for retaining the same decision-making structure.

“You could say there’s no way there should be a change in personnel because these are the people who undertook the policy reforms,” Subramanian said. “But the problem is about deeper instincts and habits and staleness of ideas. We just need fresh faces who will deliver.”

The former CEA stressed that the issue extended beyond the finance ministry and required a wider rethink across the government machinery involved in policy formulation and implementation.

“It’s not just the ministry of finance. The government has to decide over all the ministries and institutions that determine policy and implementation of policy,” he said.

Subramanian, however, stopped short of directly calling for a change of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying the decision ultimately rested with the government.

“The point is that economic decision-making across the board needs to be revamped,” he said. “Whether it can happen with the existing finance minister or without her — that’s a call for the government to make. It’s not my call.”

Responding to a question about his recent newspaper article calling for changes at the ministerial, technocratic, and bureaucratic levels, Subramanian stressed that he was not referring to any particular individual.

“I think there are people in government who are doing a good job, and maybe they need to get more prominence. So it’s not about any one person, and that’s not a call for outsiders like me to make,” he said.