Former RBI Governor Rajan Expressed His Opinion

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who did BTech from the prestigious IIT-Delhi, on Saturday opened up about his engineering days and shared some lesser-known facts. During an interview with the India Today Group's Lallantop, the renowned economist said he had once contested an election in the premier engineering college.

Rajan studied electrical engineering at IIT-Delhi from 1981 to 1985. During his days at the college, he headed the Student Affairs Council. He then went on to do a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

When asked about his views on protests because they sometimes hamper economic activity, Rajan was clear that "the ability to protest has to be protected". He said one should have the freedom to protest. To back his argument, the economist said that scientists make discoveries because, in a way, they protest against the previous discoveries. "They (scientists) say that previous discoverers are wrong, their ideas are wrong. For that, you should have the capacity to say I can be free to protest and not be thrown out of my institution. place will be protected."

Rajan said that the places created for such protests can also be used for political protests. "Sometimes political protest is good because that changes the environment," he said. "The civil rights protest against racism in the US changed the society, for the good. Political protests should be encouraged. Non-violence is important."

The economist, however, said that all the protests are not constructive. "You will have to make it constructive. It is never going to be fully constructive. Some protests...I just don't like the situation. I wanted to change. Sometimes, students protest the work given by teachers. You get that also."

Rajan was asked whether he would enter politics and he was seen getting closer to Rahul Gandhi. To this, he said: "I have no interest in politics." He said he wants India to adopt the right policies so that the country can become a developed nation by 2047. The former Governor said that in his new book, he has highlighted the weaknesses and strengths of the country and that there should be debate on what policies India needs to adopt.

In another event, Rajan on Saturday said that India will remain a lower-middle country if the potential growth rate remains at 6 per cent annually without any rise in population by 2047.