What does it mean?
The word ‘crony’ is used for a close friend or acquaintance, and is devoid of any negative connotations. However, modern usage confuses ‘crony’ with ‘cronyism’ - the practice of offering advantages (such as jobs, or other opportunities) to one’s friends and family.
A synonym that we, nauseatingly, hear often is nepotism.
Crony capitalism, then, refers to the ugly nexus between the political and industrial class, where regulations may be relaxed or an otherwise sound system of checks and balances made to malfunction because, well, two people felt like it.
To put it simply, abuses heaped at the triumvirate of ‘Modi-Adani-Ambani’ in the same breath are an allusion to India’s forever problem of crony capitalism.
Cronyism in India
The term is a go-to criticism for socialists and anti-capitalists. And not without good reason. In 2016, The Economist released a widely reported “crony capitalism index” placing India in the ninth position.
Is the magazine a part of an international conspiracy to defame India? Jury’s still out. But while the index may not be the holy gospel, it still points to a very real thorn in the country’s foot.
The brightest examples remain the illustrious years under UPA-II — with double blessings from the coal allocation scam and the 2G spectrum case.
Is the magazine a part of an international conspiracy to defame India? Jury’s still out. But while the index may not be the holy gospel, it still points to a very real thorn in the country’s foot.
The brightest examples remain the illustrious years under UPA-II — with double blessings from the coal allocation scam and the 2G spectrum case.
While we may now wistfully look back at those years, cronyism has followed us in time. The existence of the ‘Modi-Adani-Ambani’ trio in popular understanding says as much.
The term remains fashionable — for breaking news statements, think pieces, late night debates.
A way out is less clear.