Excessive political correctness stifles progress: RBI Gov

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Saturday joined the award wapsi debate, saying "excessive political correctness stifles progress as much as excessive licence and disrespect".

Addressing students at Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, the RBI Governor said that bans could not be a quick resort. "It is better to improve environment for ideas through intolerance and mutual respect," he said.Further pointing that "India’s tradition of debate and an open spirit of enquiry" is critical for the economic progress of the country, Rajan said that "tolerance can take offense out of debate".

"Ideas must be allowed to compete with sense of mutual respect...tolerance and respect lead to equilibrium," he added.

Reacting to the statement, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy hit out at the RBI Governor, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi must sack him. He claimed that Rajan had made a "mess" out of RBI.