Announcing...the Winner of India Ink's Finance Minister Contest On Wednesday, India Ink invited you to submit your "application" to be the next finance minister of India. Well, the entries are in, and we at India Ink have been sifting through what you sent us. You may read all of them in the "Comments" section at the end of the original article. Some of you, perhaps responding to the tenor of our invitation, sent in replies that can best be described as tongue in cheek. Sachi Mohanty of India told us that he'd sent in his application to "The Family" and couldn't reveal it to us. Mr. Mohanty presumably had in mind the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has held power in India for the majority of years since India's independence in 1947. Mitra from Brisbane suggested that Sonia Gandhi, the current head of the clan and chairwoman of the governing United Progressive Alliance, should be forced to take an introductory course in economics at a "nearby university." That would rule out Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where I have taught first-year principles of economics over the years. A number of readers made suggestions, which while laudable, would realistically be beyond the purview, and power, of any finance minister. Girid Krishna from New York City said: "Make our economic institutions more inclusive." Another commentator from India, calling himself or herself only "Reader," advocated making "every politician, company and citizen accountable for their actions." A. Kapoor from New Delhi proposed to "banish corruption." Some readers lamented the possible political constraints a finance minister may face. "RSB" from West Orange, New Jersey, opined that no finance minister would be able to do the job because of the interference of Mrs. Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, although he or she used more disparaging language to describe them. On a more philosophical note, Ramesh Raghuvanshi from Pune observed that the challenge of a finance minister is to take a "stern decision" without "hurting" the people. Raj Phalpher from Toronto pointed to "rampant corruption" as the root of India's difficulties, suggesting further that this in turn was driven by "social inequality." Yet other readers, while hewing to the spirit of the contest, fell short of, or exceeded, the contest requirement of submitting three to five suggestions. That left us with about a half-dozen or so serious applications to scrutinize, which we've just concluded doing. And the winner is Narahari Rao of Houston, Texas. Mr. Rao gave us exactly five suggestions, and they were all well-conceived, smart and, importantly, at least within shooting distance of being feasible to attempt. If actually implemented, they stand a decent chance of restoring investor confidence and helping to put the Indian economy back onto a higher growth trajectory, which is all that could reasonably be expected of any finance minister in the current economic and political climate in India and given the state of the global economy. Mr. Rao's specific suggestions include: cutting the income tax rate, but broadening the tax base, to stimulate the economy; lowering corporate tax rates to provide a boost to investment and growth; opening up foreign direct investment in multibrand retail (a decision taken, then reversed, by the outgoing finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee); setting up more special economic zones to encourage manufacturing; and issuing "infrastructure bonds," dedicated to improving the quality of infrastructure in medium-sized Indian cities. Congratulations, Mr. Rao! Send your mailing address to IndiaInk@nytimes.com and a copy of Mr. Mukherjee's book "Challenges Before the Nation" will be sent to you in Texas. Vivek Dehejia is an economics professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and a writer and commentator on India. You can follow him on Twitter @vdehejia.