Beginning Of Modi Era - The First 100 Days

The idea of showing achievements of a new government in its first 100 days in office is credited to famous American President FDR Roosevelt. He set this benchmark for himself in 1933.Since then many Presidents and Prime Ministers world over have followed this political ritual. India, a country of rituals, is no exception to this. The Govt led by Narendra Modi which took over the reins of power on 27^th May 2014, after a landslide win in the last election will be completing 100 days next week..

Early Days

Narendra Modi got off to a flying start. His gestures of bowing down and touching the ground with his forehead at the entrance of the Parliament on 20^th May 2014 or placing party and senior leaders above himself in his emotional address to party leaders in his first speech in the Parliament house or inviting SAARC leaders for his swearing-in ceremony were unconventional yet pleasant and improved the atmospherics after a bitterly fought election. His small cabinet, composed of both seasoned and hand-picked first-timers, evoked good response.Once in PM's chair he did not take much time in toning down the administration. Heralding a new ' work culture'  Ministers and senior officers were directed to keep their Ministries building clean, weed out obsolete records, maintain punctuality in their offices and undertake exercise to do away with archaic laws. To discourage nepotism Ministers were advised not to appoint their relatives as personal staff.  Setting up a SIT headed by Justice M B Shah to unearth black money was Modi cabinet's first action. His direct talk to country's top bureaucrats was a bold and rational move. He shared with them his discomfort with red tape and procedural delays and his firm belief in the concept of "Minimum government, Maximum governance" and mantra of transparency, accountability and implementation. Who will know better than him that an honest, competent and fearless bureaucrat, an endangered species, is worth his weight in gold and needs to be protected, empowered, encouraged and tasked for good governance? 

Economy

Corruption and development were two main planks on which last election was fought and won by Modi and his team. For this reason, Budget 2014 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was expected to be a trendsetter for Acche Din (Good days). But in the backdrop of poor economic parameters and likelihood of a deficient monsoon he thought it prudent to continue with what was good in earlier dispensation and bring some pragmatic changes Giving tax relief to senior citizens /middle class and continuing with welfare schemes for poor people, he has also accepted challenge to bring down fiscal deficit to 4.1%.To strike a balance between growth and inclusive development he has prepared a Pro- poor and pro-biz  cocktail with main ingredient of foreign investment -  FDI in railways (100%),  in defence (49%) and relaxing FDI norms in real estate sector for low cost housing. as Govt needs infusion of massive funds to create infrastructure and service welfare schemes for poor.

Administration

    Since taking charge on May 27, 2014 Modi Govt has moved with policy formulations to bring down food prices, reduce inflation, curb corruption and improve security to women. Passage of National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill to ensure that only people with merit are appointed as judges to higher courts and   proposal to set up 1800 fast-track courts to speed up delivery of justice are such steps. Similarly, online green clearance for industrial and infra-structure projects and online monitoring of industrial waste will reduce human intervention and bring transparency. But real game-changers would be a slew of ambitious ventures like  ' Sagarmala ' (String of ports) project for development of India's ports, creating Special Economic Zones, providing rail, road, air, waterways connectivity with the hinterland with linkages of cold storage and warehousing facilities,  'PM Jan Dhan Yojna’ to help the poor open a bank account with debit card facility and insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh and several other benefits,  ' Digital India' aiming to connect 2.50 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband connectivity by 2017, creation of 100 'Smart' cities, rejuvenation of ' Heritage Cities' and 'Make in India' drive to boost manufacturing sector. For quicker and inclusive growth  and to translate his great vision of  Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Together with all, Development for all) into reality such job-intensive mega projects with enormous potential to provide direct benefit to millions of poor and middle class are better options than UPA government's dole-based and corruption- ridden welfare schemes like MNREGA, Mid-day meal which should be either restructured to plug 'leakages' or discontinued to save tax-payers money.

Independence Day Speech

Modi is a great communicator with people and took full advantage of this skill in his address to the nation from the ramparts of historic Lal Qila (Red Fort) on 15th Aug, 2014 His extempore speech delivered in a crisp, credible and home-spun language touched on many unpleasant issues plaguing India like rapes and women's safety, female foeticide, cleanliness and sanitation, communalism and casteism etc and would have won millions of hearts. Although some of his diehard fans may have been dismayed by the absence of belligerency in his speech, he rightly chose to speak the language of consensus and reconciliation by complimenting all previous governments, Prime Ministers and even State governments for country' development and assuring everyone that " he wants to move forward not on the basis of majority but on consensus". Calling himself a Pradhan Sevak (Prime servant) he praised bureaucrats for their calibre and competence and opposition members for their cooperation in the smooth functioning of Parliament. No show of bravado but plenty of confidence. His open confession - “I am an outsider to Delhi but got an insider view in last two months" added a dash of humour. 

Foreign Relations

Narendra Modi's first visit as PM to Bhutan (June 15-16), our friendliest neighbour, helped in cementing India's ' unique and special relationship' with her. He stated that ' strong and prosperous' India can help smaller countries in the region. His visit to attend 6th BRICS( Brazil,Russia,India,China and South Africa) summit in Brazil (July 15) gave him first lesson in the multi-lateral diplomacy. Chinese President Xi Jinping in his first meeting with Modi remarked cryptically that “when India and China meet the whole world watches". During his meeting with Russian President Putin, Modi hailed Russia as “our country's greatest friend”. Putin reciprocated by saying that both countries are “in full consensus on working together on the international stage and on matters of economic and defence cooperation" among others. But the crowning glory of the summit was creation of NDB(National Development Bank) by BRICS nations with an initial capital of US$ 50 billion, headqurters in Shanghai, an Indian as its first president and no veto power. On his Nepal visit (Aug 3- 4), first by an Indian PM since 1997  he made a positive impact on its people, leaders, and more importantly opposition Maoist leaders, eliciting tongue-in-cheek remark from China's state-run Xinhua Agency  that " although Modi's visit was successful and generated lot of goodwill but the soft loan of US$ 1 billion is insufficient".But the real expectations are from his forthcoming visits to Japan and USA and Jinping's visit to India all in a matter of four exciting weeks. Economic diplomacy is close to Modi's heart and he will get enough chance to earn his spurs during these crucial visits  An interesting month of diplomatic opportunities for all four countries. Let us see who gets what and from whom. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has proved to be a great asset to Modi and had fruitful visits to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.

Future

A fast learner Modi loves to convey his ideas through catchy phrases on special occasions. Sample these - 3 D’s (Democracy, Demography, Demand), the 3 S’s (Skill, Scale and Speed) and 5 T’s (Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology). He is also very methodical and his ' method' mannerisms look as real and convincing as the 'method' acting of famous Hollywood actors like Marlon Brando, De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis. He may be grappling with hundred of complex issues but has uncanny ability to overcome them with the help of  dedicated bureaucrats and effective ministers and fulfil his promise of developing India on a war footing. Elevation of his confidant Amit Shah as the party's youngest president has given more power to his elbow and brought both the party and government on the same page.  Critics may scream, detractors (both inside and outside) may whine but Modi's grip is now stronger than their gripe. Unlike his predecessor he has both absolute power and total accountability. Coming back to governance, his government is doing well  by laying out a viable road map for all-round development and pushing hard for their completion at a break-neck speed. However,the real challenge lies in tackling the spectre of corruption. He will have to crack down on it with all power at his command. The earlier the better. Stinging judicial verdicts in big-ticket corruption cases involving crony capitalists,greedy politicians and corrupt officials give him a strong handle to deal with this social cancer.He is eminently suitable to accomplish this seemingly insuperable task for three reasons- his reputation as an honest and incorruptible politician, no family,friends or relatives to promote and his agenda to see a clean India, literally and metaphorically Come what may he has to keep his promise made in Kargil on Aug 12,2014 ' Na Khaoonga, Na Khane Dunga' ( Neither will I eat,nor I will let others eat) and move India from a low 94th rank among 177 corrupt nations to around 50 in the next 5 years.That will be a matchless achievement.  

The promised 'Happy Days' may not be here yet but his first 100 days in office  have been 'Mood Changer' and created an ambience of 'Happy Hours’ for millions of Indians. Things will look much brighter in a year or so.