One Year In Hot Pursuit Of Acche Din
One year is a good time to make an objective assessment of the performance of a Govt. with a life span of five years. Something like the first 10 overs in a 50 over cricket match. NDA led by charismatic Narendra Modi completes one year in office next week. In a diverse and complex country of 1.25 billion there would be million voices on what he has done or what he didn't to redeem the promises he made during the elections last year. Let the facts speak for themselves.
Positives
Increased
FDI in Insurance, Defence, Railways and Construction Projects, more funds for
States, online transparent auction of Spectrum, Coal yielding over Rs 3 lakh
crores, Nuclear Liability Agreement, bringing down inflation from 8.59% (April,
2014) to 4.87% (April, 2015), deregulation of Diesel prices and path-breaking
law on Black Money to name a few. All welcome steps as are the Govt's herculean
efforts of dismantling the dysfunctional system of procedural clearances to
attract heavy investments in India which ranks 142 out of 189 countries on the
ease of doing business index.
A
pity that 2 major bills – Land acquisition & GST bills, considered key
enablers to speed up the economic reforms process, have been delayed in the
face of strong protests by Congress party passing through the confused state of
cognitive dissonance. These could have activated the economy as India is poised
for stable growth momentum.
Negatives
However,
everything is not so hunky-dory. Modi's failure to rein in habitual offenders
from raising, time and again, inane issues like love jihad and ghar-wapsi is inexplicable. The
reprehensible speeches of these loudmouths, besides causing unease and anxiety
among some sections of minorities go against party's committed goal of Sabka
Saath Sabka Vikas. A stern leader like Modi should have chastised them and
saved party from adverse publicity in domestic & international media.
Publicity is essential in democracy to keep in touch with people yet its
overdose can be counter-productive, as it happened in monogrammed suit controversy. But real areas of concern are
high food prices, new jobs and farmers’ apprehension on Land bill.
Works
in progress
The
innovative financial inclusions steps like Jan Dhan Yojna (Banking the unbanked), MUDRA (Funding the unfunded) and social security
schemes Jeevan Suraksha Yojana aim
at empowering the farmers, small businessmen, lower middle class and vulnerable
sections of the society. But the real game-changer could be the saplings of
economic growth like 5 new ultra mega power projects of 4000 MW each and heavy
infrastructure projects in roads, railways, airports & ports besides the
more ambitious ventures like Make in India, Digital India, Sagarmala
and Smart cities being planted by his Govt. These will need adequate
time, huge money and constant monitoring to develop into robust fruit-bearing
trees. Add Swach Bharat and Namami Ganga projects to the list and one gets an idea
of Modi's grand vision for a modern India. The bottom line is Modi Sarkar is as high on performance as it is on
promises. It would, however, be naive to believe that all this can happen
in a trice. You can get Maggi noodles in 2 minutes but not a sumptuous biryani.
Corruption
Govt's
2 bold initiatives to tackle this menace has been stringent laws on Black Money
stashed abroad and proposed Benami bill to nab tax-dodgers and creators of
domestic black money. Its decision to treat graft as a 'heinous' crime, punishment
for both bribe-takers and bribe-givers up to 7
years, acceptance of non-monetary gratification as 'bribe' and 2-year time-frame for completion of graft cases
will be enabling steps to curb corruption in upper echelons. But it is brazen
and widespread corruption at the level of junior officials in municipality, police,
transport, hospitals/schools, income tax etc. which directly affects millions
on a daily basis that should be stemmed on a war footing with the help of
latest technology and honest officials.
A
daunting task but Modi can do it. He sounds credible with his statements like -
"Na khaunga Na khane dunga", "Rules are same for Mukesh Ambani and
common man", "his Govt will have a level playing field for all and he
will not spoon-feed anyone". These may not be palatable to those who have
thrived all these years within the protected confines of crony-capitalism but
genuine investors would be reassured.
Population
All gains of economic bonanza will go waste if our ever rising population is
not controlled. A new population policy which is neither coercive nor cosmetic
is required. It can have dollops of financial, educational medical and social
incentives for having a small family. Campaigns like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao can be very useful. For political reasons,
a revolutionary step may not be feasible at the moment but this is as serious
an issue as rampant corruption and has many deleterious side effects like
pollution, poverty, unemployment, crime etc.
Foreign Policy
This
is one area where even his trenchant critics would concede that he has been
successful in improving India's international image. His visit to 19 countries
including 5 G-7 (US, Japan, Canada, France & Germany) have been very
fruitful for India's economic development and political convergence and likely
to bring tidy investment and latest technology to India, Modi has enthused
millions of Indian diaspora during these visits and has become a cult-figure
among them. He has also cemented ties with our neighbours, except
Pakistan which continues to play the old game of one step forward, two steps back.
Much
was expected from Modi's 3-day state visit to China and Modi
didn't disappoint. Both sides worked meticulously to make it a memorable visit.
The talks were candid, constructive and comprehensive and a wide consensus
seems to have been reached between two countries to put history and
geography on a back burner and focus on culture, chemistry and economics (26
deals worth $22 billion) and move bilateral relations to a new high. "Seize
the day, seize the hour" could be the new buzzword. Indian President's
participation in Victory day celebrations in Moscow and signing of Chabahar
port deal with Iran despite US warning show a confident India. The stupendous
job of evacuations of thousands of people trapped in war-torn Iraq and Yemen and
earthquake-hit Nepal including nationals of 45 countries earned us
international acclaim and gratitude. Foreign Ministry on the move with great
aplomb.
Party
After
stunning victories in Maharashtra, Haryana, J&K and Jharkhand, BJP fell
flat on its face in Delhi. In the backdrop of Delhi debacle, Amit Shah
considered Modi's major-domo in the party can't afford to lose in Bihar.
Testing times for him, his mentor and party. Modi's cabinet may not be "woefully
short of talent" but there could be many square pegs in round holes.
Summer would be good time for a minor reshuffle. Also a Sujh Bujh Ki Sarkar will avoid
arrogance and embrace modesty in its day-to-day business. While arrogance
magnifies a lapse, modesty reduces it.
Leader
Modi
may not have the profundity of scholarship but keeps his feet on the ground and
head in the clouds and joins them together. This rare quality gives him a depth
of insight into intricate problems. Self-praise comes naturally to a politician
and he is no exception but no politician works as hard as he does. During US visit
in Sept, 2014 he worked while fasting and looked amazingly fresh. A real
workaholic. He is also a good motivator as is evident from the way his
appeal for surrender of LPG subsidy struck a chord among country's cynical
affluent society. Modi's lavish praise of some of his cabinet colleagues and
his advice to senior bureaucrats "to lead a tension-free life and spend
quality time with their family members" were pleasant surprises.
Modi
Govt's intentions for good governance is not in question but the core issue is
speedy implementation of job-intensive mega projects capable of providing 5 to
6 million new jobs in next 2 years. To
use the cricket analogy, Team Modi has made a solid start on a sticky
wicket scoring 70 runs for no loss in first 10 overs - no scam, no
scandal. But expectation from Modi is so high that even such a spectacular
performance is not enough and people are asking for more.
A well balanced albeit a bit biased analysis of Modi and his government. Can't blame all those Modi lovers who are mesmerised by his charisma & rhetoric particularly after a dismal performance of UPA-II and Manmohan Singh. As rightly pointed, some key initiatives have certainly been taken, but every thing is not hunky-dory and slowly that charisma seem to have started waning and people have started to get disillusioned by Modi and NDA. Many of the initiatives/policies of UPA have been adopted and/or continued by NDA either openly or under new packaging and credit for them is being taken to misguide the people. Take FDI policy (including in retail) for instance and all Jan Dhan Bima schemes that were the brain child of UPA. Not to mention the MNERGA and what about brining black money back from overseas. They gave same excuse that UPA was giving regarding constraints of treaties with countries where it was supposedly stacked. Do we have the money even after 1 year let alone 100 days that was hyped and promised? People who kept money abroad have moved it long ago (are they idiots?) Even coal auction figures of 3 lakh crores is so deceptive. People do not know that it is not one shot wealth that has come in NDA's lap, but it is over a period of 30 years. I agree with economist Ruchir Sharma that major reforms should have been done during first year before charisma fades out as has been the case with many global leaders including Manmohan Singh (at one time the country was going gaga on his performance, too). Also, BJP sowed the seed of obstructive politics by not allowing parliament to function when in opposition and now complain, criticise or find good excuse when congress and entire opposition is giving it back to them in the same coin. In any case all this is dirty politics by all parties and considered all is fair in love and war. Nonetheless, India needs progress and growth at supersonic speed in almost all fields, hence keeping an optimistic view of Modi and NDA is imperative and I am willing to do so. Let us see what happens after one more year. After all, scams surfaced under UPA-II towards fag end of their term and NDA has just started, so we have to be vigilant that NDA does not do UPA-II since we are a nation of corrupt (whichever scale we may put them) and power corrupts.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your balanced comments.
DeleteVery balanced and well presented argument sums up the one year of the Modi government well.
ReplyDeleteRgds
Saurabh
Do appreciate it coming as it does from an eminetn journalist
ReplyDeleteA comprehensive effort! Reading it I realized how difficult it is to even attempt an assessment. The first year has been full of activities. The Opposition parties and the skeptics in the media have also been quite vocal. Everything put out by the Govt., has been incessantly questioned. In such a scenario, the layman ends up totally confused.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for a meticulous compilation, analysis and assessment of activities in the first year of Modi Sarkar. When the farmers' suicide dominates the headlines, one tends to forget the stupendous success in Yemen and Nepal. Your objective assessment puts most of the things in a proper perspective.
One can feel assured by the authority of the leader and his commitment to the job on hand. We should encourage him to carry on his efforts. Another positive feature is that many of the activities have been in the nature of laying of a foundation or sowing of seeds. If nurtured properly we are sure to get sweet fruits in abundant quantity.
Yes,we can do it. Modi's biggest advantage over other politicians is that he has not to worry about promoting or protecting family members - tainted or otherwise.. No BUNTY AUR BABLI for him. He's for country 24x7 with all his head and heart.But he should remember the old saying, " Self-praise is no recommendation".
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ReplyDeleteA thorough, unbiased and comprehensiable take on Modi's first year. I'm also going to be patient and wait for him to "deliver the goods"!
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ReplyDeletePatience is the companion of WISDOM.
ReplyDeleteNicely summed up, Modi has had a very eventful first year in office, however, he has had more successes than misses and we need to realise that he is human and not superman and is bound to err. however, he has done more good and has been able to elevate India's image globally and has undertaken some great reforms, notably among them the one related to financial inclusion, which will have deep rooted impact if implemented as promised.
ReplyDeleteIt is very difficult for a government to bring about so many changes in the first year of power, and we must be patient, however,the government does need to press the accelerator on implementation and results, or else Modi will be touted as a man of words and no action.
Overall, a great article that gives the readers an unbiased report card of the government.
An impressive analysis. We should give at least 2 more years to Modi for major changes.
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