We are a country of over hundred billion people; a country where
around 300 million people sleep hungry every night; 700 million defecate in the
open. We just don’t have the resources to provide dignified living to people if
we continue to grow our population by 22 million every year.A country where
one-third of the children are underweight at birth cannot hope to convert its
population into any economic dividend. Still people including Mr. PM ‘The
Shaktiman’ himself think that he has some magic band to do whatever he has
promised during his Election campaign.
The day Mr. Modi took Oath for the PM post; I planned to write
this blog (and four more on every anniversary of the NDA Govt.). That day I was
sure there will only be negatives to write about as I was not happy with his
loud-mouth, self-praise, I-me-myself attitude. He made tall promises, which I
believe everybody knew (including himself) he can’t fulfill. BUT, I am happy to
write that there are some positives in the last 365 days along with those rebuffs.
Next five years will surely be interesting; that was clear when SAARC members
were invited by Mr. Modi for his swearing in ceremony. That was a major
diplomatic signal to the region as well as to the global community. And from
that day onwards, there is no looking back at the diplomatic front. From China
to Japan; from Russia to USA; from Nepal to Afghanistan wherever he went, Mr.
Modi left his solid imprints. Whether India benefited or not from these trips
will be clear in future years, but as of now it seems these trips are more of
ho-hala than the business. Wherever Mr. Modi went; it seemed more like a
Bollywood celebrity tour instead of a PM. During the G-20 summit Australia
visit, Mr. Modi spent four days with highlighted fanfare and little business;
and compared to what Chinese Xi Jinping got in his single day trip, Mr. Modi’s
accomplishments are nothing. The only big thing was the coal mines which he got
for his dear friend ‘Adani’ and that project is also on hold as of now. Mr. PM
asked the NRI’s in China to push at least five Chinese every year to travel to
India. I ask him for what? To witness polluted Ganga? The sewage drain Yamuna,
which was once a river? The rain drained Mumbai? The ever ignored Himalayas or
the once heaven on earth Kashmeer? The political battle ground Delhi? Which is
still looking at both P.M. and C.M.; whom to blame for her pathetic condition?What
will we showcase to those tourists?
Business
world internationally and Indian startups are really up-beat about the future
market in India. More FDI is flowing in more mergers and acquisitions taking place,
venture capital is flowing steadily into start-ups. Rafale deal, Spectrum
allocation and coal mines auctions are really ‘work well done’ by the Present
Government. The new policies Mr. PM launched in this one year are commendable,
JanDhan yojana, Insurance bill, Land acquisition bill (Tabled), Goods &
Services Tax (still to come) etc. some of which are UPA’s work. These bills
will really improve India’s growth. But the way these bills were tabled,
especially the Land acquisition bill shows the arrogance of the NDA party. As
Mr. Modi says ‘I am a small person, will fix small problems first and work for
the small (poor) people. He must walk the talk, and must take in account the
interests of the poor people in his favorite bills.
And
people must know that the rise in stock market and stability in currency has
less to do with Mr. Modi and more to do with its central bank governor Raghuram
Raju, who in my view is among the best central bankers of the world. Moreover,
despite the high GDP figures (7.3 – calculated by new formula, which is again
debatable), credit growth has been painfully slow. And exports have been
dropping in every field. Instead of bringing money from the outer world, Mr.
Modi must concentrate on the local consumers first, fix the local problems
first. All of the world is looking to India as a future market; but don’t know
why only we are interested in the other countries. Mr. Modi more black money is
stacked in India than the Swis banks; think about that first.
Governance - Modi and his political
party appear to be pulling in different direction while Modi propagates an
image of a liberal and progressive India, the party and its workers appear hell
bent on taking regressive steps. The party’s job may be to grow its roots in every
city and state, but the govt’s job is governance. I really want to ask Mr. Modi
to concentrate on governance, not on winning states after states. We have given
you the whole country, now don’t run after states. I really feel sorry for our
country, when her PM goes for Delhi/ Bihar election campaign and then use foul
language for the competitors and the ruling parties. I hope Mr. PM will soon
realize that he must rise above his marketing job for the BJP and start
thinking and delivering as a PM.
Communism
– The BJP went so low on the issue, they didn’t even left the children out of
their parade. saffronization of education also came to the fore when
Human Resources Development Minister, SmritiIrani, announced giving "Hindu
perspective" to school curriculum. And when it really comes to delivering
on that front also, it reminds me of Article 370 – BJP always played politics
on this issue and raised this issue at every election. But as it seems to rule
a state is more important than their principles. Mr. Modi didn’t even talk
about Article 370 during his Kashmir visit; however it was not a surprise for
me.
Political
Vedanta - Governors of seven states, who were appointed by UPA2 government,
have been asked to quit. Mr. Modi said that his party is different. Really? Mr.
PM let me give you an advise‘The character of a person is not judged by how he
speaks with his seniors but how he behaves with his subordinates.’ Now you are
ruling the country, you must lead by example, don’t follow the foot-steps of
your predecessors; in playing the revenge politics. Show us that you are really
different. Show us that you are really good. Delhi
Police somehow became very efficient in pinning down AAP’s leader Mr. Tomar in
a fake degree case (I am not marking it as a wrong move). But Mr. Modi has no
intentions to take action against Ms. SushmaSwaraj, Ms. Rajeand Mr. Shiv Raj
Singh Chauhan. There are plenty of more examples. And here I am not saying that
all other party members are clean; but as Mr. PM says BJP is different, ‘Prove
it’.
Misguided priorities - Railway
Minister has announced 100 per cent FDI in Indian Railways for modernizing
railway sector, on one hand, and meeting resource crunch, on the other. FDI is
expected to create high-end infrastructure to make high-speed trains in India a
reality. But, India does not need such high speed trains, for which the entire
nation has to suffer on account of increased inflation. In a country where 70
per cent of its population spend their daily lives within a mere $2, there’s no
rationale of opening up the third largest Railway of the world to foreign
finance, whose burden has to be borne by the middle class along with the entire
society. Raise your hands who agree that India need Bullet trains? A country
where it’s next to impossible to get a train ticket booked, you are talking
about bullet trains? At present we need to improve our existing trains; improve
the number of trains, connect more areas, improve the ticketing system, and
maintain running schedule, concentrate on cleanliness & hygiene. First do
these necessary things; dream of bullet trains can wait.
To ‘make in india’ we have to first
make India clean, productive, efficient and attractive for its own citizens.There
is no ‘one-fit-for-all’ solution. While india is a country of hundred
billionaires, it is also a country with the largest number of poor. While job
creation and growth are important, there is a need to address the aspirations
of have-nots. More than big bang reforms, the country requires long term
structural, systemic changes. Just announcing ‘Swach Bharat campaign’ won’t
make India clean. Follow the thumb rules; ask the sanitary workers and
responsible departments to take charge. You do your bit first, abolish food
subsidy of the parliamentarians, reduce number of security personals for the
VIP’s, Reduce your car convoys while traveling, abolish reservation in
education; then you are welcome to ask citizens to leave the LPG subsidy.
After acquiring PM seat Mr. Modi made
grand promises to address gender disparities, create jobs, remove poverty, and
solve education and health problems. But during its first year, his government
has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of seriousness in meeting these promises, by
cutting funding to social sector programs by Rs. 4,39,192.25 crore. These cuts
are across all social sector ministries— healthcare, education, women and child
development, drinking water and sanitation, rural development, agriculture, the
MNREGA and the Mid-Day Meal scheme. These cuts have also adversely
affected several of the UPA’s signature schemes.One of the biggest successes of
the UPA had been the vast increase in school enrolments, stemming from the
flagship Right to Education Act. But under the Modi government, the allocation
for the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan has been reduced by nearly 80%. It is hard to take
the government’s own programmes, such as Make in India or SkillIndia —
seriously if it fails to demonstrate a commitment to addressing core education
challenges.
The UPA’s efforts led to a
significant reduction in the number of women dying during childbirth thanks the
innumerable schemes launched over the past 10 years. But now, with the cash
crunch in social sector, these schemes will die down. Some of these UPA schemes
might be less productive; but the reason behind that is poor implementation not
the faulty scheme. Mr. PM must look at proper implementation of schemes.
Otherwise closing previously running schemes and launching new schemes will be
like an old wine in a new bottle.
The
intentions and set goals of the present government look good, but I can’t say
the same for their performance so far. Mr. Modi has said ‘When we meet in
2019, I will give you my report card’. It would be
great if we see promise 2019 with the metrics to measure performance versus
promise (eg. MW of power generation capacity added, KM’s of national highways
constructed, Number of government schools and Hospitals constructed etc.)
P.S. They say ‘It’s been a year only’.Let me remind them, 20% of
your tenure is already over; you better start delivering man. Otherwise 5 years
won’t last for life time.
A rising tide raises
all boats; it is only when the tide goes out that you know who has been
swimming naked - Warren Buffet
