After Monsoon of Discontent, in terms of governance in India, “alleged” Modi-bhakt like me, hope for a Winter of Hope!
The performance of the Modi government has so far left its ardent admirers unsatisfied although many self-styled fans of the prime minister like me would give him benefit of doubt as things are still too early and moreover the socio-political atmosphere is not quite conducive for performance – mainly the bitter pills.
One safe conclusion, so far should be: Three things harming India’s growth and reforms: Rahul Gandhi, Rajya Sabha and frequent elections!!
Time to get up!
Let us take the clock back, in 2014 when Modi took over, voters in India, his admirers, businessmen and investors — all wanted India under Modi to take tough political decisions, sooner rather than later, to reboot its economy.
Thanks to ‘vocal’ policy paralysis under Manmohan Singh, the year had started on a difficult note for India with negative rates of growth for the industrial sector, the agricultural sector and exports. Other components of the services sector like, retail trade, financial services, transportation, hotels, tourism, software and IT-enabled services, either showed lower rates of growth or even negative growth.
The economy looked stagnant or declining and employment both in the organized and the unorganized sectors declined. The drought in Kharif was an added cause of worry!
Still, people expected miracles! Forget, critics and those who swore by the theory –Modi-will-never-be-PM —– remained where they are – prophets of doom.
Kick-starting his stint with promises and amid hopes, Prime Minister Modi trusted Ajit Doval and made him a powerful NSA, he crafted in Arun Jaitley, a man with law background and little economic brilliance as his Finance Minister.
Doval started behaving as super cop even on issues he should have kept a distance and Jaitley stuck to his status quoist mannerism. Hence, while Modi made waves in foreign policy, his domestic front remained weak.
But people would not blame Jaitley or Doval. Those who are let down would feel let down by none other than Modi himself.
Prime Minister has to get started soon and put the economy in order at the earliest. For years, we now know, the Indian economy is like a giant elephant which lay tied. It is not to be forgotten that five decades ago, several Asian countries lagged behind India in economic growth, foreign direct investment and infrastructure growth and literacy.
But things have changed, notwithstanding 1991 for India, several other countries have “leapfrogged ahead,” says Sameer Mohindru, my Singapore-based friend and a keen India watcher.
“Indonesia and Thailand are examples of countries having emerged with stronger economies and gained much higher investor confidence despite their own political turmoil and challenges,” he wrote aptly in book ‘What’s UP! What’s Down! – Essays on Indian Socio-economy.’
Prime Minister Modi is now expected to do the turn around. The three-day BJP-RSS meet in Delhi is expected to take an overview of things and how would the embattled Modi-led regime unravel the economic road map. The corrective steps vis-à-vis the much needed economic reforms ought to come at the earliest.
The monsoon session of parliament made it amply clear that the Congress will not cooperate – come what may – solely because the dynasty and its crown prince want to play God to millions of Indians.
Playing ‘Prince of Sabotage’ Rahul Gandhi has no accountability for himself. But he has other saboteurs by his side – the large SICKULAR army, the self-seeking corrupt babus, the omni-present middlemen/women and of course the greedy mass Indians – who want everything free!
On that backdrop, the government has done it well that it allowed the Ordinance on Land Bill to lapse. But tactfully, it passed an executive order making it clear that for any acquisition under 13 Acts like Railways, the landowners and farmers would get compensation. This has somehow stumped the Congress and thus Jairam Ramesh with his concocted one-liners were again fielded with his NGO-type intellectual oneliners!
But Modi needs to look forward. The economic equivocation: the glass is half-full or half-empty often has left Modi amazed. In his famous speech to Shri Ram College students on 6 February 2013, Modi waxed eloquently that the glass is always full: half air, half water ! Now let us take in economic perspective.Like life, economy also has positives and negatives- the real challenge is how the positives and the negatives can weigh up and help come to a ‘judgment’ about the net effect.
Those of us who followed Modi in Gujarat know often he ruled that state with his instinct and his rhetoric argument of simple logic.
He has to bank on it yet again. Often in last one-year-and more perhaps Modi has realized that whatever he could move and achieve as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he is unable to repeat the same magic. Perhaps, it would not be wrong to say, Modi the Chief Minister was often MORE POWERFUL than Modi the Prime Minister of India.
Like many economists and pro-liberalism intelligentsia, the Modi regime also seemed to endorse that the FDI route is answer to most problems. RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch do not endorse this. I spoke to Ashwaini Mahajan of SJM, who rightly says, FDI is no panacea as “no country has been built by foreigners.”
The Make-in-India slogan has been a good initiative and last one year did not show indigenous manufacturing make any waves in India. It is this small-scale industrial sector that needs key attention. What we hear is only speeches and some noise.
There must be actions. SICKULAR India is playing a dangerous game. They are determined not to allow Modi perform and after 2-3 years, they would question Modi’s ‘performance’ as PM.
I know it, most of our patrons of the blogs know this. It would be childish to presume that a hardcore political nut the Prime Minister of India does not know it. Time for action, Mr Prime Minister; we have one Prime Minister, but expectations are many.
You cannot impose family planning to hopes!
(Nirendra Dev is Spl. Representative with The Statesman and author of books including ‘Modi to Moditva – An Uncensored Truth.)
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