Arun Bajpai
Modi Governments completes one year in office this month in May. With honeymoon period being over now, lot of views and analysis are pouring in media depending upon which organisation is analysing the pluses and the minuses of the functioning of the Government in power in last one year. If one goes by the views of the congress and janta parivar then nothing good has happened in last one year and the country has hit rock bottom. However with 80 crore Indians below 35 years of age and 70 percent literacy in the country the polity of India is quite capable to discern the truth from rhetoric. As the various opinion surveys suggest Prime Minster Modi has maintained his popularity with the people of India. Almost 60% countrymen are saying aye for him, a real great achievement in a diverse country like India. However it does not mean that the ruling NDA has not faltered in certain fields to deliver on its pre election promises which resulted in it getting an absolute majority in parliament after 30 years. In other word a sober analysis is a must.
The biggest achievement of the Modi government has been in the foreign policy field for which credit must go to Mr Modi and the foreign minister Sushama Swaraj. The Modi Government in last one year has transformed the Indian foreign policy from the old and non functional Non Alignment plank to a multi alignment platform keeping India’s national interests in mind. In last one year Modi has visited 17 major countries including America, China, Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Australia. In each of these countries visited, apart from forcefully putting up India’s point of view he has used his extraordinary communication skills to interact with the large Indian Diaspora settled there. The Prime Minster has been visiting world tours with core message that India is now open for business so come and Make in India thereby opening the doors for creation of new jobs and transfer of top of the line technology. The Indians settled abroad now are feeling for the first time that yes their mother country cares for them. This in turn has motivated them to lobby for India in their respective countries and to certain extent mould the public opinion as also official opinion there. The evacuation against dire odds from Iraq, Yemen Nepal as also timely aid to quake hit Nepal has all added to the India’s prestige as a friend who cares for its countrymen and others.
The initiatives and bonhomie established with US , Japan and Australia including Vietnam has been able to counter the growing Chinese influence and domination in South Asia as also Indian ocean nations. The two nuclear powers in our neighbourhood which have formed an axis against us, namely Pakistan and China have been put on warning that India will not take their shenanigans lightly. India’s cosying up with Iran to open a direct route to Afghanistan via Chabhar port of Iran and first time in history of indo-china relations,India officially telling china that it is not happy with china opening its China -Pakistan economic corridor via Pakistan occupied Kashmir, a disputed territory, are cases in point. During the recent visit of PM Modi to China if the Chinese excluded the Indian concern of land boundary demarcation with china from the joint statement, India excluded the good old cliché of Tibet being part of China , one china theme and endorsement of Chinese dream project of silk route.
On home front the biggest achievements of the Modi Government has been to take the country out from a state of policy paralysis which it inherited from the Congress led UPA Government and converting despondency overshadowing the countries polity to an aspirational one with positive outlook. The perception of the country caught neck deep in corruption is down. In the last one year as against the mega scams of the UPA government the CWG, 2 G, Coal and what have you, there have been no corruption charges against the Modi Government. Transparent auctioning of Coal Blocks and Spectrums by this government have fetched for the country three lakh crores. We are finally moving away from the crony capitalism.
In last one year the Modi Government cleared the key Bills on Insurance, Defence and Minerals. Increased FDIs in Insurance, Make in India in Defence, Railways and construction. Diesel was de regularised and agreement was reached with the US on nuclear liability bill opening doors for India to be member of nuclear suppliers group and transfer of cutting edge technology to India. There has been greater coordination in bureaucracy in Modi Governments rule. The decision making has been speeded up and long pending approvals granted. Inflation has been tamed and price rise controlled. Most of all the primacy of the office of Prime Minister, the main pillar of Indian constitution, which had got eroded during the decade old Congress rule due to dual control of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her Prime Minster Dr Manmohan Singh, has been restored. PMO once again has become all powerful.
Picture will not be complete without examining the negative side of the current Government. The most important bills having a direct sway on new job creation, enhancement of industry and ease of doing business namely the Land Acquisition Bill and Goods and Services Tax Bills could not be passed and are lying in limbo. There have been unwanted and alarming statements from Hindutwa die hards who have not been effectively controlled there by generating fear and apprehensions in minorities of India. The economic reforms have been slow and incremental as a result the honeymoon period being over now the ruling government will find it increasing difficult to implement them.
There are lot of good things in offing for which now this government must push ahead with full vigour. The planning commission, a legacy of the past has been dismantled and states have been given more financial powers. The central government now must endeavour to go extra mile to bring the states, who are basically the implementers of all these schemes both of centre and states to be on board on a concerted growth mission. The mega schemes like Swach Bharat Abhiyan and construction of 100 smart cities must be speeded up. The Modi Governments scheme of Jan Dhan Yojna combined with Adhar card can revolutionise the transfer of subsidies to the poor without leakages in delivery. This must be pushed at all costs. Similarly the Modi Government must move ahead to establish the Jan Lokpal and enforce Citizen Charter to put a lid on endemic corruption in Indian bureaucracy. Reforms in all fields must be pursued openly. The Modi Government must go direct to people and explain to them why these reforms are needed. Let people of India bring pressure on the Indian opposition parties who are blocking these reforms to let them be implemented.
(The author is Defence and Strategic Analyst)
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