Modi Government’s One Year: Waiting for ‘Acche Din’

Inhe 60 saal diye hai, mujhe 60 mahine do (You have given them (Congress) 60 years, give me 60 months)! Narendra Modi had petitioned voters to test him during his shrill national election campaign, and see the difference he would make to their lives and that of the country.

It has been nearly 365 days since the rock star leader from Gujarat was sworn in as the Prime Minister of the country, and the clock is slowly ticking away…

But has life changed - for you or for me or the common man of India? It’s a thought worth pondering over. In terms of perception, the answer would be a clear yes. The unfortunate policy paralysis that had set in during UPA II’s term and the general feeling of ennui and despondency in governance was eating the minds and spirits of a middleclass which had gained wings since the Indian economy liberalised.

The country’s ‘dil mange more’ appetite was frustrated by the dual power centres that had been created in the previous government, and business heads and industrialists had begun to despair as the second phase of much needed reforms remained grounded despite an economist Prime Minister’s presence at the helm. Dr Manmohan Singh had shown the country that dreams could be achieved and then got too knotted in the contradictions of his own government to deliver the tangibles in his second term.

Narendra Modi’s fresh style of hands on functioning thus came as a breath of fresh air for Indians. You can call that a good start, but with 12 months having melted away, people are now waiting to get a taste of the pudding which can only come in the eating.

Yes, inflation is down, as promised, but that clearly has more to do with low crude rates and crash in global commodity prices and less to do with any efficiency in managing supplies and supply chains.

On the economic front, the GDP data is slowly looking up and both the World Bank & IMF predict that if all goes well, the Indian economy will be back on the 7% plus growth track. One would presume, this would have to come with riders – Modi would need to deliver on the promises he made on rolling out the next round of economic reforms.

He has taken the ordinance route to push through a few bills, and caps on FDI in insurance, real estate and defence have been increased. The idea to privatise some part of the railways is also good considering the train network remains the best means to keep India tightly knit, and thus the need to modernise it cannot be understated.

But grey areas remain – for example the ‘Make in India’ campaign has been much touted but the country hasn’t made any improvement in the ‘ease of doing business’ index.

The Vodafone tax dispute of the previous regime was severely criticized and yet Arun Jaitley has chosen to pursue the same path by imposing retrospective tax on foreign portfolio investors.

An American industrialist had made a pointed observation when Modi visited the US, saying the PM had wasted the first three crucial months, which are usually the best time to push radical policy decisions and change the ground reality.

Similar is the fate of highly publicised campaigns like Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Ganga Cleaning program, Digital India or Skill India, where application remains untested while slogans like ‘maximum governance and minimum government’ are bandied about.

Undoubtedly, schemes to bring banking, social security and insurance to the under privileged through proposals like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana have been aces, as have been direct subsidy transfers to some extent.

But again, between what has been implemented and a lot that has not been, slowly people have begun to realize that these are the same schemes that the UPA government had been talking about which are now being renamed and re-marketed.

The litmus test will be whether systems will be put in place so that benefits reach the common man by the end of 5 years, irrespective of whether the plan in called Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) or Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

On the foreign policy front as well, Modi government’s achievement is more like a mixed bag – his invitation to President Barack Obama for Republic Day celebrations was a masterstroke, and his visits to the US, Australia and Japan were in many ways path breaking. However, his track record insofar as China and Pakistan are concerned is far from satisfactory. First, Modi invited Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony and then later called off talks with Pakistan over their envoy meeting Kashmiri separatists. Months later, he again made the first move to resume foreign secretary level talks though Pakistan continues to consult Hurriyat leaders and invite them to their National Day programs. If foreign affairs ever defied logic, one could quote this example as a classic case.

With China, things have been no better. Though Xi Jinpings’s visit to India was much lauded, the Chinese Army made incursions into Ladakh even while their President was still on Indian soil, making the incident looked too well scripted for India to miss the point. And just as we cosied up to the US, China and Pakistan followed up with a meeting to discuss USD 46 billion of investment in an economic corridor.

A thumbs up could be for Sushma Swaraj for helping evacuate Indians stranded in Iraq and Yemen (though the fate of 40 odd hostages being held by ISIS in Iraq is yet unknown) and for Modi to be off his feet quickly for sending aid and assistance to earthquake-hit Nepal.

Internally, the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine can take the credit for winning Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand and forging an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. In Delhi, the duo had a brief waterloo moment when the Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory came as a surprise to itself, as much as it startled the BJP. Even in Kashmir, the coalition has not been free from controversies with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed conceding space to right wingers by first crediting Pakistanis for allowing polls and then freeing radical leader Masarat Alam, only to re-arrest him later.

Besides, Modi is yet to tactfully handle the hardliners within his party (including in his cabinet) and its affiliates like the RSS and VHP who have been whipping up unnecessary frenzy over issues like ‘Ghar Wapsi’ or indulging in physical or verbal attacks on minorities. His government is also facing censure for lack of transparency with regards to the decision to ban several NGOs, many of which were funded by foreign sources.

From the time Modi started his tenure in Delhi’s power corridors to now....one of the best moments for him would have been Barack Obama’s penning an ode to his life in a Time magazine profile with the description of his rise from humble beginnings to becoming the current “reformer-in-chief”.

The eulogy would have given the Prime Minister a high considering his ambition to be seen as a global statesman. But Modi would do well to remember that great leaders are those who touch the lives of small people and make a real difference to their destinies – the chaiwallas, dhaba workers, autorickshaw drivers, teachers, students, doctors, professionals, kiriana shop owners and most importantly – the farmers.

Moid’s BJP-led government was recently facing the heat on the pathetic conditions of those whose livelihood depends on agricultural incomes. A spate of unseasonal rains not just destroyed crops but extinguished hopes and lives.

It was just when the debate over our farmer suicides was taking centrestage that the Nepal earthquake struck, causing a tectonic shift in public focus as well.

While Narendra Modi has escaped the scathe of condemnation this time, he must use the time gained fruitfully. Most of our poor population depends only on their small plots of land and what they yield. Bringing to them irrigation, insurance covers and modern techniques of farming will go a long way in improving the fate of the last man standing in this vast and diverse canvass called India.

And it is only when the tears are wiped off the faces of these Aam Aadmis will Modi truly be able to claim that he has brought the veridical dawn of ‘Acche Din’.