President’s address

THE President’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament had nothing remarkable about it. As usual, it held out tall promises. Food inflation will be brought down. A high speed rail network will be built. New cities will come up and new jobs will be created. Governance will be digitized at all levels. All this adds up to a wish-list of the new government. The previous coalition governments could not deliver the goods. An unruly Parliament and an unyielding bureaucracy along with occasional fissures among the allies prevented progress. But the Modi government has no such excuses as it has a comfortable absolute majority. The PMO is trying to assert itself firmly with a drive towards centralization. So intent in the case of the present government should be action. But experience in New Delhi shows that in such cases the morning hardly shows the day.
Admittedly, the challenge to the Modi government does not lie in the government itself nor does it stem from troubles in Parliament. The hurdles are put up mostly by discordant state governments. It has been emphasized that Team India also includes the states. The President spoke of cooperative federalism which is rather idealistic. What is encouraging that he may give assent to state legislation which does not conform to the Union pattern should the Union Cabinet so advises him. The Rajasthan government for instance wants to introduce labour reform. The Centre would support it. The principle also applies to states ruled by Opposition parties. The Centre will not be the sole architect of the country’s growth.  State level permits are always necessary for investment projects cleared by the Union. It is true of also the Centre’s push for revamping agricultural markets to contain inflation. It is good that the Presidential address put civil nuclear agreements and GST back on the agenda. The BJP had opposed it previously.