A significant aspect of Prime Minister Modi’s address to the nation on Independence Day was the Centre’s decision to create a Chief of Defence Staff post. It later transpired that work in this direction has already been started by the government with the setting up of a high-level panel that will give advice on the modalities thereof. As such, there is no clarity at this point on aspects like whether this post will be above all the three service chiefs or on par. This will be keenly watched.
India avoided having a chief of armed forces staff all along. This was a deliberate policy also in the context of situations in which military seized power through coup in neighbouring Pakistan repeatedly, and in Bangladesh as well. Army generals held overriding powers in Pakistan and called all the shots for many years. General Ershad’s time in Bangladesh also is noteworthy. The system of democracy was subverted and the will of the military imposed on people. In India, with the chiefs of Army, Air force and Navy having been placed on an equal status all along, one could not order about the other. The political leadership called all the shots from above. For sure, the government will fashion this new post in a way that no threat would arise in future to India’s vaunted democratic system of governance.
The PM’s speech also reiterated the promise of pumping in Rs 10 lakh crore into infrastructure development sector in the five-year period of the present government. This would inject a lot of money into the market, which will have a salutary effect on the economy. This is an oft-resorted-to step to boost the economy. Americans miraculously overcame the Great Depression of the 1930s through hefty funding for highways and other infra projects; which turned out to be the starting point for the prosperity of the US. The Vajpayee government put in a similar effort, concentrating on highway build-up, pouring money into the countryside to boost the economy.
The prime minister has rightly sought to give stress to the tourism sector. Putting money into such sectors will be a money-spinning exercise too. Tourism infra is pretty weak now. The PM’s advice to each citizen who can afford travel to visit 10 destinations within the country is appreciable. This could give the first major boost to domestic tourism at a time when wealthy Indians are more inclined to travel abroad and spend their money there. India’s old charms are fading.