Democracy functions in such a way that leaders will have to connect with the masses by all means. In this context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does a good job of reaching out to the people with his various radio and TV programmes. He started with the Chai Pe Charcha at the time when he aimed at the PM’s chair in Delhi. The latest was his Pariksha Pe Charcha – an engagement with students. His monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat is also hugely popular and helped him win 2019 Lok Sabha polls to power for another term.
The question that now arises is whether the Prime Minister should be engaging in these pursuits of public engagement when there are other more serious matters that call for his immediate attention. The economy, for one is passing through precarious times. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reiterated that the Indian economy is on the downslide. It’s cold comfort for India that other economies of note are also in a similar plight. The point is that India’s population burden is a cause for worry, especially its youth who now find themselves without jobs and without any opportunities for start-ups. This demographic dividend could turn out to be India’s Achilles heel.
There is little optimism about a revival of the Indian economy right now. From a level of nine plus rate of economic growth, it has slumped to around five per cent. The upcoming budget is eagerly awaited to see whether the government has a magic wand to stop this downslide and to give the budget a makeover. Expert doses must go into its fundamentals. The UPA regime managed to steer the economy on the right track since a person who understood the fundamentals of economics and finance was at the helm in the form of Dr Manmohan Singh. Yet, in the last phase of UPA-II, the economy showed serious strains. Modi inherited such a scenario. He could not effect positive changes; rather, the drift continued in his first term.
Admittedly, economic growth cannot be on a steady keel for long. There will be ups and downs. China has had a long period of heating up of the economy but it remained at around nine per cent. However, China too is growing at around five per cent now. Some say, this was a deliberate cooling down effected by the government, in order that the economy did not over-heat itself. PM Modi will need to attend to the present mess here with more seriousness and get financial experts from across the board and not just those with BJP leanings to sort out the financial mess that India is in today.