Corruption, by now, has become a way of life in India. While this was one of the campaign planks of Narendra Modi when he sought to take power as Prime Minister and ousted the UPA II government at the Centre in 2014, nothing in the seven years of his government goes to show he is serious about checking this social evil. Reports this week saying benami properties worth over Rs 1,000 crore linked to Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar were attached by the Income Tax department were quickly denied by his office. The government is keeping quiet.
The fact remains that the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar has been in the news for several years for a whole lot of alleged corrupt deals. The ongoing bar bribe case in the state is an example, in which NCP leader Anil Deshmukh was removed from the state home minister’s post and is now arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. This, after a top Mumbai cop alleged Deshmukh had asked the police to collect Rs 100 crore as bribe by way of extortion from restaurant and bar owners in the western metropolis every month. The shadow of it leapt up to an explosion near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence. Now, it would appear that the cop has been silenced. He is refusing to give more evidence. The case might end up in a whimper. Regional entities like the Shiv Sena and the NCP are calling much of the shots in the state. The saffron party’s failures in governance led to its loss of power in Maharashtra; and predictably the two regional parties are having a whale of a time.
This brings us to the question as to what change the seven-years of the Modi governance has brought to our lives. In state after state, vested interests are digging themselves deeper and subverting established systems. A bonus during the UPA terms was the perceptible economic well-being for the nation, thanks largely to Dr Manmohan Singh. Had he controlled the free-wheeling corruption, the fate of the Congress party would not have been what it is today. Investors are hesitating to put their money into new ventures as they have to pay through their noses to bureaucrats and politicians to get the necessary permissions. The manufacturing sector is thus ailing and India’s dependence on China for even ordinary household wares is growing. The Licence Raj, which was supposed to have ended from the time of Liberalization in 1991, is showing up in myriad new ways. Less of industries here means less of job opportunities too.
