Convening a meeting of his council of ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to set the government’s goal for 2047, the 100th year of Independence. This long haul also marks a century of Desi rule by India’s elected governments. The PM stressed the need for reform initiatives that would make people’s lives “more comfortable.” He said the next generation of reforms must receive more attention and achieve all-round growth. These should help the nation prosper. He also stressed that people’s lives should move at a smooth pace. Another call to the ministers was to avoid any pendency of work vis-à-vis their departments and initiatives. The occasion was the completion of two years of Modi’s third term in power. He has three years left to complete his total of 15 years. Ideally, this should be the time to take stock of what his government achieved for the nation and where it erred.
For one, the Modi years in Delhi were years of political stability. There have been no internal tumults other than in Manipur and the series of terrorist mayhem in places like Pulwama, Pahalgam, Pathankot, and Uri. India’s military responses to these were stronger than those of the past — though these, mainly Operation Sindoor, produced less than expected results. Yet, overall, the terrorism scenario is under control. Regarding the reforms, the PM stresses that at this late hour that there has been an abject failure across sectors. The implementation of the market reforms through GST, conceived by the Manmohan Singh government but taken forward by Modi, was one commendable step. Modi did not show the nerve to push through his government’s agricultural reforms. Faced with protests from vested interests, he abandoned these bills. Education reforms that his government attempted meant little other than its thrust on religion-linked matters. A sound education system is important for the new generation. Modi has also not shown the courage to introduce judicial and bureaucratic reforms. This is undercutting both social and economic progress. Fact is, other than the development of the highway sector or the like, nothing much has changed over the past 12 years. The lives of the large mass of ordinary people have not changed significantly, as is also evident in India’s per capita income rankings. Building more ports or airports are natural progressions.
The PM’s call to his ministers to ensure that work is not held up in government departments — and actions in that direction– should have happened from the very outset of his governance. The dragging of feet by politicians and bureaucracy on flimsy grounds is delaying the progression of many state and central projects. The much-touted Bullet Train project, for instance has not materialised. It was announced in 2014 but the pilot project itself between Ahmedabad and Mumbai has not been completed as yet. This is principally a system weakness. The old-fashioned styles of India are often juxtaposed with the jet-speed of project implementations in China or the UAE. This is because they have strong governance systems and accountability which is not visible in India.
