Dr Bharata Jhunjhunwala
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proclaimed that Hindi will be among the three global languages of future along with English and Chinese. His Government is making efforts to promote this language. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has made clear that his Government is moving towards imposing a nationwide ban on cow slaughter. These steps are welcome. The self esteem of a people is centered in their culture. It is not possible to make a strong India without respect for our own culture. But these are only the external manifestations of our culture. The fundamental tenets of a culture depends upon its attitudes towards its ordinary people. The Russian Czars had a different culture than American democracy. The central question is whether we are following our own system of governance?
The Indian system of governance was explained succinctly by Rama to Bharata when the latter had come to visit him at Chitrakuta. Rama gave lessons on governance in form of certain questions. “Is your income more and expenses much less? Your treasury is not in the hands of undesirable persons?” he asked. Here “undesirable persons” is proxy for undesirable expenditures. Revenue expenditures such as paying ever increasing salaries to the government servants are “undesirable” while capital expenditures such as in building highways are “desirable.” Share of revenue expenditures in total government spending has increased under Modi while capital expenditures continue to decline. The slower rise of prices observed in the recent period is being touted by the Government as a “great” achievement. It is left unsaid though that this has come at the cost of reduced public investment.
Rama asked Bharata, “Those earning livelihood from agriculture and animal husbandry are loving towards you?” Such does not appear to be the case today. Basic problem of the farmer is that price of produce is less while cost of production is more. Farming has become a loss proposition. Farmers are not able to repay debt because prices are low and are committing suicide. The solution is to increase the prices of agricultural produce. Modi continues to tread on the UPA policy of importing food items to keep domestic prices low. Recently the Government has decided to import urad daal. This will deprive the farmer of high prices. Modi is flaunting useless schemes as “Soil Health Card.” The farmer will know what fertilizers to buy. But where is the money to buy these? The increase in Minimum Support Price announced recently should not be treated as a pro-farmer step. It only follows the past trend and does not go beyond the rate of inflation. How will the farmers be loving towards Modi in absence of such policies? Modi is only befooling the farmers by touting schemes like Soil Health Card and Insurance. The farmer does not have the money to buy fertilizers today. So how will it help to know which fertilizers to buy?
Rama asked: “Have you appointed brave, learned, and self-controlled persons as your advisors?” Modi’s advisers are Government Servants manning the PMO. These are “servants.” Their world view is limited to their personal gains. They care not what happens to their master. Once an employer lost his job. He asked his servant to stop using ghee on roti. Yet the bottle of ghee continued to deplete. When ask for reason of the same, the servant said, “Sir, you have lost your job, but I have not lost mine. I do not apply ghee on your roti as told by you, but apply ghee on my roti.” Such is the character of servants. One senior IAS official working in the PMO once said to me that he was only pushing papers! Such are Modi’s advisers. They will happily mislead the Prime Minister to keep him in good humour so that they may be made Governor of some State after retirement. Indira Gandhi during Emergency and Vajpayee were misled by these pliable Servants. Sonia Gandhi had adopted the correct strategy. She had appointed independent persons to the National Advisory Council. The success of the UPA in 2009; and failure during 2014 is attributable, in my opinion, in part at least, to the effectiveness of the NAC in 2009 and disbanding of the same before the 2014 elections.
Rama asked, “Do your judges decide without being swayed by allurements of money etc. if a poor person approaches the Court in a dispute between rich and poor?” Rama assumed that it was possible for the poor to approach the Court. Modi wants to take away this right itself from the poor. The present position is that an aggrieved person can approach the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Modi had set up a Committee under Chair of TSR Subramanian to suggest changes in the environmental laws of the country. The Committee has suggested that the right to approach the NGT may be removed. Instead the poor person should be asked to approach an Appellate Board constituted of one retired judge of the High Court and two Government Officials. Instead of Judges, now the same Government Officials who are the culprit will deliver justice! The proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Act are wholly designed to disempower the poor. The requirement of consent from the affected farmers is sought to be hugely diluted. That is hardly the justice that Rama had in mind, I think.
Rama was conscious of the need to protect the environment. He asked, “The Kosala Country that has large number of ponds is well?” Again, “The forests where elephants grow are protected by you?” Modi has no place for the traditional water harvesting technologies of the country. His policy is to make big dams like Lakhwar Vyasi that has been cleared recently by his Government. Such large projects provide huge opportunities to the big companies to make profit and also destroy the environment and culture of the country. Modi’s advisers do not want to revive the ponds because there is nothing in their revival for them. Big dams, on the other hand, provide plenty opportunities to the officials to make money on the sly. Forest, of course, are useless for Modi. The Subramanian Committee has recommended that 90 percent of the country’s forests that do not have dense cover be opened to cutting and mining.
Modi, however, is strong on cosmetic works. State BJP Governments have banned cow slaughter. Modi had obtained a huge photo opportunity by doing yoga in public. He is pushing the Sanskrit language. The reader will note that such fringe activities do not find any mention in the discourse given by Rama to Bharata. There is more to culture than such cosmetic activities.
(The author was formerly Professor of Economics at IIM Bengaluru)
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