Prof A N Sadhu
The last two years of BJP rule has come under scrutiny and critical assessment. In a five year term, it is normal for people to grant time to the new Government to entrench itself into the governance and identify the areas of concern and start working on that. It is after over three decades that a Government was elected with an absolute majority of its own and almost two-thirds majority with its allies and other supporters. The people of the country took a conscious decision to vote for a new political arrangement with full strength to witness a Government with change and wished it opens new vistas of growth and development. The earlier Governments, primarily coalition arrangements with congress in the lead role has definitely not been able to maintain the rhyme and rhythm for forward movement because of one or the other reason. The people attributed much of this disorder to the UPA Prime Minister, who they thought was weak for several reasons even when it is an acknowledged fact that he is graceful, honest and fine human being. The people would wish and wait for a plausible explanation from him regarding his position in the UPA of which he remained the PM for full two terms.. Enough time to make an impact as a leader and also a leading world economist. People, therefore, welcomed the new arrangement and hoped that it will deliver as per the statements made during election campaign. The PM often used the expression ” Minimum Government and Maximum governance” which aroused enthusiasm as also the expectation of the common masses who looked forward to get a reprieve from the hardships witnessed earlier owing to rampant corruption and administrative apathy.
It is almost four years now that the BJP Government is in office and people have started feeling restive not to witness any thing new on ground except listening to high sounding lectures painting a bright picture without showing any perceptible results on ground. Statistics is a very tricky subject and sounds differently with different ways of interpreting it. In the budget speech the FM cleverly used absolute figures rather than relative figures because it sounded high. Ten crore is less than ten percent considering our present population but then ten crore is a big figure capable of creating a better impression among the masses. So far the people have been enthused with figures only and nothing substantial on ground when only a year is left out if the political calculations do not warrant an early poll.
Unemployment is a serious problem in the country and the NDA had promised that it will create substantial job avenues in its rule and seek to realise demographic dividend to the advantage of the country. Almost in every speech, directly or indirectly, the PM refers to 130 crore population of which 65% are below the age of 35 years and the rich demographic dividend that it is capable of yielding to the nation. It is easy to understand in simple economics that such a large employable manpower will become a demographic burden if jobs commensurate with their number are not created in the country. Make-in- India sounds sweet but what is its progress? No substantial investment has come to the country so far. For the first time, global economic scenario is looking up-beat and the developed countries of the world are witnessing higher rates of growth which will tempt their investors to enhance investment in their domestic productive channels and from the rising tide of global growth. . Even if some investment comes to our country it will produce for domestic market only and hardly expand the export domain of the country. Start-ups and other productive initiatives are skill specific and we are lagging behind on competitive edge and one should not generate high excitement on this front. The prospect of realising the demographic dividend is very dim unless both agricultural and industrial sectors are robust. There is an enhanced chance for the country’s skilled manpower to gain access to service sector jobs abroad in the wake of revival of growth and its sustainability, on the global front but the demand for jobs from the unskilled and semi-skilled youth will rise further in the country. It is timely that the FM has laid greater emphasis on agricultural growth and its diversification which will enhance job prospects for rural youth and reduce urban ward movement to save our cities from further overcrowding.
Watchful over the last four years, the youth of the country is showing the signs of restiveness from the present dispensation on account of sub-optimal performances on the promises made to them. The country also needs to initiate a serious debate on whether to go whole-hog towards a capitalist model, keeping in view the history as also the socio-economic structure of the country. Can the country afford to build the islands of affluence without simultaneously providing the safeguards against a storm likely to occur in the ocean of deprivations? an effective tickledown mechanism which will neither impede the growth nor the justice, will have to be worked out for ensuring the percolation of gains of growth at the grass-root level. In fact this should be the corner stone of inclusive growth.
The countrymen sustained the hope and optimism for the first two years but soon after the demonitisation , the restive murmurings started manifesting and people looked at the Government with probing eyes. Nobody doubted the intentions but in many quarters it was felt that such a step was taken in a hurry to camouflage the Government’s failure to unearth the black money in the economy and get back the huge amounts of black money locked in foreign banks. The Government did not have any plausible explanation except that it will check fake currency and terror finance. Not much is known about its success but people did face difficulties, petty businesses did suffer and so did the farmers besides a cash crunch which dipped the GDP. The corruption is there, the black money is there and so is there the fake currency as well. The country is eagerly waiting for the Government to realise success in their confide intentions of giving the people a neat, clean and responsive administration. The GST was primarily introduced to integrate 29 states into a single market and eliminate multiplicity of taxes across the country and curb tax evasion. Has it served the purpose is yet to be seen.
There are irritants caused by law and order situation in different parts of the country. The communal stances and killings are heart-breaking and so is the martyrdom of our young army and other security personnel along the LOC in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The loss of innocent lives is equally painful. There are many pitfalls on other fronts as well. People have started asking if all these ailments can be buried under the debris of previous years misrule. No, not at all. Have any new strategies been evolved to tackle multiple problems faced by the people? Things may have gone wrong in the past but have new paths been found to reach the desired solutions. The simmering restiveness needs to be addressed immediately. Suppressed anguish bears the potential of explosion. There are lessons to be learned from recent elections. The excitement as it existed in 2014 is waning and restive murmuring in the country, as of now, may not be viewed as an outright criticism but certainly as anguish , for the peoples expectations have not been met and their aspirations for revival of the grandeur of ” Bharat” are not in sight; although the PM has done a commendable job in raising the nation’s esteem in the world. In the emerging global order, he has successfully campaigned the strengths of the country, on the one hand and on the other, explained its resolve to work for the peace and prosperity of the world nations. As such it should not be a surprise when the world recognises ” Bharat” as an architect of a harmonious global order. World , definitely understands the niceties and the glory if Indian culture much better than earlier and accords it a respectable recognition. However, this achievement on the global level warrants a strong back-up on the national level as well.
On the ideological front , there are always several debating points. The constitution of the country is an exhaustive document as also a permanent document to define the contours of national ideology to which the country’s political system has to adhere. Political parties, at best, can differ in approach to reach to reach the national goals already defined in the constitution. That the Government led by a political party will deviate from its basic premises is extremely difficult. Subjective interpretations to a particular political stance may emanate from vested political interest or from a political conspiracy or even from a genuine concern to put country’s onward march on right course. This needs a healthy debate by the nation’s intellectuals and politicians of statesman calibre so that the interests of the posterity are not compromised. Perhaps the preparations for the next parliamentary elections should promote such a debate to enlighten the country men about the vision of New India. The restive masses would welcome such a discussion on a mass scale to facilitate their making a right choice for a strong and vibrant national framework capable of yielding the rich demographic dividend the country.
In the history of democratic nations, for democracy to survive, the political stability is vital. Democracy in India has not only survived but it has also deepened its roots in Idian psyche. Insulating the country’s political and economic fundamentals against the disruptive activities engineered by aliens and anti-national elements, needs a careful handling so that our social and secular fabric is not jeopardised.
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