The First Year of the Modi Government.

On the 26th of May, 2015 the first majority government since 1984 completes one year in office. We have seen in this year a volley of reforms by the government, which, by its own admission needed to alleviate the general feeling of despair which unfortunately followed in the final moments of UPA2. The course of one year also saw the spectacular rise of Prime Minister Modi as a global leader, with his rockstar reception at Madison Square Garden and american senators comparing him to Ronald Reagan to his ambitious Make in India initiative. The world welcomed the new Indian Prime Minister and the nation he promised with it. An analysis perhaps, of the effects and the changes at the grassroot as well as the policy level that have arrived as a direct result of the momentum brought in by the PMO and the Cabinet is a natural prerogative of critiques and admirers alike. In the words of President Reagan himself, “Government’s first duty, is to protect the people, and not run their lives.” One of the very first mass initiative by the PMO was the promotion of the Jan Dhan Yojana, which critiques labeled as a gimmick and the harsh ones among them called it wasteful and ineffective. One vital point of such a large initiative, which the critiques have missed out on is the all important concept of financial inclusion and the concept of saving which forms the very foundation of this scheme. The term “Financial Inclusion” first came up in 2004 when RBI set up the Khan Commission which urged banks to review their existing practices to align them with the objective of financial inclusion.The RBI at the time had laid bare the ground realities and the need to make available a basic banking ‘no frills’ account either with ‘NIL’ or very minimum balances as well as charges that would make such accounts accessible to vast sections of the population. It was however, only after the direct intervention of the PMO after the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech announcing the Jan Dhan Yojana and the subsequent 5 month deadline that there was a large scale mobilization to open accounts began. The benefits of this scheme shall be seen in the years to come and like all other government schemes of the past and later years to arrive, it is merely a pillar in the vast architectural design of India that comes out of a collective progress driven conscience and co-ordination between the office of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the bureaucracy.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, with it’s ambitious deadline of October 2, 2019, a date which marks the 150th anniversary of Gandhi is unique in the simplicity of the concept itself but by no means unfamiliar to the electorate. It follows in the footseteps of similar programmes initiated by Prime ministers’ Rajiv Gandhi and Vajpayee in 1986 and 1999 respectively. The critiques would quote einstein and proclaim, “Insanity is doing the same thing again and again, and expecting different results”. However, neither of the previous programmes could gain as much mass attention as Swacch Bharat today, both previous programmes preceded the Telecoms and Internet revolution. The concepts of viral social media and the penetration of the Internet and even telecommunications are far more advanced today. This single program itself is pivotal for the Indian economy and the quality of life of it’s citizens, it encourages co-ordination between public health and medical services, for they are two sides of the same coin. The success of this program depends on a conscious and strategic approach to make this a national movement, and the PMO is aware of this fact, which is why we saw Prime Minister Modi cutting across party lines and reaching out to politicians as well as celebrities to help promote the program.

A remarkable achievement, which i would like to attribute to this government is the strategic and long awaited approach towards removing outdated and archaic laws that have prolonged, some preceding British rule and others that even seem to be preceding common sense, such as Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code which makes an attempt to commit suicide a crime punishable by imprisonment and fine. The Union cabinet has given an approval to remove around 700 such outdated laws since it came into power. Colonial era laws such as The Ganges Toll, Act; the Indian Fisheries Act and even acts prone to misuse today are on their way out.

The highly awaited and much hyped Make In India plan adds the final pillar to the foundations, with which the new government hopes to begin it’s Renaissance like approach to governance and policy making. Undoubtedly, all would agree, that India’s manufacturing sector has lagged behind in its innovation as well as its survival skills in the post liberalisation competitive global market. The supply-side approach of the Make in India program along with parallel initiatives such as the 100 smart cities plan, simpler norms for industrial licensing, industrial and freight corridors point towards a decisive and far sighted approach toward ensuring a successful and positive conclusion.

One sector in which has dreadfully lagged behind is the education sector. Our Education deficit has increased since the past year figures and it forms the single biggest sore point in this report card. There is an absurdly low level of attention being paid to this issue. The quality of higher education, which forms the seed of economic stability, has been crippled by red tape. To remedy such an impending crisis, a need has arisen to go back to the drawing board to rescue the education system from it’s prevailing highly regulated and retrograde state. There would be no use of encouraging job creation if there is no skilled and educated workforce to take up those jobs. This problem is not new either, a reading of Conversations with Economists by V.N Balasubramanyam tells us of a 1955 note issued by economist BV KRishnamurti which speaks of the same issue.

The Government of India, in its completion of one year has started off on the path of new beginnings, quite literally. It would be fair to observe constructive criticism of its methods, however to those who wish to oppose merely for lack of opportunity to do the same, I would quote our father of the nation and say that ” To believe what has not occurred in history will not occur at all, is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man.” I would call upon those who wish to once again see the greatness of our nation on the world stage to focus not on the many reason that we may not get there, and instead focus on the few reasons that we will.

At the end of the day, after all the media attention, rhetoric, criticism and ambitious schemes, the voter will only judge the results that his government gives back. The Indian voter of the Information Age is far more conscious and aware of the scenarios and trials the economy is passing through and would ultimately judge his government for the promise of change that catapulted them into a strong majority.