 |
| Photo Courtesy: theviewspaper.net |
Disclaimer:
I am not pro NaMo, I am pro India.
Despite not
being a Modi supporter, I voted, with zillions others, for Modi to become the
leader of this country in May 2014. And I did, despite all odds, believe
that it was just a matter of time before somebody who had been voted in on the
development plank, will start getting India into its rightful position in the
world economy.
My sense of
disenchantment not-withstanding, I still believe that India has become a
country where we needed just the right mentoring and our economy would go into
the stratosphere.
In Sept
2014, I actually wrote a post that talked about the steps that were being taken
for the sorting the policy paralysis and said that we needed to be patient to
see the results. For those who know me, know that patience is not a virtue that
I subscribe to, but I sincerely believed that in the Indian context it was
warranted. Please see my previous post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140923135540-1760677-acchhe-din-aane-wale-hain
It has been
a roller-coaster 23 months since then and I am a little older, a tad
wiser(I hope!) and disillusioned. The disillusionment is not with the current
government and its antics. It is with the people at large(and this includes
the "janta" and the Government) and how we tend to blame
everything on somebody else. The buck never ever stops with us - it is with
somebody else. The disillusionment creeps in from the sense of deja vu -
of constancy, of never changing, of refusing to take charge, of everything
really...
The
government has made all the right noises - after all we have a rockstar PM who
wooed and won over the masses in India and across the globe. There
is suddenly work happening - the FM is making noises about
simplifying the tax structure for individuals and corporates (though we
are to be taxed more), the Defence Minister talks about boosting the
morale of the armed forces(Never mind the OROP mess and Pathankot), there
is talk of putting the infra projects on the accelerator mode, etc. And
suddenly everybody is looking at India closely.
And then
began the announcement of one scheme after another from the national platforms
- Digital India, Make in India, Swacchh Bharat, Start Up India, 100 Smart
Cities... These were announced with great fan-fare from global forums, with
grandiose plans, huge advertising campaigns, amazing amount of publicity. Each
one was showcased as scheme that will change the face of India. And each by
themselves were actually a piece of art - no pun intended: If they reach
fruition, they will actually make India a better / smarter country.
The media
went overboard with each announcement, what stood out in each communication was
how this was never undertaken before. The comparison with the previous
government was made by all and sundry, severely undermining the announcement -
comparing with a Government that did "Damn all" after all does not
show how wonderful you are - and incidentally the current Government was voted
in only because of the abject failure of the previous one...
One of
the biggest issue that I see is that we have a good PM surrounded by an
amazingly bad core team. The examples are a plenty: The mess in education -Hyderabad
and Delhi are prime examples of doing too little and too much; Home Ministry
issues... Pathankot and Jat Agitation; The BJP Chieftains(and spokespersons),
who gets the PM into bigger messes than any other single group; The lousy local
state teams that ensure that the PM needs to step in and address maximum
rallies across states if they have any chance of winning the elections and
unfortunately make statements that are lapped up by the national media;
The communication team that ensures that the PM is not responding to
all that he should and responds to all that he shouldn't.
I guess the
biggest problem for the current leadership are "The BHAKTS", who
take it upon themselves to support any and every utterance of the PM as the
gospel truth, use foul language and hooliganism, and basically, by association,
malign the good intentions of the PM.
I firmly
believe that the leader of the biggest democracy needs to just do one thing -
LEAD!!! He needs to look at his coterie with his eyes wide open, ensure that he
continues on the path of economic growth, tone down the rhetoric and speak out
when he has to.
The PM
needs to ensure that the schemes that have been launched with much fanfare see
fruition, are actually able to change things on ground and do not need mere
statistics to prove their success. He needs to focus on the growing parity
between the haves and have-nots and make available a level playing field for
the have-nots to better their situation. The distance between the rich and the
poor is bigger and worse than anywhere else in the world. He needs to
ensure that it is the people who need help that are focused on and this has to
be sustainable and not merely through doles and subsidies! For this, the
PM needs to delegate - we can not have him do everything - he needs to
bring in more people, better qualified and experienced, to run his pet projects
and ensure that these are delivered on time.
When the
work on the ground starts to be visible, we will indeed wake up. It is the
momentum that is needed and a catalyst and with all the plans that are in
place, we can be reasonably sure that if we are steered in the right direction,
we will be able to become a very important player in the global scenario - and
not just economically and politically. The PM needs to ensure that we are
finally moving towards a destination where each one of us can do our bit and
be proud citizens.
What will
be remembered in his first term as the PM will not be the mess - and there is
indeed a huge lot of it, but the positives and the fact that he was able to
deliver on the development plank, if indeed he is able to!!! So here's hoping
that Atal Ji's India Shining becomes a reality sooner than later!!!
