EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Nobody can fault this government for not trying. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a fount of ideas and with his reformist zeal is trying to mould India into ‘ModiBharat’. This is the hardest-working government I’ve seen in the 42 years of the existence of the magazine and the most honest at the top. There has been such a flurry of initiatives launched by this government that it is difficult to keep track of their success. They are all in the right direction but there seem to be more grand announcements than successful implementation. One of the consequences of such an approach is that expectations are raised to an unattainable level. The 2014 election slogan of ‘achhe din’ continues to haunt this government. India is a vast and complex country, coupled with being a vibrant democracy. Change is inevitably slow, which is difficult to digest for a young, aspiring and impatient electorate. Three years on, this government has taken advantage of low-hanging fruit and taken the country out of the pervasive gloom of the previously paralysed and scam-ridden regime. No longer can it blame them for the mess it inherited.
As part of the magazine’s annual exercise, we examine in depth the working of the government across major sectors. In this, india today editors have kept in mind three major parameters. How has the government done in institutional reform, which includes far-reaching economic legislation, federal cooperation and public-private participation? Has the government’s operational efficiency improved—is there an improvement in physical, social and digital infrastructure? And last, what is the overall national sentiment? The results show that there is progress, tardy perhaps, but definitely perceptible. Game-changing economic legislation such as the GST Bill and the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, have taken off. The audacious act of demonetisation to continue their sustained attack on black money will greatly benefit the economy in the long run. Quite significant achievements.
At a macro level, India looks good. The nation is growing at 7.1 per cent compared to 6.5 per cent in 2013-2014; inflation is at 3.7 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent in 2014; current and fiscal account deficits are in control and India is attracting record FDI, up by 48 per cent since the NDA came to power. But the biggest problem remains the government’s inability to generate sufficient jobs, which is connected to falling private investment. Only 135,000 jobs were created across eight key sectors in 2015-16, according to the Labour Bureau, comparing poorly with the promise of 10 million jobs every year.
The government seems to have done well in creating physical infrastructure, whether it is railways, roads or ports. Social infrastructure, unfortunately, has suffered from neglect, whether it is education or healthcare, two key sectors this government has inexplicably ignored. Digital infrastructure is on the upswing, with Aadhaar ensuring India moves towards greater transparency, cheaper service delivery and less corruption.
But the government has truly excelled in the management of national sentiment, whether it was demonetisation or the surgical strike, the responsiveness of ministers on social media or the absence of corruption. When the prime minister speaks of New India, it is a project that strikes a chord, regardless of cow vigilantes and anti-Romeo squads. It’s the politics of possibility, and India, the land of a million promises, has always responded well to potential. My lament with this government is a familiar one on this page. Where is the promised minimum government and maximum governance? Was ‘the government has no business being in business’ merely an election slogan? This government has only expanded the public sector and the power of the bureaucracy. Unless it harnesses the energy of our industrious workforce by making structural changes, India will be neither new nor renewed.