PROMISE & DELIVERY

STATUS OF COMMITMENTS MADE IN 2014 BJP MANIFESTO

FULFILLED

PROMISE To reduce price of medical devices STATUS Ministry’s move to cap the maximum price of cardiac stents has reduced angioplasty procedure costs by up to 20 per cent, but overall healthcare costs still high

PROMISE Set up 2,000 model fertiliser retail shops in three years for selling quality fertilisers at low rates, undertaking seed and soil testing etc STATUS 2,000 model fertiliser retail shops operational by May 2017

ON COURSE

PROMISE Significantly improve indigenous urea production

STATUS Urea production in 2016-17 was 242 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), compared to 225 LMT in 2012-13

PROMISE Lower medicine costs and boosting Janaushadhi programme of quality medicines at affordable prices by setting up more retail stores STATUS # National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority fixed ceiling prices of 255 formulations between January and November 2017, resulting in savings of Rs 2,643 crore for consumers

# As of December 2017, over 3,000 Janaushadhi kendras are functional. The scheme’s product basket has been expanded to cover 652 medicines and 154 surgicals and consumables covering all therapeutic categories such as anti–infectives, anti–diabetics, cardiovasculars, and so on

PROMISE Step up production and consumption of city compost STATUS Fertiliser companies have adopted 372 villages for promoting the use of city compost

PROMISE Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for fertiliser subsidy

STATUS Pilot project implemented in 17 out of the projected 19 districts

CONSENSUS CREATOR

The passing of the Goods and Services Tax Bill in Parliament without the BJP having a majority in the Rajya Sabha is mostly attributed to Kumar’s ability as parliamentary affairs minister to forge consensus across parties Was the BJP leadership’s face in the recent Karnataka elections along with Prakash Javadekar, though he failed to pull off a victory in the nail-biting floor test in the assembly