Narendra Modi talks specifics of development
It would be wrong to view Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's speech at the party's national executive as a mere scathing attack on the failures of the Congress-led UPA regime and the Congress's politics of dynasty. True, Mr Modi took sharp jibes at those, but Sunday’s address is noteworthy for the broad roadmap that he laid out for the all-round development of the country in case the BJP came to power after the lok Sabha election. The specific parameters which he identified can be clubbed under the general category of ‘good governance', because without that virtue nothing that he has outlined can be achieved. The clarity in Mr Modi's thinking is apparent not just in the way he spelt out the issues that need attention but also in the solutions which he offered — though details on how those solutions can be put into practice would need to be worked out. Contrary to the allegation that his critics have been directing at him regarding his so-called slant towards the corporate world in the name of development, Mr Modi laid special emphasis on agriculture. He spoke of the need to involve technology in enhancing agricultural production and the importance of generating ‘real-time data' on production and consumption of agricultural produce so that short-falls or surpluses can be factored effectively in deciding on policies which then don’t lead to rising prices or inflation. Mr Modi also, very rightly, emphasised on cattle management and the need for farmers to take up afforestation on their vacant land-holdings that could fetch them cash. His thrust on the need to contain prices was evident in his suggestion that a price stabilisation fund should be created to insulate the masses from the vagaries of prices. These are very specific ideas which are implementable, and they go beyond the hazy and intangible assertions that party leaders from the Congress have been making in the run-up to the general election by way of solutions to tackle the crises that the country faces. Mr Modi was realistic in recognising the trend of growing urbanisation even as he underlined that the country's economy and well-being depended largely on the prosperity of the rural sector. By saying that urbanisation should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a crisis to revamp our urban infrastructure, he favoured the creation of ‘smart' cities, more satellite townships and twin cities to not just upgrade the standards of urban living but also to absorb the population migrating from rural parts of the country to towns and cities. Needless to add, the process of creating such infrastructure would boost business and result in employment opportunities.
Mr Modi synergised the potential for growth and employment through large-scale and time-bound infrastructure development with the need for skill-based manpower, when he favoured the spread of specialised educational institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, to the country's major towns and cities. The BJP's prime ministerial nominee has been consistently speaking about skill development, and his Sunday speech reflected his deep desire to proceed in that direction. Again, realising that meaningful urban development is greatly dependent on quality transport infrastructure, Mr Modi talked of the need to speed up the road highway projects that have suffered especially deeply under the dithering Congress-led UPA Government, and for the modernisation of the massive railway network. There were other issues that he dealt with, but suffice to say that his Sunday speech was one of genuine substance.