Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the scale of change India has witnessed is impressive. It has multiple characters to it — whether it is the Jan Dhan scheme, demonetisation, or digital governance, writes RAJESH SINGH
The three years of the Narendra Modi Government have been eventful. There have been many hits and a few misses too. On balance, the regime has been moving commendably ahead in governance reforms, though it can be said that not all of these steps have yielded the desired results, or that the impact is yet to be felt in adequate measure.
Nevertheless, there are many areas where governance changes have been not just evident but have also made a perceptible difference. But the Modi dispensation’s critics are in a denial mode, and in some cases, they are helped by extraneous controversies which have tended to shift the focus away from the Government’s good work. For instance, issues such as cow vigilantism and the language row have given Prime Minister Modi’s opponents an excuse to paint the regime as some kind of a dictatorial and communally charged entity. This is of course not a fact, but it does compel the Government to engage in fire-fighting and at times be on the defensive.
It is against this backdrop that journalist and author Uday Mahurkar’s book, Marching With a Billion: Analysing Narendra Modi’s Government at Midterm (published by Penguin Random House), assumes significance. The book serves two purposes. The first is that it seeks to shift public attention from the deviants to the various critical steps the Government has taken since assuming charge in May 2014 to change the core of governance. The second is that it provides the readers an in-depth understanding of these changes through carefully researched material. Taken together, the book offers a better appreciation of the Modi regime’s performance thus far and indicates what lies ahead. It may be argued that Mahurkar has given an uncritical understanding — an analysis that is based less on a non-partisan approach and which leans more towards a pro-Modi direction. This may be so to an extent, and yet the narrative which he presents cannot be rubbished; at best it can be challenged in parts.
But on the whole, even the dissenters will have to offer something more beyond their anti-Modi bias when faced with the formidable material which Mahurkar gives.
Simply put, Marching With a Billion is an account of the Modi regime’s three years in office and its focus on key sectors of governance, such as infrastructure and the economy, on digital India, and on foreign policy. There are a few other initiatives that are seeking to transform India. However, transformation is easier said than done, and more so when status quo had not just been entrenched for over six decades since Independence but also protected and patronised by successive ruling classes. There is a great deal to be gained in changing paradigms, but apparently a greater deal to be lost by vested interests if the cosy arrangement were to be disturbed. What people call ‘lutyens’ Delhi’ is a powerful force indeed that brooks no interference. It’s not surprising that it reacted with both alarm and venom when Modi, an ‘outsider’, became the Prime Minister and made it known that he would cut the monster to size. Initially, lutyens’ Delhi took it as an empty boast of the uninitiated, and at best a new broom that cleans for a few days before losing its sheen. As months and years went by, its operators realised with alarm that change — and real change — was there to stay and that vested interests had better watch out.
Besides, many of the Government’s decisions, naturally driven by the Prime Minister’s personal resolve, directly hit at the status quo mindset. Mahurkar’s account is at one level, therefore, also the story of a nation in transformation, and not just of a transformational Government.
The scale of change is impressive and it has multiple characters to it, whether it is the Jan Dhan scheme or demonetisation or digital governance (MyGov portal is a good example). The author gives special attention to MyGov because he finds it a “meaningful experiment”. The website invites lay citizens to offer ideas on good and better governance in various areas, and quite a few suggestions have been adopted by the Government. The digital initiative has two purposes. The first is to engage the people in matters of governance and the second is for the Government to benefit from ideas that are not merely academic in nature but come from those who have experience and understanding of ground realities. From the Smart Cities project to education to health — all sectors have gained from the suggestions that have poured by the lakhs to the Government. This has been a unique experiment in any democracy.
Mahurkar also offers insight into how the functioning of Indian ports and highways has undergone a dramatic change for the better through effective supervision and transparency. He mentions Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s role here and writes, “When he became the Transport Minister in 2014, Gadkari set a target of 30 km of road construction per day for two years. He had inherited a speed of 2 km per day, down from 11 km one year earlier under the UPA Government… He managed to push the speed to 16.5 km in the first year and to 21 km in the second year.” There has been a similar upward swing in the port sector — the country’s 12 major ports have added a capacity of 270 million tonnes in less than three years till 2016-17, which is the “highest in the major port sector in any given three years”.
The author speaks about the paradigm shift in the planning process through the establishment of NITI Aayog and the disbanding of the Planning Commission of India. He remarks that “the NITI Aayog vision of the Prime Minister is now on track after what some perceived as a slow beginning”. The panel is working on a 15-year long-term vision and is “now hiring professionals and experts from the private domain to upgrade itself into a top-class think tank of good governance”.
While generally complimentary to the performance of the Modi Government, the book does not fail to flag areas of concern. For instance, he says that the “downsizing of ministries, as recommended by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, and the cutting of the bureaucratic flab have been on the list of expectations of Modi’s admirers, who seem disappointed on these counts”.
He adds, “There is also a view that taxations and banking reforms could have been faster”. Mahurkar quotes a senior BJP leader as saying, “What was needed was a transformational approach on reforms, but many steps indicate the Government’s approach has been selectively incremental.”
And yet, whatever the critics might say, it is evident that the voters have been appreciative of the Modi Government’s achievements as well as its intent (where results have not come). A string of electoral victories for the BJP is proof of this. It now remains to be see whether the Prime Minister and his dispensation can maintain the momentum. Marching with a billion is not an easy task.