This morning, John Stubbs, a policy wonk in Washington, asked me for a snap critique of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto.
Healthcare was at the core of our email exchange. Or was itIJ
The burden of my song was that Stubbs should not hang on to every word. Instead, he should see all manifestos as pious intent. Period.
“Gotcha!” he signed off leaving me taking a deeper dive into what could be the differentiators between the BJP’s saying and what the Congress did a few days back in their own manifesto.
Amongst the best ones available comparisons is at http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/10-differences-between-congress-bjp-manifestos-505486.
Here’s what it pithily states:
BJP: Reign in inflation. Have a price inflation fund.
Congress: Aim for high-growth with moderate inflation.
BJP: Eliminate scope of corruption, e-governance
Congress: New laws and amendments
BJP: Non in multi-brand retail. Open in all sectors.
Congress: No aversion to foreign investment.
BJP: Rationalization and simplification of taxes.
Congress: No aversion to foreign investment.
BJP: Millions of jobs in manufacturing and tourism.
Congress: 10 crore jobs in manufacturing alone.
BJP: Address growth on priority basis.
Congress: 8+ per cent growth within 3 years
BJP: Freight and industrial corridors
Congress: Industrial corridors, spend $1 trillion in 10 years
BJP: Build 100 new cities.
Congress: Build 100 new urban centers.
Taken on face value, a large number of points that my friend Stubbs might have seen are nearly identical.
So, what then is the differentiatorIJ
1) The perception that BJP under Narendra Modi will have a stronger execution bias about these promises. This means that his civil servants are less likely to pussyfoot on his Government’s programmes. Remember, unlike the US, nearly the same set of civil servants will serve either Government.
The differentiator therefore won’t lie in flogging the civil servants but in making sure that the mélange of disincentives on bona fide, if not entrepreneurial decisions, is smashed. No manifesto is worth the paper it is written on if the execution agency is ridden with fear and circumspection.So, the real issue that both principal political formations must proffer is to resurrect administrative systems.
A useful pointer lies in the national security review undertaken by Ambassador Naresh Chandra, a former cabinet secretary. Chandra and a distinguished team assisting him have suggested councils on key subjects comprising relevant secretaries to the Government of India, who then pilot major ideas in a collective fashion under a minister of state. This cross-functional team, if implemented, will allow various secretaries to get collective security in each other’s decisions – a departure from the present system where each line ministry pilots its own trial balloon, only to have ‘safety first’ notings from other secretaries, and a near-mandatory reference to the folks in law ministry!
2) Secretaries to ministries should be selected by the Prime Minister – a time-tested system that fell by the wayside during the tenure of Manmohan Singh.
The perils of having secretaries picked up from department of personnel’s offer list by individual ministers are too serious to be repeated.
Therefore, my favourite part in the BJP’s manifesto is in the section on ‘Decision and Policy Paralysis’: “The country has suffered a decade of maladministration and scams in addition to decision and policy paralysis; thus bringing growth and development to a grinding halt leading to a ‘Governance deficit’.
This situation will be changed and the engine of Government will be ignited again with strong will power and commitment to public interest. We will also encourage the bureaucracy to take right decisions and contribute their might in building a modern India.”
The last line in the para above is worth repeating. “…encourage the bureaucracy to take right decisions..”
That alone will be the differentiator.
PS: I haven’t scrawled the Congress manifesto for that line or promise for a very simple reason. They had all of 10 years to get the system right.
(The columnist works at the intersect of media, policy and regulation on RIl. The views expressed are personal. Tweets @therohitbansal).