The outgoing regime leaves behind a mess which the incoming administration has to clean up. But this offers a good opportunity for the BJP-led NDA to undertake major revamps
Congratulations to the new BJP-led National Democratic Alliance which will be forming the next Union Government! It is time to suggest what the new regime should do and what its agenda should look like. It is better to learn from the mistakes of others rather than to repeat those blunders and then seek to rectify them.
Every sector, be it social or economic or political, demands the highest priority. But unfortunately, nobody has emphasised what is eating into the vitals of the country. There is no dearth of money to improve the lot of Indians, wherever they may be or whatever religion or region they belong to.
On paper, India also has the best institutions in the world like the Comptroller and Auditor-General, the Election Commission, an independent judiciary and autonomous investigating agencies.
But, unfortunately, these institutions have often clashed with the Government of the day. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had said, in 1988, that out of every one rupee earmarked by the Government for development, only 14 paise reach the intended beneficiaries.
His son, Rahul, had said much the same thing in May 2009, while campaigning for the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, that only 10 paise is spent out of every Rs 10 that is allocated for welfare schemes.
Yet, in the last few years, the Government has done nothing to remedy the situation. On the contrary, it has vigorously defended the corrupt and dishonest in the name of coalition dharma. Here is a short list:
2008 cash for-votes scam: The BJP’s Ashok Argal, Faggan Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora said they had been paid to vote for the nuclear deal with the US.2010 Adarsh Housing Society scam: Apartments built for Kargil war widows in Mumbai were allotted to babus and politicians
2010 Commonwealth Games scam: Irregularities in awarding contracts for the gala sports festival is estimated at Rs 70,000 crore. Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi was charged. But no action was taken against other politicians or looters
2011 2G Spectrum allocation scam: One hundred and twenty two telecom licences were issued in 2008 at 2001 prices. The Government suffered an estimated loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
2012 coal block allocation scam: Irregularities in auctioning 194 coal blocks created an uproar. The Government has been criticised for causing a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore
2013 railway bribery scam: Then Railway Minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew caught with Rs 90 lakh bribe for a top railway job. The Minister had to quit.Unfortunately, the Government’s mode of operation has been to announce a scheme, allocate money for it and then forget about how it is being implemented.
The previous Government had also embraced the culture of not penalising inept and corrupt leaders. Party bosses must understand that is no longer enough to say that the cases against many such leaders are pending in court.
With a grossly-understaffed criminal justice system, it takes decades to punish the guilty — by then, many wrongdoers have either retired from public life or passed away.
A leading national daily had recently reported that delays in payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act had been one of the chief causes for the suicide of at least five labourers in rural Maharashtra. The five labourers had ended their lives after their guaranteed wages went unpaid for three years.
But even the deaths have not disturbed the sleep of the powers that be. What is the point of having any scheme which has no system of checks and balancesIJ
The same problem applies across all sectors. The cost overrun observed in infrastructure projects was Rs 52,150.68 crore at the end of the 11th Five Year Plan, on March 31, 2012. Why is there so little industrial development in the countryIJ It is because of the Government’s stranglehold on industry through inspectors, regulators and archaic laws.
Another problem is that financial laws are not enforced properly. Also, the Government does not treat everybody equally — for instance, bungalows in lutyens’ Delhi are erratically allotted, sometimes even to persons with criminal records or those who are no longer entitled to state largesse.
Above all, the tradition of giving sinecures to retired public servants has to stop. This is the best way to enforce the rule of law. Tribunals, commissions, committees and other statutory bodies should be out of bounds for retired bureaucrats, as otherwise these positions are often given to those who have served the Government of the day.
There is no fear of the law among the people because our judicial system is more concerned with the rights of the accused rather than those of the victims. For instance, even if a terrorist confesses to his crime, the law says that the confession is not admissible in a court of law unless it is given in a specified manner.
Government employees understand only the threat of losing their job but few speak to them in this language. Accountability is hardly fixed. Once officers who don’t deliver are penalised, one will see a distinct difference in the quality of the bureaucracy’s work.
Today, nobody wants to invest in India because of umpteen clearances required and the legal hassles involved. Even leading Indian industrialists are investing abroad, where there is a healthy environment for working and making money. Passing additional laws and making new rules is only bringing back the Inspector Raj and fuelling corruption.
There is no dearth of money in the country, but instead of being spent on development, it is going into the pockets of those who steal from the public. The fight against corruption, apart from efforts to counter terrorism, has to be prioritised.
The Government should stop the policy of minority appeasement in the name of secularism. Dealing with terrorists entering India to kill people is not being anti-secular.However, no agenda can be formed in a vacuum. The first thing that the new Government should do is meet with all the Chief Ministers and forge a common national agenda.