Narendra Modi is arguably the first Prime Minister who is making strenuous efforts to wake up Bharat and compel its 1.3 billion citizens to come face-to-face with fundamental problems that are dogging the nation
Ever since the country entered the coalition era 25 years ago, there was a general lament across the land that the Indian ship of state was rudderless and the nation was leaderless. This lament must now end. Barring diehard Modi-haters, most of those who heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15 will agree that the nation has found an individual who will not only lead from the front but will also inspire and motivate millions of countrymen who are eager to participate in the adventure of building India on modern lines.
Mr Modi is arguably the first Prime Minister who is making strenuous efforts to wake up Bharat and compel its 1.3 billion citizens to come face-to-face with fundamental problems that are dogging the nation. It is indeed tragic that lakhs of schools in the country, specially in the rural areas, lack basic facilities like toilets, and, as a result, millions of girls drop out of school for this very reason. Mr Modi has now given this top priority in the Government and also asked Members of Parliament to allocate funds from the MP local Area Development Scheme for constructing separate toilets for boys and girls in India’s schools. Mr Modi has also set a deadline — he wants this done by August 15, 2015. This is indeed an extremely ambitious target, but given his determination and motivational abilities, Mr Modi is certainly capable of meeting the target that he has set for the Government, MPs and for himself. Should he succeed in achieving this goal, it will be much more than a personal achievement for the Prime Minister. It will re-ignite the Indian mind and encourage citizens to believe in themselves and in their capacity to solve many festering problems that the country is beset with.
The other significant issue that the Prime Minister touched upon during his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort was the issue of cleanliness. Mr Modi has often spoken about the extraordinary potential that India has as a tourist destination. He referred to this once again in this speech, but said we would need to clean up our towns and cities if we are to get our rightful share of tourist traffic. But what touched every listener was his reference to the dignity of women. He said the safety and dignity of women could never be ensured unless every home in the country had a toilet. He spoke about the skewed sex-ratio and sexual violence against women and on how it was the responsibility of every family to discipline its male members. He also announced schemes for developing model villages which will be led by MPs.
Some of Mr Modi’s critics, including many in the Congress, who were waiting to find flaws in his speech, were quick to criticise him for talking about toilets and garbage on a momentous occasion like Independence Day. They were of the view that he ought to have stuck to the precedent set by his predecessors and indulged in shibboleths and vacuous prose. However, fortunately, such critics are in a minority, because most people realise that India can have no future unless the country can set right many fundamental problems like the non-availability of adequate potable water for a majority of the people, the non-availability of 24/7 electricity in most parts of the country, the pathetic conditions in Government-run schools in rural and urban areas and the stench from the mountains of filth that assail one’s nostrils in most cities.
These are foundational issues and many of them ought to have been tackled by those who governed India in the first 20 or 30 years after independence. But, they failed us and heading the list of those who let us down is the leader of the Congress. Since this party wielded power at the federal level for 55 of the 77 years since independence, it must take much of the blame, and, as a corollary, lose the right to criticise Mr Modi or any another Prime Minister who comes from the non-Congress stock. Instead of criticising Mr Modi, we must thank the people for electing a Prime Minister who has his focus on the fundamentals.
One of Mr Modi’s ambitions, as expressed by him during the bitter electoral campaign, was to deliver a Congress-mukt Bharat (a Congress-free India). Many would see this as nothing more than a hyperbole and an unattainable goal, given the fact that the Congress is the oldest party in the country with deep roots across the land. There may be some truth in this, but the good news is that while Congress-mukt Bharat could be a distant dream, Mr Modi has achieved an important milestone — a Nehru-Gandhi parivar-mukt bhashan (a speech devoid of reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family). For millions of Indians who were condemned to listen to Mr Manmohan Singh’s drab, desultory and bureaucratic perorations which had copious and laudatory references to the Nehru-Gandhis, Mr Modi’s extempore address on August 15 came as a big relief. In his Independence Day speech last year, Mr Singh began his speech by paying glowing tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru for what he did in the 1950s. He then went on to shower fulsome praise on Indira Gandhi for her leadership during the 1970s and thereafter hailed Rajiv Gandhi for what he did in the 1980s. Again in his August 15th speech in 2012, Mr Singh referred to Nehru and to Rajiv Gandhi and even announced yet another scheme named after Rajiv Gandhi — the Rajiv Housing loan Scheme —although there were dozens of schemes already named after him. In both speeches there was a token reference to Mahatma Gandhi, but paying obeisance to his political masters was top priority.
In contrast to Mr Singh’s pedestrian and petty thoughts confined to the so-called achievements of one family, Mr Modi credited India’s success to Indians in every walk of life, be they farmers, factory-workers, Government servants or soldiers. He even gave past Governments their due, something which Mr Singh and Prime Ministers from the Nehru-Gandhi family have never had the grace to acknowledge. When Mr Modi took names, he spoke about those who had lofty ideals and goals. He invoked the Buddha; Mahatma Gandhi, whom he regards as his idol; Swami Vivekananda, from whom he draws constant inspiration; Sri Aurobindo, the spiritual master; Sardar Patel; Jayaprakash Narayan; and lal Bahadur Shastri.
Those who have listened to the speeches of the two Prime Ministers will realise the difference between an elected Prime Minister and a selected Prime Minister. One only hopes that the people will never opt for a Prime Minister of the latter variety ever again.