As the BJP-led NDA government under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi completes four years at the Centre today (May 26), there is plentiful evidence that the government’s rule has been truly transformative in promoting all-round progressive development of the country, and thereby increasing its respect among various other nations in the world. Indeed, in the last four years in office, the Modi government has, among other things, made certain considerable efforts in bringing about qualitative improvement in the governance through economic and social reforms – the economy has registered a steady growth rate of around 7 per cent plus and inflation has been brought down since the days of UPA-2.
Notably, the government has scrapped more than a thousand laws, some dating to the colonial Raj; but the several laws that have been amended and the fresh ones that have been passed from GST and the Real Estate Regulation Act, to Benami Transactions Prohibition Act and Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Act, to new laws for recovery of debt, insolvency and bankruptcy, attachment of fugitive’s property, etc., reflect the government’s intent to quicken the pace of economic change and extend its political constituency to the underprivileged apart from the country’s middle class.
Suffice it to say that these measures do not reflect ‘tinkering at the margin’. They are disruptive and have transformative potential. The Modi government’s steps for qualitatively improve governance range from installing biometric attendance machines in government offices; eliminating foreign junkets by sundry netas and babus; holding bi-monthly meeting of the PRAGATI group with top ranking bureaucrats in major provincial capitals for de-bottlenecking infrastructure projects; direct transfers of government subsidies to actual beneficiaries’ bank accounts; thereby eliminating leakages; linking MGNREGA to infrastructure development, etc.
This large number of seemingly marginal measures are beginning to have a significant cumulative impact on making governance more efficient, accountable and transparent. They will ensure that growth is more inclusive and benefits are not confined only to the well-heeled, well-connected and the corrupt.
The other goal is Modi’s resolve to minimize the marked differential between public and private sector performance. In essence it implies, perhaps for the first time since Independence, establishing a ‘development State’. There is today a conscious, consistent and clear-headed attempt to improve the delivery of public services; make bureaucrats more accountable; and reduce and steadily eliminate leakages from government expenditure by better targeting of subsidies through the effective use of the JAM trinity.
PM Modi’s effort is to put in place a governance system that efficiently delivers public services to the poor and promotes ease of doing business in a non-discriminatory, transparent and accountable manner. This is certainly not easy. Vested interests are entrenched and they fight back at each step. Modi is trying to overcome this resistance with recourse to digital technology and centralized, purposive and persistent monitoring and regular feedback.
Improving governance is the biggest structural reform in the country since Independence; the real hallmark of the Modi government. This has touched the minds of common Indians. PM Modi has injected new hope and energy into a broken morale, scattered systems and altered old mindsets that India was grappling with. Through his addresses and campaigns, Modi has brought the common man closer to his social responsibilities. The fact that PM Modi talks about the challenges of daily life in his speeches makes him the only hope for a solution to the common man’s problems.
The common man trusts PM Modi because, he doesn’t just talk but with his energetic artistry, he implements. When he says he is not the prime minister but the ‘prime servant’ of the people, he connects with them. He directly talks to both soldiers at the border and students in school. Through his radio programme, ‘Mann ki Baat’, he has addressed issues such as water conservation, changing perceptions about the handicapped, the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ saving electricity, personality development of children, inspiring children to choose good careers, learning to avoid gender discrimination, etc. There are several instances which show that PM Modi has his finger on the pulse of the nation. The result is that he has become a trustworthy source of hope, strength and a voice of the people, both young and old.
Another hallmark of the Modi government is its foreign policy, which has been energized by the personal commitment of Modi, who set the tone for innovation during his government’s inauguration itself by inviting neighboring SAARC countries to the swearing-in ceremony. Since then, Modi has improved India’s engagement and cooperation with neighboring countries (save Pakistan), invited foreign investment, engaged India’s diaspora in many countries, ramped up strategic ties with the US, complemented India’s ‘Look East’ programme with outreach to West Asia, looked to engage Pakistan while moving to isolate it when Pakistan rebuffed his efforts and supported multiple terror strikes in India.
Modi’s India is in the throes of a paradigmatic shift in its development experience. Going by present approval levels in opinion polls and frenzied state of equity markets, one could surmise that common Indians have bought into this story. This is not an illusion of reform.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
