It’s almost 4
days since I heard Prime Minister Modi address the nation from Red Fort on 15th
August 2014. I must confess that as a Government servant, for the first time, I
am feeling enthused and excited that I am working for a Government that is
headed by a leader who has a vision and a roadmap for the nation. It’s not that this
was the first speech that I was listening to an Independence Day – though this
was the first time I had gone to attend the 15th August function at
Red Fort. One reason for this was obviously the buzz that it was mandatory for
us to attend. However, the more compelling reason was my Dad, who was very keen
to attend and had asked me almost a month back if it was possible to get
passes. I have seen my Dad transforming from an online enrolled AAP member to a
die-hard Modi Fan. Many a dinner conversations we have had regarding the
strengths and weaknesses of the leaders we have and over a period of time, I
have found myself getting to agree more with his beliefs in the new leader.
So we went, early morning and
were lucky enough to get seats which gave us a view of the podium as well as
the feel of the surrounding ambience. What impressed me most was the tone of
the speech. It was so very different from the Lalan College, Bhuj speech that
he delivered last year. That was of course an election mode speech but the tone
was too adversarial. As compared to that, this year there were no negative
sentiments. He began by acknowledging previous Prime Ministers and thanking the
opposition for the support in getting important legislation passed. This was a
changed Prime Minister – it appeared as if a true leader and a statesman is in
the making.
However what made me his fan was the
simple ideas. The thoughts on Bureaucracy, Sanitation, Women, Manufacturing,
Skills and E Governance were music to my ears. The icing on the cake was the decision
on Planning Commission. I have myself endured the tyranny of the Commission
which has caused delays of at least 9 to 12 months for the EFC and Cabinet
proposals mooted by my Department. The problem with Planning Commission has
been that it gets into an executive role and starts taking decisions for the
Departments which is totally a transgression of authority as Departments must
be free to conceptualize their schemes within their planned and budgetary
outlays. Role of Planning Commission needs to be to bring in synergies between
Departments and come up with long term vision and plans rather than tinkering
with the day to day functioning of the Departments. It would have been
wonderful had the ideas regarding merger of Departments like Steel-Mines-Coal
and Power-New and Renewable Energy et al came from the Planning Commission. Even
the experts on PPP in Planning Commission are so convinced of their own points
of view that they would refuse to entertain any alternate perspective and would
even refuse to share soft copies of documents. The institution had become truly
archaic and if what has been announced is implemented it would cut the internal
red tape of the Government by a great deal.
Another notable feature of the
Speech was that it was not presented as a certificate for the greatness that we
normally bestow upon ourselves. There was no mention of our rockets and
missiles, our super power status, our potential economic might or how we
stalled an agreement at WTO. There was no thumping of chests for the Gujarat
model or what all the Parliament just achieved in the Monsoon session. The
Speech had elements which read like the To Do list of a serious CEO of the
nation. The issues identified and the ideas espoused are so very relevant. The
take on rape and crime against women was so very different than the ‘Boys would
be Boys’ mindsets. The target of all schools with toilets for girls is so very
achievable. Similarly the model village concept gave an action plan for all the
elected MPs and will definitely have a trickle-down effect if the Rural Development
Ministry works out the minor details. The ideas on Financial Inclusion and
insurance for the poor are similar. I doubt if any previous Independence Day
speech had so many time bound quantifiable targets.
The focus on Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship
are key to take India back to the growth cycle. The Mantra of Come, Make in
India will of course require much more action on infrastructure and regulatory
issues – but the idea is that once the goal is defined, efforts can be made to
resolve the roadblocks. This will be the biggest challenge as the retro tax
measures and the New Land Acquisition Act will require a lot of tweaking if the
Made in India tag is to become a reality.
The ideas on Skills, Digital
India and E Governance are so very critical for us to reap the benefits of our
demographic dividend. All this was like the things that we always talked about
with friends becoming the priorities of the Government. I am happy to be part
of this change. Am willing to do my bit to make India a better place. This hour
on the 15th was a true Tryst with Governance moment.
3 comments:
you have summarized the speech and your views so succintly
My take on the speech, based on what is articulated in public speeches while systematically weakening other constitutional bodies like higher judiciary, union cabinet, governors so far is this:
After centralizing authority gained through electoral victory, the speech is a brilliant rhetorical exercise in diffusing responsibility and accountability for social problems like open defecation to intractable problems like removing poverty back to the electorate under the garb of civic responsibility.
The speech has tried to effectively push back the tide of expectations that Modi himself created during his stump speeches. Through pithy anecdotes, it set up bureaucracy as the eventual fall guy for the inevitable failures in implementation.
The speech is refreshing in its absence of partisanship and a sense of political direction in making our smaller neighbours as partners in progress. Even that offers no respite, when one considers the damage being done to educational bodies like ICSSR through political appointees. The hallmark of the Modi government is friction at all levels.
Anyone who interacted with the higher and middle bureaucracies in recent times will agree that their views are more conservative and show a preference for centralization in comparison with the rest of the society. It will help if this similarity of views leads to dynamism in realizing the vision of the government. Changes like amending land acquisition act or implementing DBT, NPR/UID will mark the end of "ache din" for this government.
Whenever the next government comes along, we can be assured that it will do its bit to dismantle what it perceives to be the "committed bureaucracy". While this also may weaken institutions of governance in the short run, eventually, the higher bureaucracy will lose its claim on permanence.
The longevity of Modi government will not be decided by its successes in financial inclusion, skill development etc. After all, despite the catchiness of the slogans, no one with familiarity of the challenges will take claims that, e-governance is "easy, effective or economical governance", seriously. It will be decided by how effectively they put a lid of dissent at all levels.
In truth, it is difficult to be believe that you are drinking all that kool aid that Modi is offering. But I guess, a driven and brilliant bureaucrat eager to implement the policies of the government of the day, can't be a bad thing. I hope you will do a annual review blog on progress on what you claim to be "quantifiable targets" given by the dear leader. please add the number of government departments that will still require attested copies from notaries in four years time to these quantifiable targets. In Punjab where such a diktat was passed sometime around 2010, the actual G.O typed only in Punjabi is not translated into english & nothing changed on the ground. In Haryana, such an order issued way back in 2005, was weakened by ambiguously worded file notings by underlings, and lies hidden in old files.
So, I expect, despite your enthusiasm that the wheels of Indian bureaucracy will speed for the diktats of no leader, and consequently, this government will seek votes on slogans other than "governance" and "ending corruption" in the next election.
I do hope, after the euphoria of governance created by Modi is dissipated, The AAP method of making bureaucracy and institutions of governance accountable to the public will gain credibility. When that happens and if your father renews his faith in AAP again, I hope you will let the internet know.
Bravo Anonymous, you have really articulated your point of view very well. Hopefully you have a blog of your own where you write
Post a Comment