Our PM has launched an ambitious (read 'full of hot air') plan (sic) to alleviate poverty in 100 days. Let us try and dissect it.
Even as the world struggles to find a way out of the recessionary vortex, India is thinking of keeping it blistering growth rate from flagging. And the prime minister has already made it clear that a 'mere 7 per cent' growth would be wholly unsatisfactory - Even the IMF and World Bank has put Indias projected growth rate for the coming year @ 4%. Our PM wants > 7% when he has messed up the economy during his past tenure. We can understand a politician talking hot air like this, but we expect a more realistic projection from an Economist PM.
'There are about 27.5 per cent existing people below the poverty line, it is a matter of deep concern and it is our solemn duty to do everything possible to see that this poverty comes down and comes down steeply in the next five years so that within a single generation we should get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions and millions of people in our country,' Manmohan Singh said. - Haven't we heard this before? - the (in)famous 'Gharibi Hatao' slogan with which Indira Gandhi won the national election in 1971. 38 years after that MMS is parroting the same lines. Intentions are good, but pray tell me PM, how the hell are you going to achieve this. As usual he is silent on this. If he thinks that giving away wheat @ Rs 3 and extending NREGS to more districts is the answer to it, he is sadly mistaken. The low priced wheat will be looted and diverted as the Congress led Governments have systemmatically destroyed the much lauded Public Distribution System over the past 2 decades and even the Camptoller and AG has pointed out that the leakage is NREGS is close to 85%. No action has been taken to plug this leak. The NREGS is a way to allow panchayat party functionaries to make money. The poor doesnt get anything. The records of the Congress led Governments at State Level on implementing NREGS is pathetic. It is actually the opposition led Governments that have done a stellar job in states like Bihar, MP, Orissa.
Financial sector reforms and divestment in state-owned companies to save the cash starved economy are in the pipeline - The reforms he talks about in the Financial Sector, like opening up Insurance Sector, and allowing Pension Funds to invest in Stock Markets, are precisely the policies that led to the Global Financial Crisis. The money obtained from divesting the state owned companies (much overdue) would go to meet the spiralling non plan expenditure and to curtail revenue deficit, instead of reinvestment that should kick start the economy.
The issue of black money which was an election issue will be dealt with. The government has promised steps to bring back black money in tax havens - Again the Congress stand on the money stashed in Swiss Accounts is public knowledge. Fat chance they will change their stand on this.
Inclusive growth combined with fiscal prudence will be the mantra that the new United Progressive Alliance government will follow - This is another cruel joke. Successive committees have pointed out the spiralling non plan expenditure, and P Chidambaram had promised at the beginning of his earlier term to bring down deficit to 2.5%, but instead he allowed it to shoot up to 10%. Read my earlier post on ministries. First thing MMS can do to practice Fiscal prudence is to sack half of his ministers. Let the clean up start from there. Will it happen? no way.
The government also plans to set up a National Council for Higher Education in the first 100 days of its rule to create an autonomous education system - Laudable. But you will notice that the focus is on self financed higher education. We have seen what happened when unscrupulous elements in the society got involved in the education system fleecing students of money with hardly any improvement in the quality of education. Congress has belatedly realized that there is money to be made from this sector. No doubt higher education in India needs urgent surgery and any development here, as long as it improves the quality, is welcome. But, what about something more crucial? Primary Education and the poor state of Government Schools. This continues to be ignored. A simple solution could be to pay Rs 1000 per student per month (to be put in a bank account) who is studying in any government school and fill up the vacancies of teachers on a priority basis. This will create jobs and the payment can be linked to 80% attendance. Like the mid day meal scheme, this will serve as a huge incentive for the parents to send their children to school. This will not even cost a fraction of the subsidies we are giving to the rich industrialists and rich farmers.
Only Kamal Nath has made the right noise so far. He has promised to build 35000 kms of 6 lane traffic in 5 years and that is something the UPA was guilty of putting in the backburner during its last term. Being a no nonsense go getter, the surface transport ministry is in safe hands and we can expect some visible improvement in the years to come.
Government has been pretty silent on Energy Security. What is strange is the silence on setting up Nuclear Energy Plants on a warfooting. I though that was the reason why MMS pushed through the Nuclear Deal with USA by making it a prestige issue. The silence is damning.
