National Security
Two Years of Narendra Modi’s Government - Great Achievements But Not Yet Addressed Issues
Dt: 12/5/16
Two Years of Narendra Modi’s Government -
Great Achievements But Not Yet Addressed Issues
Dr T.H.Chowdary*
Reviews and assessments of the two- years rule of the BJP-propelled NDA government with Sri Narendra Modi as the leader are being made in newspapers and in the electronic and print media. Getting UN acceptance for 21 June to be observed as Yoga Day; the UN celebrating Dr Ambedkar’s Jayanti, the establishment of BRICS Bank; getting Saudi Arabia into the league for ending Islamist terrorism and Jihad, restoration of cordiality with Sri Lanka and Myanmar, forging good-will and understanding at personal level with heads of influential of governments/ states (USA, China, Germany, Russia, Japan among others ) in the realm of foreign affairs; Jan Dhan accounts for the poor for welfare payments, Mudra Bank, Swatch Bharat, Stand-up India, Make in India (especially defence sector), resumption national high-way construction, Start-up India, Smart City, Digital India, Suraksha Bima etc., programmes are all great measures to build a prosperous, powerful and intellectual Bharat. Seven decades of sloth and vacuous practice of socialism and “secularism” and “garibi-hataoism” cannot be shaken off in two or five years, especially when some states go for elections almost every year and nation -building gets interrupted by haemorrhaging welfare schemes that only go to keep the poor in perpetual but painless poverty. While these are certainly notable achievements, there are very important problems of great import not yet addressed. Not to find fault but to draw attention, it is as well to list the omissions, which would hopefully be addressed soon.
2. The growing population and escalating unemployment are inter-related and are not addressed at all . Our population is growing by 18 mln a year despite the rate of growth coming down but the base ever increasing. Never in the past, even at the time of the highest GDP growth of over 9%, did we create more than 8 mln to 10 mnln jobs a year. Now that figure is much less. This growth in the population is also skewed . Those who can’t afford more children because of less education and less well being, the SCs STs and “minorities” that is Muslims, are growing far faster than the educated and well off. The proportion of their population has increased by 50% since 1951, while the percentage of the well off people is going down. We are having job -less growth of our economy. Creation of
jobs requires growth in businesses which can happen if industrial and intellectual output is increased. Because of automation, mechanisation and use of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICTs) industry is requiring more investment but creating less number of jobs. Therefore, even if industrialisation is increased the job creation will not be in that proportion. That is why we are seeing the jobless growth.
3. The acuteness of joblessness is evident from a few following facts: For 350 peon jobs in the UP government’s Secretariat more than 25 lakh people including Ph.Ds. M.Techs, engineers and MBAs applied. For jobs like Assistant Engineers and trainee constables and teachers in Telugu an d Karnataka States the applications to vacancy ratio is about 700 and above. The growing unemployed will take to lawless agitations and become material for anarchs and thodo-fodo gangs of politicians.
4. While China could enforce one- child norm, we cannot do so because of scores of political parties, frequent elections and competitive promises of welfare. What can however be done is to introduce disincentives for child production. In the year 2004 the Central Government ‘s welfare spending was under Rs. 50,000 crores. Now it is more than Rs. 3,50,000 crores and would go on increasing. We can’t sustain these increasing levels. Large investments are required for job-creating infrastructure, industries, new cities and services. We can restrict welfare payments to families with only two children and if a third child comes, all welfare must be totally withdrawn. The explanation is that this poor country which has been trying to develop for the last 70 years but not yet developed, cannot afford to feed and clothe and educate and house limitless number of people. Even with this modest measure to reduce population growth, the effect maybe felt only after two decades. But a beginning must be made and the Prime Minister in his Maan- ki- Bath program must refer to this problem and air the solution.
5. Almost every section of the population is clamouring for reservations. Not satisfied at the stage of recruitment for government and PSU jobs, and admission to educational institutions, they are wanting reservations to be extended to the private sector and also for promotions. Traditionally well- off castes like the Patels of Guarat, Patils of Maharasthra ; Jats in Haryana & Rajasthan and Kapus of Andhra Pradesh and so on are wanting to be declared as BCs to claim reservations. As agriculture becomes less and less rewarding , indeed more and more risky and loss -making, the hither -to well -off farming castes are all now agitating for BC status to have reservations. And politicians are conceding after violent agitations. The effects are splintering of the society and increasing strife between the beneficiaries of reservations and the rest. It is prudent to set a sunset date for reservations of all types for different sections by which time such measures which will improve education, employability, reduced family size and entrepreneurship should be undertaken and implemented vigorously. The agitations for vargeekaran (sub-castes) within the SC quota demanded by Madigas in Telugu States shows the disintegrative nature of ill-administered reservations and their indefinite continuance.
6. The land area of India would not increase; neither can the land that could be brought under irrigation to raise food crops. Even with all the irrigation schemes in hand, we would not be able to produce 450 mlns tons of food grains that China is producing now for its 130 cr population. Our population would exceed China’s in a year or two. We are now producing half of China’s for the same number of people. Agriculture dependent upon weather and natural occurrences like floods and droughts will be increasingly unattractive. A permanent solution like perhaps contract farming and insurance could be relieving the situation. Mechanisation of farming operations is increasing because of the ever rising wages occasioned, by among others, NREGA. It is absolutely un -understandable as to how we can keep 68% of working people on farms where there can be work only during certain seasons like transplanting, weeding and harvesting. Industrial and office workers have work for all the days in the year, whereas work for agriculture can only be for a few days and that too, in certain seasons. The income of those who are engaged in agriculture will be a fraction of those who are engaged in business and industry and commerce and governance etc. The agricultural crisis will demand more and more write- offs of farmers’ loans.
Credit as Loans to Farmers
|
Year |
Fig in Crs |
|
2000 |
45,638 |
|
2010 |
4,63,600 |
|
2012 |
5,80,200 |
|
2014 |
7,69,800 |
|
2015 |
8,29,500 |
Source: Eenadu daily, 29 April 2016
Tens of thousands of crores of these farmers’ debts are being written off year after year. There must be a stop to this haemorrhage of the tax revenues which are needed for investment to create jobs.
7. As the income disparities between urban and rural areas goes on increasing and there will be decreasing requirement of workers in the farm sector, rural people will migrate to urban areas in search of jobs. Already our urban areas are having sub-human living conditions. It is inadequate water, roads, electricity, education, sanitation, healthcare, housing and other needs. To avoid growing slums and increasing unrest, we should build new cities and not waste our money on so called “smart cities”. For eg. the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) funds have been grabbed up by adding some more buses for intra-city transportation. That has not relieved the growing congestion. The manifesto of the BJP and the talk of its leaders for hundred smart cities was initially to build new cities, whereas now an easier recourse is taken to by spending those amounts to make existing cities smart. This is a hopeless task and mis- spending of money. We need to build new cities to house the migrants from rural areas and create jobs there . They will create employment for the surplus men that we are having. especially, among non-graduate and degree certificate-wielding persons.
8. Our education is in shambles. How can we ever build an egalitarian society when already 42% of the children of school -going age are not in government schools but in private corporate schools spending heavily but getting only examination passing education. While government schools are increasingly being abandoned, the content of education is not inspiring work ethic or patriotism or a mission in the life of every individual. The uncontrollably increasing corruption from top to bottom is a result of the education not being man -making but aimed at money -making only. A beginning must be made to end private sector education in corporate schools and improve government schools. Teachers will have to be chosen not on the basis of caste and religion but totally on the basis of merit. If teachers are not good, we can’t expect students to become good. Today teachers in government sector at all levels are organised in trade unions driven by political ideologies which themselves are very polluting and not profound so as to educate and sculpt young persons.
9. All these require hard, perhaps unpopular decisions. No single party or leader should think that he or it alone can address these problems . BJP ideologues talk of samarasatha harmony. We must respect opposition and involve opposition parties also before making policy, program or a project and for its implementation. There would be differences but great leadership can always reduce the differences and thereby move forward on an agreed programme wilt the least dissonance. Should we not expect this from a party which derives its ideology and inspiration from the great Sanatan Dharma, from the renowned Bharatiya Samskruti, which wise men who were hailed as Jagadgurus fostered in this richly endowed land - Vasundhara. (1,658 words)
END