‘May you live in interesting times’ , is said to be a Chinese curse according to which it’s better to have lived as a dog in an era of peace than to have lived (as a human) in conflict/war.
Since ‘interesting times’ very much reverberates with the pulse of the nation for now,(Achhe din), let’s talk about the man of the moment Mr. Modi, who is loved and hated by all and sundry. Though one could argue to be ‘’Modi-fied’’ or not, one can definitely not escape living under ‘’Modi-nomics’’ in the wake of significant number of resounding welfare policies announced, released and implemented.
With an intent to wipe the saffron tint off the glass, with the magical cloth of ‘development’-the hallmark of BJP Govt, here’s a list of the Top Ten ‘popular and (some being unpopular)’ welfare policies of the Modi-regime!
- DISINVESTMENT OF STOCK– With the Govt. floating its shares in 3 of the most profit making PSU’S (Public Sector Undertakings) such as ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Company), CIL (Coal India Ltd.) and NHPC, it looks forward to generate around 4,500 crores to fix the dent in the fiscal deficit. By doing so it plans to reduce the foreign borrowing and finance the budgetary expenses.
In India, in order to perk up investment with incentives, the Govt. Offers lower tax rates, exemptions, concessions and tax holidays which in turn give lower tax revenue than what is required for the GDP. Thus to neutralize this, Modi’s creation of a certain ‘National Investment Fund’ to pool the Disinvestment Proceeds to make available for society at large- funds for health services, education & employment generation seems to be backed up by a sound rationale.
Counter view- Acknowledging the socialistic gene in the biology of PSU’s, one can’t discount the fact that their presence checks and counterbalances the malpractices and caprices adopted by the private players. The sheer instance of Private players, lapping up the shares only highlights the utilitarian business model of profit –maximisation. Thus with the Govt., diluting its shares in PSU’s might render the workers with a weaker ‘labour welfare policy’ in an ever growing thrust for profits. One can only imagine if Reliance were to be the ‘be all and end all’ of Petroleum and Natural Gas sectors.
- SCRAPPING PLANNING COMMISSION- Doing away with the Planning Commission of India was long drawn because of various reasons. A Soviet Union based model couldn’t cater to the diversified India with a tailor- made approach and failed to recognize each state’s distinctive needs. Since one shoe doesn’t fit all, its generalised policies often fell redundant for different states. Apart from overriding the Central Govt. decisions at various occasions, its Top-heavy (being a conglomerate of intelligentsia as it was) centralized approach, was never successful in implementing any Five Year Plans or to take the Govt. to task or make it accountable in the event of any discrepancies(for it did not have that power). Economic planning got the upper hand with social sector planning being left for NGO’s and other private players. Thus this ‘toothless body’ gradually lost its mandate.
Mammoth task- Dismantling PC (Planning Commission) was easy, but to replace it with another body is going to be an up-hill task and did I just mention THE GOVT. STILL HAS NO SUBSTITUTE and is still contemplating and meanwhile has invited suggestions and advice from the ‘general junta’ on its website- (quite cerebral, the only thing this country has ample to offer is suggestion, seriously we can do better than that, please engage a more proper channel and make a sound body). Secondly PC, did manage to give credence to some active welfare policies like NRHM (National rural human mission), MGNREGS (Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) & The Right to Education. Besides, it proved conducive to the health of Dalits and Adivasis with its periodic surveys which helped uplift their conditions to a significant extent. Conclusively, a certain course correction could have done the trick to correct its loopholes rather to be wiped out completely.
- SHRAMEV JAYATE YOJNA- Launched under PT. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Shramev Jayate Yojana, there are a number of initiatives talked about like the launch of UNIFIED LABOUR PORTAL-(Shram Suvidha Kendra) which provides unique Labour Identification Number(LIN) to help facilitate their online registration. Employment Provident Fund would provide them with a universal Account number to manage their funds, Apprentice Protsahan Yojana would provide 50% of the support for their training in MSME’s and ITI’s, a more effective implementation of Revamped Rasthra Swasthya Yojana and more significantly ,Labour Inspection Scheme, launched with an intent to uproot ‘’INSPECTION RAJ’’. Under this to eliminate human bias, inspections will be conducted randomly with the help of the computers and it’ll be mandatory for the officials to file the inspection report online within 48-72 hours to retain transparency.
Just go with it- Sounds legit! Crimson on paper. The only flaw it would probably have would be its non –implementation. Though a proper workshop for the labours could be arranged to access the web related services!
- SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN- To attain the vision of a clean India by the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019, this cleanliness drive seems to be the favourite amongst celebrities. The basic premise to keep your neighbourhood clean apart from your home seems to be a hit among the people.
But how swachh?– There’s still a need in comprehending proper distribution as well as disposal system of garbage. Facts as basic as to separate the household garbage in bags of two differentiating into liquid/greasy /biodegradable /non-biodegradable should come to common understanding. Besides the problems of open defecation in villages as well as lack of public loos for women and the most important, problems of manual scavengers still rots not only villages but also metros. These problems need to addressed immediately, after all watching Ms. Swaraj cleaning an already cleaned platform couldn’t be a hallmark of this campaign.
- MGNREGS- Earlier the Govt. used to give subsidies to the farmers, i.e. selling chemical fertilizers diesel at minimum support price which will now be determined by the forces of market mechanism –demand &supply. The other sundry benefits of the scheme such as wages related to 100 days work and wages for productive and unproductive work have been suspended. It is estimated that around 48% of the farmers have small land –holdings for which these fringe benefits could not prove substantial as for the rich farmers they soaked in the benefits .This proved a heavy burden on fiscal deficit. Moreover in southern states the take off rate for such subsidies is very low owing to a number of self help support groups and more than often leads to hoarding, pilfering wastage.
Mixed bag- Feasible, comprehensive and intensive measures should be taken to reinstate the position of the farmers. For a country whose economy’s backbone is agriculture, is also plagued by ‘farmer suicides’ owing to Govt’s debts and crop failures. Mr. Modi staged a walkout at the recent WTO summit for the clause didn’t go well with the ethos of Food Security Bill as the signatories to the agreement had to reduce their agricultural produce as well as subsidies to a certain extent. That’s some thought in the right direction. Now we need an action plan.
- MAKE-IN-INDIA- The call to Multinationals, business capitalists, and blue chip companies to invest in India,(global investors) by setting their own manufacturing units, calls for some ground breaking self-empowerment .It will not only boost economy by employment generation but also catapult India ahead of its contemporaries into being a superpower. Gasp, a noble thought!
The big risk- Being overwhelmed with the idea of ‘self-suficiency’ should in no way play with the economic health of the country. Giving a green signal to all forms of Multi nationals might shape into crony capitalism, crooked neo-colonialism and flawed model of privatisation which might appease under the garb of trade, business and commerce (for now) but could prove highly insidious to the labour laws, economic and social welfare policies of the host, as well as international trade with other countries.
- SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA- This involves the sitting member of parliament of both the houses ie Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha (otherwise busy sleeping in the House) to adopt a village and develop it under the guidelines of a model village by 2016 covering 2,500 villages of 6 lakhs accounted.
Waiting- Given the reputation that our MP’s have, it would be a delight to see our MP’’s working towards this goal. You won yourself a brownie point on that!
- JAN DHAN YOJANA- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana- under which bank accounts could be opened at Re 1has managed a little over 3 crores bank accounts to be opened so far streamlining a major chunk of the rural population which was not under any financial Instrument. Thus, incentivising this financial umbrella further, overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 as well as providing RuPay debit cards, accident insurance cover is done to provide ‘universal access to banking facilities’.
Welcome move- again a very well charted plan, but the need of the hour at least in rural areas is to provide food, clothing & shelter, that being the necessity with proper sanitation.
- UIDAI- (Unique Identity Authority Of India) launched Aadhaar card, a unique 12 digit random number to serve as your address, for anywhere in India, which negates caste creed and religion bias to encompass all as one and equal. Though it sounds utopian, its’ worked out closely on the model of US‘s social security number. As people will become digitally accountable, in the long run it will help in solving corruption and crime as everything becomes crystal clear digitally.
Difficult task Though initially there weren’t many takers, it’s increasing its stakes gradually. In a country with around 73% literacy rate, it will take long to realise this dream.
- INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE- with websites coming up to ask for suggestions, designing logos, posters and pictures of various campaigns, this namely being Make-in –India, Modi’s policy seems to be people oriented, engaging them in the workings of the country thus arousing interest with a sense of ownership.
Democracy- Involving people in one of the world’s largest democracies could never be wrong, though a bit cumbersome to manage.
