Since 2016 when the country was pushed into an economic abyss by demonetisation and successive policies of GST, the Indian economy has demonstrated low growth, high unemployment, more poverty, less private investment and record breaking inflation in recent times. As the economy was already reeling with the after-effects of demonetisation and the poorly implemented policies of GST, came the virus which caused the economy to come to a standstill. The complacency towards the seriousness of the virus and ill-planned lockdowns compelled millions of migrant labourers to literally walk hundreds of kilometers to reach their homes and inflicted loss of unimaginable magnitude to the already reeling economy.
Instead of course correction, the Modi government went into denial initially. It was under immense public anger it finally accepted that the pandemic had brought with itself poverty and devastation and that the government at some level failed to manage the virus and its impact.
When PM Modi came to power in 2014, he made big promises, primarily economic, to the Indian electorate, and Indian voters were won over. But after 8 long years of those promises the country hasn’t changed much. Nobody in even in their dreams now can see the ‘Acche din’ promised in 2014, and frankly no one in the BJP now talks about it anymore either.
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Now the topic of discussion nationwide are communal riots taking place all over the country, the increasing divide between Hindus and Muslims, beef bans, the Ram temple, love jihad, UPSC jihad and what not. The reality is India after independence has never been so divided on communal lines as it is now.
The government and the PM are constantly in election mode, and there is no sense of urgency towards the economy at any level of the government and this is to my mind a very serious problem which needs to addressed immediately. No matter you are a Muslim, a Hindu, or from any other religion we all need a growing and strong economy to achieve our maximum potential.
Now is the time for the Indian electorate and especially the youth to hold the decision makers in Delhi accountable to their promises and responsibilities towards the Indian people and the economy, and not to indulge in petty politics of religion, caste, region etc. We missed the the bus of globalisation in the 1990s and we are seeing the consequences we cannot afford to miss the bus anymore more of new and modern technologies and startups standing on our doors. If we want to build a strong and prosperous nation we need to be a strong economy.
The author is a student at St. Joseph’s Convent, Ratlam. Views are personal.