The government, in these four years, hasn’t been able to render Indian companies more competitive. India’s exports are historically low as a proportion of GDP and job growth has been minimal.
Four years ago this week, Narendra Modi was sworn in as India’s prime minister amid the kind of excitement and expectation not seen in decades. Not for 30 years had a single party won an electoral majority. Modi’s success, his rhetoric and his background all seemed like a decisive break with India’s past — one which many Indians were eager to embrace.
QuicktakeIndia’s Aspirations
What precisely was expected from Modi? Surely, that’s one fair way to judge how his government has done as he makes a bid for re-election next year. As far as economic policy goes — which was where the previous Congress administration had disappointed the most — voters hoped to see three things: less corruption, greater decisiveness in policymaking and more market-friendly reform.
Even Modi’s critics have to admit – and welcome – the fact that he’s made real progress on all three. Even his fans, though, must acknowledge that given its advantages, his government hasn’t lived up to its potential.
Take the first metric. Modi’s top officials have certainly avoided getting caught up in the sort of big scandals that paralyzed the previous government towards the end of its tenure. If anything can be said to be Modi’s number one political priority, it’s this — to avoid any hint of financial impropriety. More than anything else, an image of probity helps the prime minister cast himself as the champion of ordinary Indians against a historically venal political class.
It’s equally true, however, that the ability of those Indians to judge the government has diminished. The freedom of information requests that previously drove reporting on corruption and cronyism are now being routinely denied; the opposition, at least, openly questions the independence of institutions, such as the Supreme Court, that are supposed to keep an eye on the government. While things look like they’ve improved, we may not have the full picture.
What about decisiveness? Well, Modi — a leader with enormous political power, leading a majority in parliament and a party that controls most of India’s states — has both the opportunity and the desire to be more decisive than any prime minister in years. Nobody would claim, as they could have four years ago, that India’s federal government was so weak and vacillating that it was unable to make a real choice or change a law or institute new policy.
Of course, being decisive isn’t enough: What you decide also matters. And Modi’s decisiveness has led to some big blunders as well as undeniable achievements. Consider, for example, the one decision that will define Modi’s term in power: his overnight withdrawal, in November 2016, of 86 percent of India’s currency from circulation. To this day, nobody knows how and why this decision was made; who was in the room; why the Reserve Bank of India, the custodian of India’s monetary stability, signed onto the plan; and whether it succeeded in its nebulous aims.
What India needs most is a more efficient state. But, creating a structure that enables timely, evidence-based policymaking requires more than a prime minister who knows his mind. It demands administrative reform up and down India’s dysfunctional bureaucracy — the one challenge Modi has been reluctant to undertake.
Finally, there’s economic reform, where Modi’s government boasts of definite progress. It passed landmark tax reform, which completely overhauled India’s system of indirect taxes and has the potential to knit India’s disparate states into one economy — and even, perhaps, to increase tax compliance and raise government revenue to a new, higher level. India’s banking system, burdened by bad loans, has been given new hope thanks to an insolvency and bankruptcy code that might help free some of the capital that’s been sunk into stalled or mismanaged projects. Debt-ridden electricity utilities have been given an opportunity to clean up their books, which together with a continued emphasis on rural electrification might finally give all Indians a chance at 24×7 power.
What the government hasn’t been able to do is render Indian companies more competitive. India’s exports are historically low as a proportion of GDP and job growth has been minimal. That’s because the Indian private sector is still waiting for truly flexible labour markets and for processes that allow them to engage with the world on equal terms.
Modi’s supporters will no doubt argue that he should be given a second term precisely in order to attack these lingering problems. Yet his government has recently seemed to move backward on reform, raising tariff walls and seeking to protect entire sectors from competition. If India’s prime minister has disappointed some of those who were most enthusiastic when he took office four years ago, it isn’t because he lacked energy but because he didn’t expend his political capital on the right purposes. It’s hard to see why that would change in a second term. – Bloomberg
Over the years we have been observing an increasing dose electoral politics by different govts in the center or in the states; giving away goodies before the elections had become very common and was spreading all over. This govt in the center also did its part; And at the same time has taken a few decisions that might have brought people out of their comfort zone, created disruptions in usual day to day business, created inconvenience in the streets and uproar in the parliament. Some of them like the GST, Aadhar, Demonetization, reintroduction of LTCG tax, hitting the CAD issue by keeping gas prices high – are not the ones that pleased common people. However many experts and critics alike agreed with the vision and the objective of some of these steps. The newly introduced amendment in insolvency and bankruptcy code is bening touted as a big ticket reform. One noticeable point was, under pressure the govt didn’t backtrack from any of those above mentioned unlike the previous govts, surely showing the strength and confidence.
One would imagine this should help the people of india by and large and hopefully would create a standard for subsequent govts. In the past we mostly have seen a status quo or a backtracking govt.
Personally i wouldn’t like to see the power stays with same group for very long, may be another term for this govt before the change.
One issue however is the sense of empowerment by the fringe hindutva group, if they could be disciplined and enlightened.
Modi has an irritating Gujju habbit of thinking only he and his community because they have demonitised notes running in their veins know everything about everything . Gandhi , Morarji , as well as our worshipped domestic tigers, but kitten abroad industrialists are no different . Experts ,experts experts are needed . Also the willingness to experiment on a smaller scale and test out if decisions and analysis work .Second term will be more Nautanki . More dhoklas and thepla management .
So Modi is not ideal for a PM. But then who? he is the best choice today. Rahul does not even come close and Lallu is in jail and many others dead.
In a democracy, there is no such thing as DESERVING a second term — this article is utter bakvaas!
The reasons for not coming upto expectations are many:
1.B.J.P do not have experienced expert administrators except a few.
2.Major portion of time had to be spend on political management.
3.Strong trade Unions will not allow any major changes in Labour laws to make it flexible. A congress or United opposition Govt will only be surrendering to Unions.
4.If the Govt had succeeded in {a}Village Adoption {b}Khadi development and {c}Skill development Rural Economy would have improved and also created Rural employment.
.Hon.Prime Minister is aware of the shortfall and will surely do much better during SECOND TERM.