[su_dropcap style=”flat”]C[/su_dropcap]elebrating one year in the office, the performance sheet of the Modi government fails to roar like the way nation expected. A summarized annual report card of the government should read like – “A decent performance, but underachieved from what was expected“. Here’s a rigorous analysis of the gains and losses by the government in its one year tenure.
The Positives Of Modi Government:
- The year proved to be fruitful for the government on the economic front, given the combination of factors such as low prices of oil in the international market that led to an all time low inflation, marking the current GDP at 7.4 percent as against 6.9 in 2014.
- The stock market have soared with a key index up to 17%, touching an all time high in March 2015, as reported by ET.
- Modi visited 18 countries and spent 55 days abroad. Hopefully, these visits and the effort to build/rebuild our relationships will yield better results for India in the times ahead.
- The establishment of BRICS development bank, land boundary agreement bill with Bangladesh, emergency evacuation of Indians from Yemen and deploying its resources by understanding the sense of urgency during the Nepal earthquake were the few quick steps taken by the PM.
- FDI has been increased in insurance and the coal auctions paid off well for the government.
- Schemes such Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (bank accounts), the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (life insurance), the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (accident insurance), and the Atal Pension Yojana (pension for the unorganised sector) could be accounted as few successful moves by the government.
[socialpoll id=”2274268″]
The Not So Positives:
- The bilateral deals with China and USA didn’t reap the results as expected. Modi’s visit to USA didn’t lead to any Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) being signed.
- China had pledged to invest $100 billion but Chinese premiere Xi Jinping, has met that promise with only a $20 billion commitment, which too hasn’t materialised till date. China, on the other hand, has already pumped in $46 billion in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as reported by Firstpost.
- The relationship with Pakistan is under threat and is consistently deteriorating under Modi’s reign.
- A controversial Land acquisition bill is stuck as the opposition parties and the ruling party have been at loggerheads since the amendment came through. Not just that, Congress has made the bill its agenda to assert an “anti-poor” tag to BJP since then.
- Campaigns such as “Swacch Bharat” and “Make in India” fizzled out in due course of time. Celebrities holding a broom and pretending to care about the issue didn’t help the cause either. “Make in India” is definitely not making any headlines and as Raghuram Rajan had rightly pointed out when he said that India needs to make for India, and not make in India considering the current economic climate.
- The overall education budget of the Modi government is down from Rs.82, 771 crore to Rs.69, 074 crore.
- Not a single Indian institution of higher education figures in the list of top 200 universities prepared by The Times Higher Education Supplement.
- The proposal to revive the Central Universities Act of 2009 will require the Central universities to follow a common admission procedure and common syllabus, as reported by The Hindu. The consequence of such act is that it’ll bring down the creativity injected by the schools to propagate new ways and methods of learning, leading to a compromise on nuance and diversity.
- The zero interaction with Media, complete centralisation of activities and hastily passing of bills without required interaction, engagement and support of ministers has led to a sense of discontent in the party internally.
- Sectarian noises made by Sakshi Maharaj, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Giriraj Singh and other members of the party have clearly dented the government’s image as well as that of the PM due to his deaf ear to these noises.
What the government needs to understand after its first anniversary is the need to deliver what it promises. Or promise as much as it can deliver. While Modi moves ahead to strengthen the relations with other countries, what he leaves behind is an insecure set of citizens, constantly targeted by his own party members. The issue of hate speeches go beyond making them. It’s the ignorance of PM towards it. And if measures are not taken soon, it could further take away the chances of winning for BJP in the coming Bihar elections.