Callous vs Cautious Optimism

Economy, defense structure, foreign relations, internal peace and security, cultural bondage and heritage are the pillars on which any country can stand tall and firm. If we test the strength of these pillars in our country, there seems to be total fragility cued by an element of uncertainty with regard to these very important sectors projecting Nation’s pride and prestige. A stable Govt. at the centre navigating the country’s policies and programs undoubtedly carries the responsibility of making and crafting policies in such a way that the all round growth and development is achieved and experienced. Political stability eluded our system of governance for quite a long period after 2004. The Janta Party Govt. in 1977 which was installed with much fanfare proved fiasco as it was combination of many ideologies, varied thoughts bound temporarily for a cause which could not be sustained for a long time. After the bitter Janta party experience apart from the period when Congress regained power at the centre; there came an era of coalition politics. The emergence of regional parties in National politics gave birth to the alliance culture where parties having even a meager representation dictated things because of the thin majority enjoyed by the ruling combines. The men in power in such Governments very easily and conveniently passed the buck to the coalition partners for any non performance annoying them to the point that they threatened to withdraw support making the ruling combine the most fragile and vulnerable. The era of coalition politics saw eruption of various scams and scandals which marred the Indian political scene. Fed up with such filthy governance the masses gave a clear mandate in favor of BJP in 2014 making it capable on its own to form strong and stable govt. at the centre.

The expectations were very naturally galore; the aspirations went lavish making it obligatory on the part of the BJP combine to perform on all fronts, to fulfill all the promises profusely rolled by their leaders in electioneering. The wait for the promised ‘achche din’ started soon and people very anxiously started looking for the magical wand of Narender Modi to be wielded and their woes mitigated. The wait after more than three years of governance has started turning into hostile desperation and disenchantment. It is well practiced marketing principle that generation of hyper expectations in the minds of consumers with regard to the product or service in the offing through various marketing tools can prove to be dangerous beyond any proportions and can become a cause of even ruining the prospects of the product offered. The results perceived in the backdrop of the promises made are very naturally asked to be matched with results delivered. The mismatch starts brewing troubles and honeymoon blues start turning red. The non performance gets magnified in the lens of hyper expectations created through rhetoric talks.  The scenario emerging out of all this naturally brings person at helm under severe criticism. But when the criticism is out rightly ignored or laughed off as mere ‘pessimism’ as described by PM Modi recently, it becomes all the more dangerous for future course of any corrective action. If one starts closing eyes to clear writing on the wall, starts ignoring even the expert opinion on policy decisions, the arrogance creeps in which in turn starts breeding a web of fool’s paradise.

The economic structure and growth of our country has beyond any doubt suffered due to some hasty, half cooked decisions in the form of demonetization and implementation of GST. Many experts have given their clear and precise verdict that economy has considerably slowed down post demonetization effect but the men in power very strategically equipped to defend criticism of the signature decisions of PM Modi turned a deaf ear to all this and rejected it as criticism for the sake of criticism only. Crores of rupees are being spent now on countering the criticism and propagating the positives of the decisions of the Govt. which still exist but only in the trademark rhetoric talks.

The real picture and results of demonetization are clearly evident now which confirm that he decision was unwarranted and implemented without any precise home work. The frequent changes and amendments in directions issued by the Govt. post demonetization clearly hinted that the Govt. did not mull over the ifs and buts of demonetization effectively and tried to implement the decision to come true to the expectations of masses regarding flushing black money out of economy in one go. But all this proved a damp squib.

The Govt. seems not to have learnt any lesson from the fiasco of demonetization as it hurriedly implemented the GST without making it clear to the people directly related to it. Total confusion and state of conundrum prevails as on one hand the basic structure and form of GST has not been made clear and on the other hand frequent addendum and corrigendum being issued by the Govt. from time to time has added more tangles to it. The Govt. once again seems to be on back foot and trying to cover up the things by offering certain concessions and relaxations to appease masses. Once again tax payer’s money is lavishly spent on educating and convincing the masses about the goodness and simplicity involved in the new tax structure. Good and simple tax is proving to be taxing beyond any proportions as it is not so good and not so simple.

Our relations with the neighboring countries are projected to be sound but the picture at ground reality is altogether different. Pakistan, China, Mynamar and even Bangla Desh never hesitate to harass us at one platform or the other and we continue to be at the receiving end. Chinks in our internal security mechanism never prompt us to evolve fool proof system but make us growl at the foreign forces every now and then.

The cultural texture and fabric of our country is also being dangerously flirted with. The vote bank politics and other vested interests are perilously dividing the masses on caste basis which is going to take its toll in the long run.

 

Although criticism in Indian politics is most of the times for the sake of criticism only yet the men in power must learn to pay hide to the ideas floated by the opposition benches, duly analyze these ideas and go to the extent of incorporating them in the overall interest of the Nation. Not tolerating the criticism or just laughing it off would not do any good. The govt. should not just try and test the decision of such magnitude with regard to the important sectors, rather the ideas of growth and refinement should be thoroughly analyzed taking the opinion of experts of the field cutting across the party lines and thinking.

The present regime is lucky enough to have oozing exchequer. Thanks to the not so transparent oil price mechanism. But the financial resources should not be wasted on just popularizing the deeds of Govt. Let the beneficiaries of the Govt. schemes be the brand ambassadors of the Govt. It is really enough of the policy making and changes there in. It is high time now to wisely implement the decisions with cautious optimism which has to be created by the men in power. Only then our own political system which incorporates varied thinking, different ideologies and different cultures can concertedly work for the betterment and growth.

DR SANJEEV TRIKHA

 ASSOCIATE PROF.

M.M.(PG) COLLEGE

FATEHABAD.