NOW THAT THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE

Yes folks, the electorate has won and brought to power an outsider in New Delhi with such a scintillating majority. Mr Narendra Modi, touted as the messiah and the Mr fix-it has been hailed as the winner of the 16^th Lok Sabha elections. After three decades, has a non-Congress party come to power with absolute majority. The prime reason for this victory of BJP is Mr Narendra Modi’s success story in the form of Gujarat development model; and also the anti incumbency of the Congress. The BJP has committed itself to good governance and development through it’s manifesto. So here in this piece, let’s analyse the things being expected from NaMo and his government.

India Inc. has hailed Modi’s victory and the markets have been bullish about his win as shown by the record-breaking rallies. Modi is expected to bring into action the innovative ideas he talked about in his campaign and the ones he showcased in Gujarat. Shoring up growth rates in the Indian economy is the biggest task ahead of him. And for that, building the investor confidence is of the essence. This would translate into the need for a consistent policy; i.e. the mistakes of the previous government like the retributive tax laws as seen in the Vodafone case and the drastic changes in the tax incentives given to the SEZs needs to be avoided in all circumstances.  In order to bring more investment in the economy, the previous investments already done in the economy need to lift off, i.e. the gestation periods need to reduce. This can be done only by enhancing single window clearance mechanisms, cutting the red-tape, and finally, bringing more transparency and accountability. Everybody craves to see the India in which we know where a certain file is going and where it has been stalled. In that way, we won’t anymore have certain Environment ministers sitting on hundreds of files, stymieing the development of the country.  Creating a uniform market all over the country is also a step ahead in unleashing the potential of all regions and harnessing growth in all sectors. Passing reforms like goods and services tax in the parliament can do so. And I say so because now there is so much majority in the LS that reforms won’t be as tough to come by. And I say that this should be done in the honeymoon period of the first 10 months itself. Let’s look forward to the upcoming budgets for it.

We need to also see more of Made in India tags around the world and for that, the manufacturing sector should to be given a boost like never before. The small and medium sector enterprises need to be given a conducive environment to unbridle their potential and spread their wings so that the hub and spoke model of development can play out as the ancillary industries also get the required boost. Not just this, labor laws need reformation too, and that too, ASAP! For the Index for Industrial Production (IIP) to show the rise, the core sectors need to be paid special attention so that there is more of growth and employment generation.

Not enough can be said about the need to develop infrastructure for faster growth of the country. Certainly, we do need all-weather roads, freight corridors, rapid railways, power supply, banking services et cetra. While the manifesto talks about most of these issues, the proof of the pudding shall be in the eating. So, let’s wait and watch how things happen this time around. And while I’m talking of infrastructure still, I shouldn’t leave the human capital. Skill devt is the key factor in reaping our demographic dividend, i.e. to make sure that the citizens actively contribute in India’s devt and stand to gain from it. Let me just lay down the simple cycle of all the good things that may happen- when the people are skilled and the business climate is favourable, more money is pumped into various sectors of the economy which creates jobs and people get salaries. This increases consumption and the purchasing power of the people, which in turn further creates more incentives for the companies to produce and make more investment.

One issue, which specifically bothers me, is the stature of India in the world. We have seen the times when Mr. Bush was fighting the world to get India the nuclear deal and when Mr. Obama was saying aggressively everywhere that India deserves the seat in the UNSC but suddenly India is not talked about so much now. I see the main reason for this as the downturn in the growth trajectory of India. We are no more at or even in the vicinity of the 9% growth rate and we are just a 2 trillion dollar economy, which is literally nothing in front of the $9tn China and $16tn America. So, while some years ago there was the notion of Chindia and BRICS, the idea is dead now. To arrive back on the platform, economic revival is of utmost importance. Also important is building regional cooperation with our neighbouring countries. Till the time they are not made co-partners in our growth, the rise of India seems rather bleak. Thus, the foreign policy amendments to be taken by the govt need to be seen with eagle eyes.

A catchy thing in the manifesto was the growth of 100 smart cities. While the schemes like MGNREGS are meant to keep people in the rural areas and to keep them from coming in the cities, the hard fact is that development happens not by ruralization, but by urbanisation. We urgently and desperately need these cities for the cycle of events I mentioned in the previous paras. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t look forward to Rurbanization, that is also another key point of the manifesto i.e. to provide the urban amenities in the rural areas so as to develop them too. All these promises done by NaMo fill me with optimism and I shall track them closely.

NaMo would be the first Prime Minister who has been the Chief Minister with a successful tenure of 12 years. He has had no parallel yet. This gives me a ray of hope that Centre- State friction would reduce because he has been on the other side of the table. His understanding of such issues would be first-hand and would come handy. Whether it be the resounding question of having or not having the National Counter Terrorism Centre; or putting the onus of Central Schemes partly on the states; his proposed idea of PM-CM association would be of real benefit to our maturing federalism.

As I write today, he has already given his 67 point agenda to tackle inflation by addressing the supply side bottlenecks. But despite of all the positives, I would like to stay cautiously optimistic because it still remains for us to see what stand he takes on subsidies, reservations, fiscal situation etc. But let us give them enough time to show sustainable results and not expect our messiah to mend every pot hole on the road and electrify every rural village in a jiffy. Nevertheless, I’m elated to say that after so many years of dynastic rule in our country, the Indian Spring is finally here.

Mainstreaming shame

We’ve all grown up hearing about the stratospheric ideals of ‘unity in diversity’ and ‘Incredible India’ but hardly few of us actually embrace it in its true spirit. We have been calling South Indians as Madrassis and North Easterners as Cheeni for a long while now. We consider ourselves as living in that imaginary cocoon wherein only North India is the heartland and the rest is a foreign land. This mental construct of ours is deplorable. On the contrary, on a dinner table, we are also deeply unsettled with the word that sounds like RACISM. We take it rather personally when an Australian beats up an Indian or when David Cameroon visits Amritsar and doesn’t apologize for the Jalianwala bagh massacre. What does one call that in plain English? Hypocrisy. We Indians are hypocrites.

Recently, the death of a young Arunachal guy named Nido Tania and rape of a Manipuri girl in the capital have spurred the double standard issues that we have. Why are the north easterners not given their due? Why are they treated like foreigners in their own country? Why are boorish comments on their hair style and dressing sense so common? The problem is much deeper than it seems on the surface. Right from the elementary level, the school curriculum doesn’t include much about the north east. It is only at the exam time when mothers make their kids mug up the capitals and dance forms of these seven states. Children are not given even the slightest of knowledge about anthropology which could make them cognizant of the fact that it is just the face of a mongoloid race which makes them that way but in spirit, they are still the same as any other Indian. There is also no interaction among the students of the north east and the rest of India that can possibly reduce the strangeness between them which could aggravate into aloofness in the future.

A lot has been said about ‘mainstreaming’ the north east so that they can be active participants in the growth process of India but what has actually been done? The students of the north east are driven by the lack of opportunities for higher education and jobs to the mainland of India where they have no option but to face the feeling of being an ‘outsider’. Delhi is in fact a mini India and thus rightly a melting pot. But what infuriates me is the fact that Delhiites are not receptive and welcoming enough to people from other states. There are some folks who are just six feet from the edge and they vent it out on other people who are already feeling like ‘outsiders’. Yes, the north easterners dress differently and they talk differently but aren’t we supposed to respect that? They own Delhi as much as we do.

Those seven sisters have a border with the foreign countries, some of whom are aggressive too. People there face competition from the infiltrators from Bangladesh and others just because the Indian government hasn’t been able to stop infiltration in all these decades since independence. Trafficking of drugs is a normal issue there. Connectivity still remains a humongous problem as these seven states are connected to the mainland only through the chicken corridor which if closed, would cut the northeast from India. If this was already not enough, the Kokrajhar incidents happen too. After all this, the question remains, have we after all, given the north east as much attention as we should have? Answer to this question also lies in the difference of reaction of the Indian government to the fast that Irom Sharmila is sitting on since 14 years to repeal the Armed Forces Special Protection Act(AFSPA) and Anna Hazare’s fast for anti corruption bill. I can bet if Irom Sharmila was doing this fast in Delhi, even the media would cover it well. What to talk of a fast if cognizance is not taken of the different time zone that our North Eastern region is in. There is a difference of about 2 hours between IST and the time standard that NE should have. This deprives them of the daylight hours which could be used productively and also distances them further from the happenings in the mainland of India. Just imagine about the prime time at 9 news which comes here at 9 pm in the night would actually come at 11pm in  Arunachal. Enough sensitivity has not been shown to their plights and we talk of ‘mainstreaming’ them. Such a sham!

And if it were not for Digboi, Naharkatia and the gas pipeline from the north east, can we think of our energy demands being fulfilled? Or can we think of India without the Brahmaputra or the Manas wildlife sanctuary? The point is that north east is way too important for us to ignore and its people are our brethren. I say, exemplary punishment must be given to the people who mistreat them and immediate actions should be taken. Simultaneously, the mindset of the people needs to be changed and the children should be made more sensitive about the diversity that India possesses. It's time that India  showcases how ‘incredible’ it actually is.