I am not a political analyst. I don’t look at politics the way these so called analysts look. But I have a very simple criteria to judge the performance of a government like the most of other Indians. It’s very simple. How much work they have done for the betterment of this country. It’s the same way my boss looks at my performance in a specific year when it comes to appraisal. So, I guess it’s the universal way to judge the performance of anybody whether it’s an individual or a government. Mr. Narendra Modi took charge as India’s PM on May, 2014. He came to power with so many expectations. Under UPA India had seen very bad days. If I am not exaggerating it, India had seen her worst days under Dr Manmohan Singh. Indians had lost hope and its very dangerous for any nation. Without hope there is no point of existing.
Recent victory in Uttar Pradesh is enough to tell us, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains India’s most popular political leader. Many controversies took place in the last 3 years but they were bound to happen. The ideology of BJP makes them vulnerable. Saffron gangs, cow vigilantes, and many other small groups are creating problems for this government. Next elections are in 2019 and we don’t have anyone else who can stand against the juggernaut of Mr. Modi. And I do think he deserves a second term. This government has done so many great under his leadership and that’s why 73% Indians showed faith in this government (according to a recent survey by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the global polling giant Gallup). India topped the global list of citizens’ confidence in governments based on a Forbes Report. Lets talk about the positive and negative of this government.
Transportation on almost every channel (road, train, air) has improved. But NDA couldn’t control the rail accidents.
Power sector is doing good so far. UDAY scheme is just doing fantastic. I didn’t know before that this many villages were not electrified. Congress had screwed India in the last 6 decades.
Swachh Bharat has been the best initiative by this government according to me. NDA is trying hard to eliminate the open defecation and its very commendable.
Foreign policy has been great so far. Trip to Israel was a bold step. Not just with Europe or USA, but Modi has been really wonderful with our small neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too. One thing which has gone bad is the relationship with China and Pakistan despite Modi’s trip to both countries. The relationship with one of our oldest friends Russia, is also in doldrums.
Agriculture is the most important and close to my heart sector, as I belongs to Haryana. Conditions of farmers haven’t improved in last 3 years or so. Decline in wholesale prices of vegetables and pulses has dented farm incomes. I am not a huge fan of waiving loans, which looks like a trend in India. A loan waiver in Uttar Pradesh led to a moral hazard problem and delay in repayment of loans in other states. Acute drought in southern states led to a spike in farm suicides. I work as a data scientist but I know one thing, no point of talking about big technology firms and space missions if we can’t solve the basic problems of our food provider, the farmers. Anybody in India can tell why farmers commit suicide but still no-one has done anything to stop this curse. That’s the one sector I am very disappointed in with this government.
NDA has neglected the forest and wildlife sectors. Decisions are pending on a national forest policy, definition of forests, inviolate forest areas and a national wildlife action plan. And Ganga clean-up (Namami Gange) is yet to gather momentum.
Demonetization has been revolutionary reform for our country but nothing done so far when it comes to black money stashed abroad. The deficit has been trimmed, subsidies have been rationalized and better directed which have helped to make money work better. Tax reforms are epitomized by the GST. Great step.
Job creation is one area where the Narendra Modi government has not fared according to expectations. Against the Modi government’s promise to create 1 crore jobs every year, labour bureau records presents a dismal picture. In the last three years about 5 lakh jobs were created, which is a cause of worry. But, the Narendra Modi government may sit satisfied especially when the opposition is reeling under sustained political pressure from the BJP, which is functioning like an election winning machine. This is a worry because growth without employment is not good for a country which prides itself on a demographic dividend.
The external environment has been favourable in terms of oil prices which have led to a comfortable current account deficit. This has helped to stabilize the rupee with the Indian currency becoming one of the best performing ones. With foreign investment flows being very active, notwithstanding moderation in FPI, the forex reserves have crossed the $ 375 billion mark.
There are problems within the NDA: the Peoples Democratic Party (Jammu and Kashmir), Shiv Sena (Maharashtra) are not good people to work with. They haven’t contribute anything to NDA other than few MLAs and negative publicity. Shiv Sena is nothing more than a group of hooligans and PDP, they just want to be in power and nothing else. They don’t care about Kashmir at all.
In the end, I want to say that Mr. Modi need to focus more on Agriculture, Job creation and Women safety. If he can improve these three things, trust me even his worst enemies will appreciate and will vouch for him in upcoming elections. Otherwise winning 2019 doesn’t look like a big issue because there is no body in opposition.
