A report on the Modi government!

Narendra Damodar Modi, had sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on 26th May 2014. It’s been 11 months as he is in office, and in this time there have been a lot many oratory speeches which he has given all over the world. In addition to his foreign tours, he had also invited the President of the United States Of America, Mr. Barack Obama as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations this year. Adding many firsts to his name; he reached to more and more people over the globe, to countries like Australia and Canada amongst others. Wherever he graced his presence, he became the centre of everyone’s attention. So much so, the US President, claimed him one of the most strongest figures in the world and it all added to India’s fame.

At the same time, within all the talks and pride that India felt with his oratory skills, somewhere he lacked the punch. Mr. Modi, didn’t seem to fulfill his promises that he made in his parties’ manifesto, that brought him the seat of the prime ministership of the largest democracy in the world. Starting with the promise to bring back the black money to India, he had said that every Indian would get 15 lakh rupees per head, if his political party won the Lok Sabha Elections. He failed straight in his promise, and now his government completes almost an year and no one talks of black money, to be brought back. A Special Investigation Team(S.I.T) was to be formed and the matter had to be reported by the 31st March 2015, but who knows the whereabouts of an S.I.T in this regard?  Moreover, adding to his blame; the political parties are accusing the Modi government for making policies for the benefit of the Corporate sector only. In a statement recorded by Arun Jaitley said, that ‘the middle class can take care of themselves’.

The Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley had previously claimed that his government would change the income tax slab to Rs. 5 lakhs from the present Rs.  2.5 lakhs. That didn't happen, but what happened was a huge reduction of Corporate tax. This shows straight, how the government is making policies in favour of the well to do class. In response to the debacle of the crops in Punjab due to massive hailstorm, the farmers have suffered huge losses but the government doesn’t appear to be doing much to saveguard the interests of the farmers. As, the ‘Make In India’ slogan is getting popular in India, the primary people concerned with the production of crops aren’t given much emphasis. Farmer suicides are still on the same track as before, as the farmers are unable to pay back the loans after they are stuck in the debt trap of the landloard and the moneylenders. Nothing seems to bring the ‘good days’, as the BJP led government gave hopes before the elections last year, to the common man. In the starting one had hopes, when the PM brought the policy of a bank account for all people in the country. In addition, the farmers were given Rs. 1 lakh, life insurance with the opening of a bank account, along with an overdraft facility upto Rs. 5,000. It was named the, Jan Dhan Yojana.

When one comes to the economic figures in the eight core industries which includes fertilizers industry, natural gas intustry, crude oil industry, etc. then the graph is declining. To look at the development of these sectors, the growth figures show 6.7% in November 2014, 2.4% in December, 1.8% in January, 1.4%  in February and -0.1% in March. The growth figure can be seen as decreasing at a rapid pace. This isn’t development, that can be easily understood through these facts and figures. The performance of Modi government does not show positive signs, in front of the big talks that its leaders are known for these days.

One can imagine that the problems are many in India, but to reform them the work needs to be done at the ground level which was seen missing in the last year. Mr. Modi should now concentrate on making lives easier for the farmers, before aiming for other things. For, the farmers who provide the crops should be taken care of, and not let alone in times of trouble. This government needs to cover up, those nooks and crannies which are untouched and are of great importance for the development of India, in the real sense of the word.

Gagandeep Singh Vaid