I am yet to reconcile with a question, how and why Manmohan failed India, his country that had a potential to race ahead. I am, by nature, intolerant for inefficiency and ineffectiveness. And after seeing India and Indians shining in many fields that none could even imagine just two-three decades ago, it pains to see the present condition of the country’s economy and more so the helplessness of the people who matter in academic, media, industry, people at large.
I am not a fan of Chetan Bhagat, but I totally agreed with his view expressed recently in one of the article in Times of India: “Many of us unfortunate enough to be educated and emotionally invested in our country are in pain these days. We see our nation being plundered and mismanaged by the politicians in power. Even as the rupee collapses and industrial production growth turns negative, our top leadership discusses 60-year-old cartoons in Parliament.”
UPA-II still celebrates. Mulayam and Lalu are still important. BJP, the only opposition party that could have been an alternative is still in malaise of personal ambitions. A person such as PA Sangma, Pranab Mukherji, or Abdul Kalam can’t become the president of India as Sonia Gandhi needs a loyal person such as the incumbent one. Rahul Gandhi still lacks the confidence of his father necessary to get into the driver seat.
Pranab, time and again, expresses his concern of falling rupee and increasing deficit and expects austerity. However, Manmohan instead of providing the way out from the malaise, taking major political parties in confidence for some hard actions and taking actions to remove the cause of wrong signals to domestic and foreign investors, still finds its government’s performance good enough for celebration with sumptuous dinner party.
The country still doesn’t know if Manmohan approves of the retrospective taxation proposed in the last budget that has been considered as one single reason affecting India story so badly dissuading the foreign investment. Are all sane thinkers of the country antinational? Why are the domestic business houses focusing on investing abroad? Why Manmohan could not put his personal weightage on passing the land acquisition bill in session that has just ended as he did in case of Nuclear Bill? Doesn’t he know how huge numbers of key development projects all over the country are not moving ahead because of that?
How can a person without a fire in belly can take the country on the path of development and see the aspirations of a billion plus men and women?
Perhaps, Manmohan is languishing in an old mantra of some Indian sage, ‘santos hi param dharam’ with the India economy gradually moving towards a situation where the envious nations will say, ‘Punah muShiko bhava’:
The fiscal deficit ballooned to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011/12, up from 4.9 per cent the previous year.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growth averaged 2.8 per cent in 2011/12, compared with 8.2 per cent in 2010/11.
The current account deficit has grown to $19.6 billion in the October to December 2011 quarter, from $10.1 billion a year earlier.
Inflation is back at 7.23 per cent in April this year, rising from 6.89 per cent in March.The rupee has undergone a free fall. Even with RBI assistance, it is down near Rs 56 against the US dollar.
And then my question: why has so much revered Manmohan failed India?
दृष्टिकोण - Indra's Viewpoint 