A decisive mandate can bring about a sense of deep accountability. Alternatively it can lead to a sense of reckless entitlement. Despite being a fervent Narendra Modi supporter, his first 30 odd days have left me disappointed and I would score him 3/10, however irrelevant my score may be. Truth be told, I was secretly hopeful the BJP formed a majority but with just about 230 seats of its own. The 280+ number on the strength of a Presidential campaign made me apprehensive and early days seem to prove my fears right.
Lets start with the PM's choice of appointments. For a man who claimed to stand for youth, technology and capability he chose to usher in a set of geriatric former administrators with highly pronounced loyalties to the BJP and questionable track records to boot. (Ajit Doval seems to be an exception on the track record piece). Do we seriously need 70-year olds like Nripendra Misra to preside over the PMO? If reliable sources are to be believed he cant even boot a PC. So much for technology bias. Loyalty over capability seems to be the order of the day. Several key ministries have been handed over to minions with low political base or negligible administrative experience.
Next was a decree that rendered babus who were Private Secretaries to UPA ministers ineligible for similar postings in the current regime. Needless to say, an exception was made for a crony from Gujarat who must have been shamelessly pliable. (no prizes for guessing: he is the PS to the PM)This was par for the course in the Congress regime. Where then is the promised difference? More than the issues on hand , it is the pettiness of the initial chosen battles that rattle. Should the Prime Minister of a country expend bandwidth on Private Secretaries to ministers? Is a competent golfing civil servant necessarily less effective than a boring bureaucrat with no extra-curricular interests? (not even booting a PC) . Is it fair to stress on Powerpoint presentations when your chosen administrative acolyte is a dinosaur? Is issuing a populist diktat banning new cars for ministers supposed to be so high on the priority of a new government? While the wisdom of insecurity suggests that trench-fighting is important, it ought not be the sole focus of a PM.
Moving onto the other power games on display. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is now down to 2 people. (Modi and Rajnath Singh). The Prime Minister wishes to meet Service Chiefs every month. (So who is the Defence Minister again?). Secretaries to the Government of India shall make presentations to the PM with ministerial absence being the preferred order of the day. (whatchamacallit......"snoopgate"? ) The only real alternate power centre is a man who lost the Lok Sabha elections. That makes him as disposable as a toothpick post dinner should he ever choose to demonstrate the existence of a spine.
Now for some of the real decisions the government claims to have taken. Rail fare hikes were touted as necessary and inevitable. The alleged UPA trademark roll-backs took just 24- hours to show up. Minimum Export Prices were decreed for a host of agri commodities in sharp deviance from the stated "Gujarat model" capitalism that the PM expounded. Indira Gandhi at her senile worst had confronted the judiciary. Modi has taken his first swipe in less than a month in a move that threatens to strike at the heart of judicial independence. Gubernatorial changes seem to be a key priority item for the first 100 days. Development model anyone?
I concede these are really early days and am being unduly harsh. Insiders say the sharp step-up in administrative discipline has to be seen to be believed. Real change does not occur in 30/60 or even 180 days. It is the number of juvenile, vindictive and mindless false steps that worry. Most of believe we are good judges of people and situations for it is a direct reflection on our intelligence. Hope Modi doesn't expose my lack of intelligence so early on. It can only get better from here anyway......
Lets start with the PM's choice of appointments. For a man who claimed to stand for youth, technology and capability he chose to usher in a set of geriatric former administrators with highly pronounced loyalties to the BJP and questionable track records to boot. (Ajit Doval seems to be an exception on the track record piece). Do we seriously need 70-year olds like Nripendra Misra to preside over the PMO? If reliable sources are to be believed he cant even boot a PC. So much for technology bias. Loyalty over capability seems to be the order of the day. Several key ministries have been handed over to minions with low political base or negligible administrative experience.
Next was a decree that rendered babus who were Private Secretaries to UPA ministers ineligible for similar postings in the current regime. Needless to say, an exception was made for a crony from Gujarat who must have been shamelessly pliable. (no prizes for guessing: he is the PS to the PM)This was par for the course in the Congress regime. Where then is the promised difference? More than the issues on hand , it is the pettiness of the initial chosen battles that rattle. Should the Prime Minister of a country expend bandwidth on Private Secretaries to ministers? Is a competent golfing civil servant necessarily less effective than a boring bureaucrat with no extra-curricular interests? (not even booting a PC) . Is it fair to stress on Powerpoint presentations when your chosen administrative acolyte is a dinosaur? Is issuing a populist diktat banning new cars for ministers supposed to be so high on the priority of a new government? While the wisdom of insecurity suggests that trench-fighting is important, it ought not be the sole focus of a PM.
Moving onto the other power games on display. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is now down to 2 people. (Modi and Rajnath Singh). The Prime Minister wishes to meet Service Chiefs every month. (So who is the Defence Minister again?). Secretaries to the Government of India shall make presentations to the PM with ministerial absence being the preferred order of the day. (whatchamacallit......"snoopgate"? ) The only real alternate power centre is a man who lost the Lok Sabha elections. That makes him as disposable as a toothpick post dinner should he ever choose to demonstrate the existence of a spine.
Now for some of the real decisions the government claims to have taken. Rail fare hikes were touted as necessary and inevitable. The alleged UPA trademark roll-backs took just 24- hours to show up. Minimum Export Prices were decreed for a host of agri commodities in sharp deviance from the stated "Gujarat model" capitalism that the PM expounded. Indira Gandhi at her senile worst had confronted the judiciary. Modi has taken his first swipe in less than a month in a move that threatens to strike at the heart of judicial independence. Gubernatorial changes seem to be a key priority item for the first 100 days. Development model anyone?
I concede these are really early days and am being unduly harsh. Insiders say the sharp step-up in administrative discipline has to be seen to be believed. Real change does not occur in 30/60 or even 180 days. It is the number of juvenile, vindictive and mindless false steps that worry. Most of believe we are good judges of people and situations for it is a direct reflection on our intelligence. Hope Modi doesn't expose my lack of intelligence so early on. It can only get better from here anyway......
1 comment:
somewhat contrite, but very valid points made.
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