An ambitious programme

The Manmohan Singh govt starts on an unusually purposive note

The Manmohan Singh government has just given itself what is perhaps the most ambitious programme that any government has attempted since Rajiv Gandhi’s action-packed agenda of 1985. There is evidence of considerable thought and planning, and a commitment to accountability and delivery that is the most encouraging element of the many that have been spelt out. On a day when newspapers have carried reports that rate India’s bureaucracy as the worst in all of Asia, there may be understandable scepticism about the possibility of a new leaf being turned, and about reversing the mostly deteriorating standards of governance. But there can be no doubt now that the new government is going to try. It needs to be complimented for what it seeks to achieve—with specified time lines of 100 days, six months, annually, three years, and five years.

There are many strands that can be pulled out as worthy of comment. One is education, with stress on full female literacy in five years, and the creation of 14 “innovation universities” that seek to attract the best talent in the world. There will be a “roadmap” for judicial reform in six months, a national identity card system in place in three years, a national food security commitment, e-governance in the form of common service centres (and broadband access) in all panchayats, and stress on efficiency and competition in power, including the so-far stymied “open access” initiative. There will be eight “missions” linked to tackling climate change, covering water, agriculture and other essential areas, at least 13,000MW of power capacity added every year, and reform in the so far untouched coal sector. The integrated goods and services tax will be introduced next year, as scheduled, a broad disinvestment programme will be launched within the limits of public ownership, and (less credibly) a re-orienting of subsidies to the needy.

There is an uncommon stress on openness and accountability, with a public data policy promised for all non-strategic information (a welcome and overdue change from the stress on official secrecy), a model public services law to cover all the important social services (which might, just might, improve the existing standards of delivery), quarterly reports on the Bharat Nirman programmes, annual “reports to the people” on health, education, employment, environment and infrastructure, and the creation of two new units: an independent evaluation office in the Planning Commission, and a monitoring unit in the Prime Minister’s Office. One wonders, though, what work is then left for the ministry of programme implementation, set up by Rajiv Gandhi and reduced to another file-pushing outfit. The broad message is of a government with a renewed sense of purpose, which has given itself an ambitious five-year agenda.

The focus on women cannot be an accident, and probably bears the imprint of a new element in the Congress’ political strategy, since women have half the votes. The proposed elements of women’s empowerment are many, like one-third representation in Parliament, a Constitutional amendment to ensure 50 per cent reservation in panchayats, and the stretch promise to wipe out female illiteracy in five years. After having installed a woman President and a woman Speaker, the Congress under a woman Chairperson could well be going for the women’s vote.