Wanted: A Government

The BJP-led coalition came to power on the promise of governance. If its first 50 days on Raisina Hill are any indication, it can reasonably be said that it has broken this pledge with impunity. This, of course, may come as no surprise for India's electorate. But it does, surprisingly, contrast sharply with the first 50 days of the earlier governments in the nineties.

So much so that old timers in government maintain that the first 50 days of the BJP-led government have been by far the most lacklustre since the country launched its reforms offensive in 1991. If anything, the nation has been given a treatise on how not to govern the country.

The Narasimha Rao-Manmohan Singh combine had utilised its first few months in power and the balance of payments crisis of 1991 to steamroller all opposition and push through the most dramatic policy shift in Indian economic history.

Similarly, the United Front government under Deve Gowda and its brief reincarnation under I K Gujral cannot be faulted for a policy intent that was far-reaching. It is a different point altogether that it failed to implement most of its agenda after it became a victim of coalition politics.

Ironically, though, the United Front has left behind a readymade agenda for the BJP coalition. After belatedly waking up to this fact, the government has been working hard at impressing the nation with its policy intent. But scrutinise the agenda the prime minister unfolded at the recent Confederation of Indian Industry annual conference and it becomes clear that it is almost a carbon copy of the United Front's agenda. Whether it is new regulations for foreign exchange (remember FEMA?), or a new Urban Land Ceiling Act (the United Front withdrew the Act), or a revamped Companies Act (the earlier government was actually poised to move ahead with the changes), the list simply goes on.

The only positive fallout of this strategy, senior officials in Raisina Hill cynically point out, is that media attention has been successfully shifted away from the fragile nature of the present regime.

The serious point about the current lack of governance is that it highlights the government's inability to overcome its basic handicap of inexperience with power and cope with the continuous centrifugal pulls from its coalition partners, notably its ally from Chennai.

As a result, bureaucrats in the corridors of power complain of a worrying lack of direction as politicians fight intra- and inter-ministerial battles. In telecommunications it was Kabindra Purkayastha versus Buta Singh (before he resigned), in the petroleum ministry it is V K Ramamurthy versus Santosh Kumar Gangwar. An uneasy truce prevails in other ministries, and a mere spark could provoke trouble.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's differences with the industry ministry on investment limits for small scale industry is just yet another manifestation of the overall confusion afflicting the government. Subsequently, the prime minister's aides have announced a tactical retreat by claiming that the government was having a rethink.

The government has not helped its cause any further by making statements that it would like to make changes in the bureaucracy in key positions in the government "" reportedly on the firing line are the home secretary, finance secretary, revenue secretary, petroleum secretary and the industry secretary.

These insecurities in the top echelons of bureaucracy have only gathered momentum, in the face of several inspired leaks on an imminent reshuffle of top officials. Amid this guessing game it is no surprise that officials rarely have time (or probably lack the motivation) to apply themselves to the task at hand.

Now, not unexpectedly, the focus is almost entirely on the forthcoming Union budget. It will have to be seen whether finance minister Yashwant Sinha will be able to match the seemingly endless expectations of domestic industrialists in particular and the populace in general.