Analysis
A wake up call for the ‘fence sitters’
It is a common refrain by the “politically neutral” fence sitters to equate BJP and Congress under the bracket “sab neta chor hain”! While we can definitely argue over the magnitude of corruption between the parties, there is no denying that there are rogue elements in both the parties who indulge in corruption that narrows the apparent credibility differential between the two parties.
On the other hand, the difference between BJP and Congress, on the economic policy front has widened significantly in the last 9 years of UPA rule. The failure of the “fence sitters” to recognize this difference is causing immense damage to the country depriving / delaying millions to emerge out of abject poverty.
Post 1991 liberalisation era, there was a broad alignment between these two mainstream parties on the direction in which the country will move on the economic reforms front – dismantling of the licence raj, free trade, lower and stable taxes, disinvestment, fiscal discipline, liberal access to capital, government spending in basic infrastructure, etc., all of which can be broadly classified as “right of centre” economic policies. However, the Congress has made a complete U-turn on this reform process and its current economic policies are almost indistinguishable from that of CPI or CPM! If you think that is hyperbole, please read along to judge for yourself!
Key achievements of both parties highlights the contrast
Let us take a look at the Top 5 “achievements” of the NDA government (1998 – 2004) and the UPA government (2004-2012).
Top 5 achievements in Economic Policy issues – NDA regime
Top 5 achievements in Economic Policy issues – UPA regime
Before we analyse the difference in the policy framework between NDA and UPA, let us see the current status of the achievements of the NDA regime.
Baby with the bath water! How UPA is dealing with NDA’s flagship programmes…
NDA Achievements |
Current status under UPA regime
Table 2: India National Highway addition statistics since 1951
Year | National Highway |
Addition
Duration
Annual
Remarks
Length KM
KM
Years
Addition
22200
23800
24000
31700
33700
34298
12098
46 years
65600
31302
7 years
76818
11218
8 years
Table 3: Inflation statistics during NDA and UPA regimes
Essentially, UPA has completely run aground the reform initiatives taken by the NDA regime, and even worse, has undone the reforms in some instances like Petroleum sector.
Essential difference is “Right of Centre” Vs. “Left of Centre” economics!
Let us contrast the guiding policy framework behind the key achievements of the NDA and UPA:
The Bane of Left of Centre ideology
Most of us do not fully appreciate the impact of this “left of centre” ideology on our day-to-day lives. Let me give a small example.
In June 2003, after much negotiations and haggling with Airports Authority of India (AAI), the then NDA Govt. got into an understanding with AAI, that four metro airports viz. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bombay will be privatized, and two metro airports viz. Chennai and Kolkata would be expanded by AAI itself. Now, the stark difference is in front of us to see. All the 4 privatized airports are up and running for a few years now, while Chennai and Kolkata modernisation are yet to see the light of the day, with significant cost over-runs (on taxpayer’s money) and time over-runs (economic cost of which is immeasurable!).
The impact on our day-to-day lives will be similar to the airport story, when the time comes to foot the bill for the Food Security Act! Or when the Right to Education policy starts hurting when private schools become unviable and shut shop! (Please read http://realitycheck.wordpress.com/ for the country’s most comprehensive analysis on RTE and its disastrous impact on us!)
And the impact is for everyone to see…
The state of affairs of some of the key sectors then and now, given below, is a direct outcome of the wrong ideology and flawed implementation of the UPA regime! While some of it can be attributed to malfeasance such as corruption, most others are due to wrong priorities of the government in spending its precious resources on wasteful social expenditure programmes such as MNREGA.
Targeted Social Spending
Lest someone accuse the “Right” of being only “pro business” or unfair to poor, no one is grudging either targeted subsidies to the poor or investments in social infrastructure such as in water, sanitation, primary healthcare or education. In fact, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, a programme that targets poorest of the poor (bottom 5% of the population) was launched by NDA regime, which has provided much needed succour to the most deserving segment of the population. Such targeted schemes are likely to yield much higher social dividends than one-size-fits-all schemes such as farm loan waiver!
Conclusion
The biggest contrast between the NDA and the UPA regime can be summarized thus: “give a fish to eat today (UPA policies of doles for vote bank politics)” is disastrous for the country in the long run compared to “help them learn fishing (NDA policies of creating an enabling economic environment)”! But some parts of the electorate may be tempted to take the fish today, than earn their livelihood in a sustainable manner. Taking this message to the masses is the greatest challenge in front of us! The fence sitters, many of whom can understand the difference and appreciate the long term consequences of such policies, are doing a great disservice to the country by equating BJP and Congress!
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