Modi is Restoring Confidence

The single biggest achievement of the Prime Minister has been to fill an ordinary citizen with the confidence that he can do something to improve his own fate and that of the nation through active participation.

Away from the cynicism of media and politics, Narendra Modi is leaving a deep impression on the minds of the youth, an impression that India is changing.

I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology on 26 November to address students who had organised a mock UN debate. There I met Abhi. He is an IT graduate who refused to take up a job offer from a blue chip MNC because he wanted to set up his own business, egged on by Prime Minister Modi’s speeches and actions to boost industry. Abhi has become a hero of sorts in his alma mater.

When I asked him why he had let go of the lucrative job, he said, “Narendra Modi has made me confident that I can do something on my own. I do not wish to just join a job and earn a living. I want to do something else.” When I prodded him further, he said he had decided to become an entrepreneur and offer jobs to people and work for development of the country.

I was awestruck by the way Modi had started changing the thinking of young India. I sense a kind of confidence and a desire to do something big and more meaningful, that was missing under the previous regime. This took away whatever cynicism I had acquired due to the combined impact of media and politicians. Those who are not even remotely connected with politics have turned ardent Modi supporters.

I interacted with more students on the same theme. Almost everyone was confident that things were looking up. They were eager to participate in ‘New India’. When two of the students were anchoring the show, on being asked how many were fans of Modi, almost everybody in the audience of a few hundred raised his/her hands.

During my address, I gave them the example of how a Nirmal Kumar began his G-auto project in Ahmedabad due to Modi’s encouragement after his first presentation to then Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar failed to impress the latter.

This brought me to my pet theory that, while the media and opposition may be losing patience in anticipation of quick results, ordinary citizens are not. The youth, known for their proverbial impatience, are showing signs of maturity and are willing to wait for results. They had been concerned with the way a decade passed by under depression when the country was increasingly being associated with corruption scandals.

Day before yesterday’s experience has once again strengthened my faith in Modi’s ability to deliver results. From the institute, I went to a television studio. The anchor confronted me with the question as to what the major achievements of this government were. I picked the singlemost people-friendly decision of allowing self-attestation and taking away the need for attestation of certificates by a gazetted officer. Not only will this save applicants from harassment as they are virtually made to genuflect before officers to get signatures on valid documents, this step also instils confidence in an average Indian that the State does not see him as a crook by default. He is being considered responsible. Ask anyone in a mofussil, and you will know what I mean.

The single biggest achievement of this government—or rather the Prime Minister—has been to fill an ordinary citizen with the confidence that he can do something to improve his own fate and that of the nation through active participation. Six months is a short time to accomplish self-assurance of a people. And to keep the lamp burning is no mean feat.

Modi is not going to set up factories himself or do business. He can only empower citizens to think big and act. I have a sense that he is doing this very successfully. He is creating millions of entrepreneurs who are ready to use their energy and skills in nation-building. A great revolution is building up beneath the surface in these thousands of technical colleges—unreported, unnoticed.

Bringing discipline in the bureaucracy and ministries is a big task that has already been achieved. Babus now reach office in time and stick to their chairs through the office hours instead of lazing around. E-governance is being introduced in one department after another. Officials have been given more powers to work independent of influence and have been made more accountable. While researching on Gujarat, I was impressed by the way Modi as chief minister had made a dysfunctional bureaucracy efficient. He is using the same tactics at the Centre. He knows well that he cannot deliver without support from this mammoth institution of bureaucracy.

There have been some allegations that he has inducted questionable people in the Union government. I doubt Modi will defend the corrupt. But there is a need to make a distinction between an allegation and an established fact. Till foolproof police and legal systems are in place, it would be wrong to allow individuals to suffer because of charges that may well be concocted and politically motivated.

“Do you really think Ashok Khemka would be given the significant assignments of transport commissioner and secretary (transport) by the Manoharlal Khattar government in Haryana if they wanted to cover up the corrupt?” This question came to me from one of the students at the Jaypee Institute. Also, upright IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal is being brought from Uttar Pradesh for an important assignment at the Centre. She was suspended on 27 July for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia when she was the sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar; the news of her suspension had raised the entire nation in her support.

In the last six months of being in power, the National Democratic Alliance has not faced a single case of allegation of corruption against a minister. This, when many decisions involving thousands of crores of rupees have been taken.

Some of the decisions will obviously take time to get reflected in the field; that includes retrieval of black money. It is easier to believe a party estimate on black money when you are not in government. But you cannot dish out the same figure when you are in power. The figures must be corroborated by credible sources. A white paper on black money is long due. However, the way the Prime Minister has tried to raise at the issue at the international level shows his seriousness in pushing this agenda.

There are various achievements the government has listed. The biggest in the public perception must be international recognition. World leaders are waiting to shake hands with Modi and know his vision for India and the world. People are taking him seriously because he represents a resurgent India ready to play its rightful role in the comity of nations. Some Chinese leaders had long ago predicted that Modi would be India’s prime minister some day. They had also said that India would rise under him because he is a strong and decisive man.

US President Barak Obama coming as the guest of honour on the next Republic Day should not be lost sight of. This time, the visit is not clubbed with a similar visit to Pakistan. And Modi calls Obama his friend! Liberals who wanted to see a strong Indo-US axis developing due to ideological reasons must be immensely pleased. Obama’s visit is testimony that India can be trusted as a safe investment destination. The entire world is looking out for one since they have stacked their investment in China but are scared due to the absence of a credible business system independent of the political executive in that country.

The Indian diaspora is feeling empowered, too. India is now being mentioned for reasons other than corruption and poverty. This explains why Modi got a massive response in the US and Australia. Back in India, an average Indian feels proud that the country is being given due respect. Modi had said he would create a situation where people would come asking for Indian visas. That seems to have started happening.

While analysing the Modi government’s achievements, one must note that he comes from outside the Delhi circle that thrives on imperial largesse. He has taken time to understand the mammoth instruments and structures of the Government of India and also its limitations. Now, he is likely to put the machinery on second gear. It is quite likely that the Union Budget of 2015 will chart out a new direction, that it will be a game-changing Budget.