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PM’s address to the Nation |
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Promises ‘New Deal’ for rural India
In his first address to the nation since being sworn in a month ago as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh talked about the Common Minimum Programme and economic reforms that his government would follow. The PM’s 20-minute televised speech covered almost all problems India is facing, urban to rural, girl child to female literacy, relationship with Pakistan to building commercial relationship with China.
The Prime Minister’s address had neither any political overtunes nor criticised the economic policy or raise any doubts on the secular motive of the previous National Democratic Alliance-led government. However, without naming any party, Manmohan Singh spoke of the disruption that the parties bring to Parliament thus causing disturbance. During the last session, the BJP and its allies created uproar in the Parliament demanding removal of tainted ministers from the Congress-led UPA government. Significantly, Manmohan Singh did not touch the topic of tainted ministers that had disrupted the proceedings of Parliament ever since it was convened. He also did not care to respond to BJP criticism that the position of the Prime Minister had been devalued with Sonia Gandhi acting as “super Prime Minister.”
Rural India has been one of the major concerns for the newly formed government and Manmohan Singh re-reiterated the commitment made in the Common Minimum Programme to give a “New Deal” to it. “Agriculture must receive the priority attention it deserves. Public and private investment in agriculture has to be greatly increased. A key concern in recent years has been the lack of access to credit. Our government is already addressing this issue directly by pursuing policies that improve the farmer’s access to affordable credit. Agricultural research, training and extension also require much greater attention. I would like to see the emergence of new centres of excellence in agriculture as we have in technology and management. There has to be a sharper focus on expanding opportunities for gainful employment in agriculture and in off-farm rural activities. The food for work programme, efficiently implemented, can greatly assist in achieving this objective”.
He added: “Indian farmer has also suffered from too many controls and restrictions. There are still far too many internal barriers to trade that must go. We must also re-examine those aspects of our policies that prevent a creative interaction between farmers and agro- industries. I would like to see the creation of a “Single market across the country for both manufactured and agricultural produce with encouragement of agro-industry linkages. With the introduction of value-added taxation this integration of the Indian market will be further enabled.”
The Prime Minister also expressed his concern towards urban India. “A striking feature of development in our country has been the rapid increase in urbanization. There are now more than 30 cities with a population of more than one million. The rapid and unplanned growth of these cities has contributed to increased urban pollution and crime and the absence of the required infrastructure like access to drinking water, sanitation, roads, footpaths for pedestrians and public spaces, parks and greenery is making life in urban India a living hell for many. Most of the responsibility for this rests with State and Municipal Governments. It will be our effort to give special attention to policies that can encourage urban development and urban renewal. We will actively seek public-private partnership in building urban infrastructure in a planned manner.”
He asserted that foreign policy had been one of the areas the government would take interest and would develop friendly and commercial relationship with Pakistan and China. “We desire to live in a neighbourhood of peace and prosperity. We will actively pursue the composite dialogue with Pakistan. He stressed that the country was sincere about discussing and resolving all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir. It is recognized that resolution of major issues requires national consensus and accommodation of public sentiment in both countries. It is self-evident that terrorism and violence would cast a dark shadow over this process. With the other South Asian neighbours, it will be the government’s sincere effort to jointly realize the vast potential for cooperation, and to ensure mutual security, stability and development. In relations with China, he said, there were encouraging positive developments. Bilateral economic cooperation has shown remarkable growth and diversification. “We shall carry forward the process of discussion to resolve the boundary question from the political perspective of our bilateral relations. “
PM recognises change in mindset
Observers have described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation as a thoughtful and comprehensive presentation of a new charter for equitable, balanced, and accelerated development in keeping with his non-confrontationist personality. Yet what was distinctive was the moral plank that the Prime Minister brought into the field of economic reforms and his vision of growth with distributive justice. It is not a new idea, but it needed the people’s verdict of 2004 to remind the polity that rapid economic growth was not an end in itself but only the means to improve the quality of life of the majority of Indians.
Dr. Singh, the prime mover of India’s economic reform programme, promised to pursue policies that will lay as much emphasis on making the Government more “effective, efficient and people-friendly” in delivering social and economic services, as on encouraging dynamism among India’s entrepreneurs. The vision is of economic development that is all-inclusive in that it will not discriminate between gender, caste, religion, and geographic region.
It is now clear that the immediate challenge before the United Progressive Alliance Government is to restore Indian agriculture to a measure of health. A livelihood crisis confronts the agricultural workers and farmers in many States. The Prime Minister has committed the Government to respond to this crisis. The Manmohan Singh version of the New Deal will make interventions at every link of the production and marketing chain in agriculture. From placing a fresh emphasis on farm research to removing internal trade barriers, the UPA Government’s plan is to tackle all the problems that have emerged in the sector.
Manmohan Singh has used the occasion to elaborate on another burning issue - the responsibility of the state in delivering services. Two important sets of statements have been made. The citizen expects the Government to play an important role in the social and infrastructure sectors. The UPA Government will fulfil its responsibility, reversing the neglect over the past decade. Secondly, it is not enough for the Government to recognise its role in social and economic development. Reform of the administration is essential for greater efficiency in the provision of public services.
Analysts say the Prime Minister has recognised that it was important to stress that while more funds can be channelled into programmes, the quality of services that the Government provides will not improve without an overhaul of public institutions. The issues involved in providing better public services by reforming government are challenging. They also indicate one critical thing. What is needed, as emphasised in the PM’s speech, is a change in institutions and mechanisms, not shoving more money into a system that does not work. Increasing Central government expenditure on health and education may achieve little. The budget should reflect this ground reality. It should not increase allocations to health and education merely for the sake of keeping election promises.
BJP reaction
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address drew a sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Referring to Dr. Singh’s observation on the Opposition’s disruption of Parliament early this month, the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, asked: “Having been a mute spectator to his party’s continued stalling of the proceedings of Parliament for the last five-and-a-half years, what moral right has the Prime Minister to speak on this issue?” When the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in power, the Congress and the Left did not allow the then Prime Minister to make statements on “umpteen number of times.” They also boycotted the previous Defence Minister, George Fernandes, for 22 months.
Describing Singh’s address as “long on homilies and short on specific points of time-bound action,” Naidu said though he did not expect wonders to happen in a month, what the people had seen so far were “words, more words and mere words, and little concrete action.” He faulted Dr. Singh for making no mention of the “menace of corruption” and the menace of cross-border terrorism. Till the Prime Minister continued to keep tainted Ministers, his moral posture would remain suspect, Naidu commented.
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