By Swapan Dasgupta
There were many unintended consequences of the chase
for the tenancy of Lutyens’ grand palace on Raisina Hill. The most significant
of these was the Congress Party’s public expression of faith in Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh. It is true that this happened in the strangest of
circumstances—a public ridicule of the PM by the short-lived Mamata-Mulayam
entente and the Congress’ inexplicable 14-hour silence that was broken after
persistent prodding by the PMO. But regardless of the murky gracelessness of
the occasion, the fact remains that the superannuation of Pranab Mukherjee will
also see Manmohan Singh enjoy security of tenure till May 2014.
For a PM who is naturally concerned about what
legacy he leaves behind after two terms in office, this peace of mind is of
utmost importance. No individual in a position of importance can be expected to
perform if he is dogged by constant uncertainty of tenure—as Manmohan certainly
was until, fortuitously, the voters of UP decided earlier this year that the
designated successor wasn’t quite up to scratch. Now, the question is: what is
the PM going to do with this 20-month window of opportunity?
The PM told the nation last Independence Day that he
doesn’t possess a “magic wand”. Unfortunately for him, this is precisely what a
large section of India hopes he has. With President-designate Mukherjee having
bequeathed to him an economy in near-shambles, public expectations from the PM
have reached dizzying heights. Corporate India wants him to restore the GDP to
an acceptable level, his party wants him to create a political terrain that
will allow the UPA to make a fight of the 2014 election, and ordinary people
want a return of purposeful governance.
The national charter of demands from the PM is daunting.
What is even more troubling is that that the repair job doesn’t merely call for
technocratic expertise; it necessitates political clout. The likes of Montek
Singh Ahluwalia and C. Rangarajan, the Praetorian Guards of the PM, believe
that a restoration of global confidence in India coupled with a booster dose of
‘reforms’ will see the country back on track. Their implicit message over the
past few weeks is simple: have faith in the PM and leave it to the experts.
It is not a reassuring message. Among the main
reasons why the mere existence of a crisis was denied till the Rupee went into
a free fall six weeks ago and the ratings agencies started publishing adverse
reports, was that the Government was itself confused over its priorities.
Should it play to the galleries and enlarge the scope of entitlements, or
should it attend to issues such as the fiscal deficit, investor confidence and
the GDP? What is interesting is that in the face of severe hiccups, the
Congress has failed to engage with these choices politically. The urgency and
clear-headed ruthlessness it has shown in matters affecting its very survival
and the reputation of Sonia Gandhi have not been replicated in any project to
extricate the economy from its present made-in-India crisis.
The result is all too visible: the PM doesn’t have
any clear political mandate for attending to the economic mismanagement. What
is even worse is that he has not felt it necessary to seek this mandate from
his party. Consequently, governance has degenerated into a one-step-forward,
two-steps-backward exercise. No wonder there has been a mushrooming of
committees, the time-tested recipe for prevarication. Even on a clear-cut issue
as the contentious GAAR, the bureaucracy has been able to stall a quick
confidence-building step.
But why blame the babus? The paralysis in governance
can also be attributed to the regime’s low integrity quotient. With corruption
clouds hovering over too many senior ministers, there is systemic reluctance to
undertake steps that short-circuit an exhaustive due diligence process. Ironically,
the pressures for greater transparency and accountability have ended up slowing
down the wheels of government at a time when rapid response is imperative.
Sunday Times of India, July 1, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment