No Editor came out wiser after an hour-long interaction with the Prime Minister at 7 Race Course Road, his official residence in New Delhi on June 29. The less-than-impressive show had been organised at the proddings of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Roadmap, policy statement and things like vision were conspicuous by absence in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s observations. It was an exercise in self-defence, self-justification and protest against the media. But he never lost his cool, balance, and humility which constitute his forte.
GROUND REALITY
Before dealing with the significant points from what the Prime Minister said, let us have a glance at the ground reality:
The Indian population spent Rs 5.8 lakh crore extra due to inflation during the last three years.
It is not the proverbial Daridranarayan or aam admi, who, armed with tale-tell data, is airing his grievances. It is Crisil, a global research company which revealed this fact last week. The study says that the Indian consumers had to shell out between 2008-09 and 2010-11 just because of the spiralling prices, particularly the essential commodities like milk and eggs. The report prepared by Parul Bhardwaj, Vidya Nahamdeie and BK Joshi pointed out that among the 316 goods that have registered a sharp rise in price, 36 are in raw food products while another 14 were food items. Their analysis is: Between 2005-06 and 2007-08 every inflation caused 5 per cent. In the last three years, every inflation has risen at an average of 8 per cent. The difference of 3 percentage points between 5 and 8 per cent led to household spending extra.
The Crisil has also pointed out that food prices would keep rising unless problems related to agricultural sector are addressed urgently and seriously.
Inflation, also called “a tax on the poor”, hurts the poor most. Hence the current outcry. When the unrest among the poor becomes lauder, the Reserve Bank of India increases the interest rates. As the poor cannot afford to take huge amounts of money from the banks, the measure makes little difference for the have-nots. It is the haves who increase their money. Since March 2010, the RBI has hiked interest rates 10 times. Obviously, these 10 hikes have not brought smile on the face of the man on the street. These indefencible hikes are indicative of the degree of dependence on our usurious economy, as we see in the west.
What solution has the Prime Minister, who is a top-notch economist, to the ever-skyrocketing inflation? To quote him exactly: “I have reasons to believe if oil prices soften and commodity prices remain where they are, we should be able to bring down inflation to 6.5 per cent by March end.”
The point is what is the basis of this optimism, based upon a big IF?
To quote Dr. Sing once again: “We did not anticipate that West Asia will be in turmoil, that there will be increase in fuel prices and commodities. We have no control on this and there is no magic wand to bring down prices of international commodities.”
Where are the leadership qualities in these lacklustre words? Where is the innovation, imaginative approach expected from each and every vibrant Prime Minister? The over a billion strong plural nation does not expect the Prime Minister to use a magic wand. What they justifiably expect is: bold initiatives, will and determination and result-orientedness. May be he is not a lame duck Prime Minister but his mastery over coining lame excuses for inaction is now proverbial.
LIST OF PRIORITIES
Why does it not occur to him and his advisors that his dispensation lacks in institutional coordination. His administration seems to have no list of priorities. That is why the citizenry does not see any prioritisation. It looks as if there is no ‘focus’. The drift is too visible, the UPA Government’s repeated denials notwithstanding.
Sadly enough, there is no buoyancy in the market. Investment, both domestic and foreign is dwindling because of lack of governance one feels that all the ministers need refresher courses in the basics of statecraft. The nation expects them to show the difference between governance and non-governance. Because of non-governance or disinclination to govern effectively, things have come to such a pass that the Supreme Court felt compelled to intervene and prod the Government towards governance.
The Prime Minister is angry with media. His view is it is the Fourth Estate which is accuser, prosecutor and judge. On the contrary, the majority of Indians subscribes to the view that the media as well as the Supreme Court have saved the honour of the country many a time and that they play a constructive role in keeping the Government from derailment. It has been seen more often than not that much before the police, the media persons discover and report the crime. Suo moto notices by the Supreme Court are no more a secret.
DEFENCE SPENDING
Another question, somewhat unrelated with the Prime Minister’s interaction with the group of editors, is massive defence spending, which is eating into the very vitals of our society. If it is to fix Pakistan, well, according to some diplomatic sources, it is a matter of 3 minutes. If it is to contain China, the United States would not approve of it. So will the western hemisphere states as well as eastern hemisphere states.
We really fail to understand the logic behind costly purchases from each and every conceivable source, be it the USA, the UK, Israel or Russia.
A minus point of a too much armed state is the chill that goes down the spine of the littoral states and now before the ICBMs the borders too have melted.
Today everybody is apprehensive of the United States and feels compelled to kowtow its line. It perhaps needs an Abraham Lincoln over there to emphatically say NO.