Seven challenges before Narendra Modi
1. Make In India: Zero Defect, Zero Effect?
Narendra Bhai announced this initiative from the ramparts of the
historic Red Fort during his maiden Independence Day address. He wore a
colourful turban and asked the community of nations to “Come! Make in
India!”
We saw a hungry Asiatic Lion fromGir (the logo of MIN) asking the world to invest in India.
Now
the PM wants to make India an internationally identifiable ‘Brand
India’ with Zero defects in manufacturing and zero effect on the mother
earth. He says it’s time India gives up the old ABCD (Avoid Bypass,
Confuse and Delay) sarkari attitude andtakesa new ROAD (Responsibility, Ownership, Accountability and Discipline).
(Courtesy: Indiatimes.com)
In
Silicon Valley, youngsters (whom Steve Jobs advised to stay hungry,
stay foolish) are innovating and coming up with such breathtaking ideas
–shouldn’t we promote innovation?
Every year we send some of
our best brains to Universities abroad only to add icing to America’s
already very creamy cake. Make In India is fine, But Premier dear, this
project of yours can work wonders if you can urge these desi brains to
come back and ‘innovate, here at home in India”.
2. Bring Back Black Money?
Narendra Bhai (this was when he was still an ummid-war-
a candidate), he promised that INR 1.5 million will be deposited in
every Indian’s bank account once he gets the illegal money stashed in
foreign banks back to the des. He said all he needed were 100 days to accomplish the task.
Kallu
from Kundarki had plans of getting a new pair of bullock cart and Lalli
Devi had hopes of fixing her mud roof which has been duly leaking every
monsoon.
The nation is still counting days… When? Arnabji won’t you want to know?
3. Financial Inclusion, faster (and sustainable) growth : Beyond Jan Dhan
The
promise of double digit growth, creating millions of new jobs,
Singapore style ‘smart cities’, world class infrastructure –the long
awaited Acche Din! At Premier Modi’s behest bank accounts were opened. But, is this true inclusion?
Isn’t
it a well-established fact that financial institutions consider it a
‘hazardous task’ to give credit to one of the poorest and backward
communities in the country (Sachar Committee Report 2006:22)?
What about jobs? Can’t they be made inclusive?
Muslims have the highest ratio of unemployed graduates among all Socio Religious Communities (SCR 2006:73).
You
promised faster growth, doing away with all the ‘bottlenecks’ and
sluggishness in the economy. Now that oil prices are the lowest in
several years and we have a windfall gain, the PM will have to bring
about positive change, he will have to make the financial sphere more
inclusive for faster and sustainable growth if at all India intends to
realize its true potential.
4. Digital India
The PM aspires to connect the remotest corners of India- from Nicobar to Kashmir.
When
I was a kid- we hardly had electricity in our place. Throughout my
childhood I and almost all kids around me lived in this huge ‘black
hole’- information deficit. All we had were some set books which served
as our gateway to know the world and connect to those out there. While
our peers around the world were on the computer from grade one, we were
still struggling with buying pencils and pens.
If Modi can
make Digital India a reality, ensure Direct Benefit Transfers take place
and give India’s kids access to their share under the sun- it would be a
huge, long awaited moment in the destiny of this country. It’s time
that we move on and embrace technology wholeheartedly. Relying on the
glories of some mythical past when we had “fighter airplanes, nuclear
bombs and plastic surgery” won’t solve bread and butter issues of this
nation when according to the UNICEF 90% of its adolescent girls are
anemic.
5. Swachh Bharat
We have seen the PM cleaning the AssiGhat,
celebrities doing rounds with brand new brooms all over the country. We
are told that our rivers are living beings and they ought to be
revered. The drainage system of the most populous state of the country
–Uttar Pradesh is almost on the brink of collapse. The posters of the
Clean India Mission, the buzz on social media, the appointment of
celebrity ‘cleaners’ are of little use to the people in Western Uttar
Pradesh specially in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Merrut and Baghpat as
hundreds of them have succumbed to diseases like cancer, thanks to the
consumption of contaminated ground water fortified with effluents from
local paper, sugar and miscellaneous other units. The waters of rivers
of Western UP like Krishna, Kali and Hindon have become “unfit” for even
bathing. We have graduated to becoming broom wielders, but what about
the safai karamcharis of the country?
A recent survey
pointed out that numerous Indians still practice so called
‘untouchability’. Can the ‘inverted spectacles’ ensure that we look into
our subconscious selves, do some serious introspection and ask
ourselves if we claim to be vishwa guru, why are our homes clean BUT the streets so dirty?
6. The Padosis
Love thy neighbor as yourself. Alas, if only thou could choose them.
India’s
departed twin Pakistan is tethering on the brink of becoming a failed
state. The recent macabre attack on an army public school in Peshawar
confirms what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them to bite only your neighbours.”
Clearly,
the idea of Pakistan has failed. The ‘one language, one religion, one
nation’ utopia has been shattered not once, but twice. Bangladesh in
1972 and now these monstrous terrorists, the self-proclaimed ‘defenders
of the faith’ have continued to bleed Pakistan. These are the same
‘strategic assets’ which have continuously destabilized Afghanistan.
A
democratic Pakistan at peace with itself is in India’s utmost interest.
But for that, Pakistan will have to stop nestling anti India elements.
Once and for all.
Modi must capitalize on the immense good
will that India enjoys among the Afghan people. A viable, secure and
prosperous Afghanistan can be an effective bulwark against a hostile
Pakistan.
Even younger sisters like Sri Lanka and Maldives and Nepal continue to play the ‘China card’,
Modi will have to weigh his options and take a calibrated approach to catapult India on the global high table.
7. Beyond Madison Square - Paris 2015
All
those chants which gave PM Modi a rock star welcome indicated the
diaspora’s desire to see India acting according to its weight. Narendra
Bhai went all the way from the Big Apple to and Fiji, from Australia to
Japan….(the list goes on), he kept saying “Growth and Change”. Now the
moot question is will he?
The world’s largest democracy has
long talked about the principle of Common But Differentiated
Responsibility on the world stage. True, we have some of the most
starling inequalities, States whose Human Development Indices are
comparable to those of sub- Saharan African nations- yet it’s high time
that India takes a proactive role and strikes a deal which does justice
to India’s poorest, takes care of their rights to the ‘development pie’
while significantly cutting our overall carbon footprint. Aren’t the
poor and the most vulnerable the worst affected by climate change?
8. The Idea of India
India
is just too diverse a country to be monochromatic. We are plural, we
are different from each other and still we are one. Like all those
wonderful bootis that make a Banarsi Sari so exquisite. The design is intricate, silk so vulnerable- the kareegars (artisans) meticulously put it on the loom and give it its world famous texture.
If
the PM can reach out to India’s poorest, and vulnerable socio-religious
community, the last woman in the row (even if she wears a burqa),
BabasahebAmbedkar’sidea of India as a plural, just state will survive.
The
PM will have to rein in these ‘bust’ lovers. The very idea of having
Bapu as ours is too precious to be sacrificed at the hands of some
fringe elements. The world celebrates Bapu. They all love him out there.
Won’t you stand up for him?
With its breathtaking variety of
people, their customs, languages, faiths and distinct modes of
lifestyles, imagining a homogeneous India will be a huge disservice-
both to Indians as well as their nation.This is after all, the land of
Lords Buddha and Mahavir, Nanak and Kabir. The nation has given a clear
mandate to the Prime Minister. Now is the time to rise up to the
situation and fulfill your promises.
The chronicles of history are being written. And Narendra Bhai has a choice.
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(The
Writer is a graduate of the University of Oxford where she earned her
master’s degree from the Department of Contemporary South Asian Studies.
She can be reached at ilma.ssc@gmail.com )
Submitted by TwoCircles.net on 16 January 2015 - 11:08pm
By Ilma Afroz for TwoCircles.net,
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