As Narendra Modi completes his first year in office, the Indian Premier League is drawing to a close. There is no real connection between the two events except to give us this analogy: during the election campaign which brought him his huge Lok Sabha majority, Mr Modi had promised us a T20 game; a year later what we find is that he’s playing a five-day Test. Let us give him the benefit of doubt and say he didn’t deliberately mislead us, but genuinely underestimated the size of the Prime Minister’s job. Never having worked outside Gujarat he could well have assumed that India was Gujarat, just bigger. Well, it’s much, much bigger and it’s not like Gujarat at all.
This has lead to the central contradiction of his prime ministership: while in a comparatively smaller and well developed state like Gujarat, he could both macro-manage and micro-manage the government machinery, working in the same style in Delhi is virtually impossible and has led to a different kind of government paralysis from his predecessor — while Manmohan Singh did too little, Mr Modi tries to do too much. Addressing NRIs on his recent trip to China, he talked about the long hours he puts in at work and the fact that he hasn’t taken a single day off in this last one year.
This isn’t necessarily a virtue as any psychologist will tell you: the human mind and body both need periods of rest and relaxation to rejuvenate themselves. Even Presidents of the United States have an annual vacation. To give an example, Ronald Reagan was well known for taking time off from Washington as often as possible, yet he was considered a successful President. On the other hand, Jimmy Carter, who was a hands-on micro-manager got so embroiled in the minutiae of office that the machinery of government nearly came to a grinding halt. But perhaps our Prime Minister is different; perhaps work is worship for him and he is a very devout man.
Mr Modi has yet another problem: suppose after a year in office, he has seen the impossibility of micro managing a nation the size and diversity of India, and decides to change his style of functioning, who would he delegate to? At Mr Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, everyone was so dazzled by his unprecedented invitation to Saarc leaders that we overlooked the paucity of talent in the parade of ministers being sworn in. Clearly, Mr Modi was doing what he had to do, and which every Prime Minister has to do, which is to pay off political debts and satisfy various constituencies. But even making allowances for that, this was a rather motley crew of ministers.
Arun Shourie was right when he said that power in Delhi is concentrated in the hands of just three people: Mr Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah. Mr Shah takes care of party matters, which leaves just two people who matter in the council of ministers. This can’t possibly result in an effectively functioning government. The recent addition of Manohar Parrikar in defence and Suresh Prabhu in railways — both with strong reputations as competent and upright technocrats — is a step in the right direction. But Mr Modi needs many more Parrikars and Prabhus. He might find them if he casts his net wide enough, but who will he replace? Will political compulsions allow him to replace Rajnath Singh, who is clearly unable to cope with the demands of the all-important home ministry? Even when there are no such compulsions as in the case of Smriti Irani and Gen. V.K. Singh, why does Mr Modi not replace two ministers who have antagonised every possible stakeholder in their ministries? And does anyone recall the name of India’s agriculture minister? Surely that’s a vital job?
Let us return to the Test match analogy and assess the first day’s play in this five-day game. Once we accept that this isn’t the slam-bang stuff of T20 cricket, Mr Modi, the Test captain, has performed well on many fronts. To start with, there has been no major scam, which given the United Progressive Alliance’s sorry record, is a huge achievement in itself. And in spite of Rahul Gandhi’s “suit boot ki sarkar” jibe, there is no evidence of crony capitalism at work. The big-ticket auctions for coal and spectrum have been carried out in a transparent manner, while defence and insurance sectors have finally been liberalised after years of stop go attempts. Inflation is down and capital inflows are healthy…
These are considerable positives in themselves. Add to these, the many initiatives Mr Modi has taken, particularly overseas. Working virtually like a hyperactive external affairs minister, he has reached out to most of the world’s major countries in his very first year, striking an enviable rapport with important world leaders. Domestically, he has launched Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Jan Dhan Yojana and Bima Yojana, which have the capacity of reaching out to a huge number of people. These may have been UPA initiatives, but Mr Modi has been pragmatic enough to carry them forward as he did with the Aadhaar card programme.
So then, why do recent surveys show a drop in his popularity? Why is there a feeling of frustration, a feeling that things aren’t moving fast enough?
The main reason is that Mr Modi himself raised the country’s expectations to an unrealistic level. The second is micro-managing the government that is simply not working. You hear of how the Prime Minister’s cracking of the whip, and his own long hours at the office have transformed the bureaucracy, but the fact that people are at their desk on time does not necessarily mean that they have become more productive. This is clear from the never decreasing profusion of red tape in everything that the government touches — a universal complaint. Also, why is it that in spite of the Prime Minister’s and the finance minister’s assurances to foreign investors, the tax authorities seem to do as they please?
There’s one last thing: the government’s disastrous handling of civil society and media. This needs a column by itself but the portents are disquieting. So the first day’s play has now ended, there have been many brilliant shots played, but there have been quite a few false strokes as well. We look forward to the second day’s play with keen anticipation but with some trepidation as well.
The writer is a senior journalist
