Dev 360: Socially awkward

Sophia Loren famously said, “Sex appeal is 50 per cent of what you’ve got and 50 per cent of what people think you’ve got.” The same can be said for election manifestos and campaign sales pitches. Their success with voters lies as much in what they reveal as what they conceal. The greatest political show on earth has begun. India is in election mode. But many of us are in the dark about what actually lies ahead when a new government takes over.

There are good ideas in each manifesto. But given their late release (the Bharatiya Janata Party unveiled its manifesto as late as April 7, the day the nine-phase polls kicked off), and the din of discussions about which party is likely to get how many seats and where, there has been little time to dissect how the competing visions of India stack up in many critical areas? The niggling problems are the frustrating lack of detail in how lofty goals will be achieved and strategic silence on some key issues.

As a citizen, there are a few issues I would like to flag before whichever party or parties form the government. Take women’s safety and security. There has been phenomenal mobilisation around women’s rights in the wake of the tragic Nirbhaya case. The rape law has been strengthened. Women’s safety has become a talking point in political circles. A quick look at the manifestos show that political parties realise this is a big electoral issue this time. So many promises have been made. Both the leading national parties — the Congress and the BJP — have promised that they will pass the Women’s Reservation Bill if voted to power. Then there are promises on specific areas. For example, the Congress promises to open One-Stop Crisis Centres for women in all hospitals to provide medical, legal, psycho-social aid in cases of rape and domestic violence. But once such centres are established, who will be in charge of maintaining them? Who will make sure that there are trained personnel in such centres? What is the redressal mechanism if things are found wanting? There are no answers yet.

The same is the case with the BJP’s promise of women-friendly police stations and increase in the number of women in police at all levels. Just more policewomen will not suffice. They need to be trained. The kind of training they receive is also a key issue. Unless the public asks searching questions on the nitty-gritty of the delivery mechanisms, nothing much will come out of any of these measures.

Now, come to healthcare. Most people in this country have to pay for medical treatment out of their pockets. The prospect of a medical emergency in the family terrifies even middle class people. Health insurance does not cover all the costs. A huge chunk (almost 70 per cent) of what people spend on healthcare in this country goes towards the cost of medicines. Manifestos of two political parties — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party — have promised the “Right to Health”. What will this mean in practice? The Congress manifesto commits to increasing “health expenditure to three per cent of the gross domestic product and provide universal and quality healthcare for all Indians.”

The BJP says it will radically reform the health system, initiate a new National Healthcare Policy (the last one dates back to 2002), reduce out of pocket expenditure on healthcare and bring in a National Health Assurance Mission with a mandate for universal healthcare.

Grand visions alone will not solve the problems. Unless there is continuous monitoring and supervision at the ground level, big outlays will not translate into big outcomes no matter how well-intentioned the schemes. When it comes to bringing down the price of medicines, there are many things that can be done, i.e. the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation’s model of centralised tendering and purchase of drugs.

Local contexts, however, have to be always kept in mind. Despite all the talk about slashing out of pocket expenses on healthcare, access to cheap drugs has not been a major talking point in the run-up to the elections. Curiously, one thorny but related issue which has not surfaced in the manifestos (barring that of the Communist Party of India-Marxist) is Intellectual Property Rights and the challenges facing India’s low-cost generic drug manufacturers. India’s use of flexibilities in connection with intellectual property (IP) is being stoutly challenged by a section of the United States industry.

Last week, a Reuters report noted that the United States was waiting for the outcome of elections in India to tackle complaints over Intellectual Property Rights from US businesses upset about Indian companies that produce cheap, generic versions of medicines. So far India has stuck to the argument that its laws and policies are its sovereign function. Interestingly, even as Washington critiques New Delhi for “ineffective” Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime, two of America’s major defence and civil aviation firms, Honeywell and Boeing, have come out strongly in support of India’s IPR regulations.

Given the high stakes, the new government in Delhi will have to carefully weigh the overall costs and benefits of the position it takes, and the public needs to be kept clued in on the trade-offs.

The third item in this shortlist being flagged is education. The United Progressive Alliance brought in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) in 2009. But despite levying a tax to fund education and bringing forth a law to ensure access to education for all children between the ages of six and 14, learning outcomes have not improved. Surveys such as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), prepared by the NGO Pratham Education Foundation, show that while enrollment levels have made significant strides with 97 per cent of children now in schools as compared to 93 per cent in 2005, there are severe problems in the quality of what children are learning in key areas — reading, writing and arithmetic.

The UPA’s critics have used this to slam the rights-based approach. But was the UPA’s fatal flaw really its welfarist legislation or was it corruption and poor implementation on the ground?

The public is a lot more alert today. After the honeymoon is over, the new government in Delhi will also be subjected to the same intense scrutiny as the outgoing one. At the end, it will boil down to just one issue. It is the implementation, stupid.