IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice BoardWith various ministries and agencies at odds with each other, many of UPA-2's flagship development schemes have run into rough weatherAn inchoate sense of disquiet hangs over Raisina Hills, where both North and South Blocks are located. The Manmohan Singh government, which romped home last year for a second term in office amid great expectations, is falling shy of its intended targets. The ministries are working at cross-purposes and many of UPA-2's flagship schemes are hanging fire in the face of inter-ministerial dissonance.
Not that the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the PM aren't aware of the widening gap between promise and performance. In a recent meeting of the monitoring committee set up to analyse the progress of the government's flagship programmes, Dr Singh asked the urban development ministry to furnish data regarding the availability of power in rural areas. The ministry told the monitoring committee that the requested data was available with the power ministry. The rural development ministry also pleaded ignorance about the status of the PM's road construction scheme. It was pretty clear that different ministries were not working in harmony. A peeved Dr Singh intervened and asked the monitoring committee and the Planning Commission to work as intermediaries for inter-ministerial affairs.
Things have come to such a pass that one Congress general secretary, who incidentally also takes care of development projects in Rae Bareli and Amethi, formally complained to Mrs Gandhi that ministries were working as independent units and consequently many development projects were floundering.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had to mediate to quell the differences between minister of state for coal Sriprakash Jaiswal and environment minister Jairam Ramesh on the issue of the allotment of coal mines. Similarly, Mr Ramesh's comment on India's China policy did not go down well with Home Minister P Chidambaram. The latter was so upset that he threatened to resign. He was pacified only when Mr Ramesh apologised.
For those within and outside the Congress's support base, the performance of the government has been disappointing particularly because when UPA-2 came to power, it did not have the Left snapping at its heels and slowing down things. Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, too, had been left by the wayside, bolstering the government's chances of pushing through its inclusive social and political agenda.
Enthused by the elbow room that opened up, UPA-2 announced several flagship schemes. Both Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi instructed every ministry to release a monthly report card. But only Mr Chidambaram took the directive seriously. The home ministry releases a monthly report card that contains details about discussions with chief ministers and expenses on the modernisation of the police force.
But for BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, that isn't enough. He says the home ministry must also mention details like how many police and CRPF personnel are killed in Naxal violence every month. It should, he adds, also explain why the situation in Dantewada is deteriorating steadily. Mr Prasad insists that the present government's problems stem from its arrogance, which pushes it into taking wrong decisions. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta echoes a similar view. He asserts that the government takes decisions unilaterally, and that is the reason why its flagship programmes have run into trouble. Mr Dasgupta says the monitoring committee itself is unhappy with the progress of programmes like NREGA, mid-day meal, Bharat Nirman and Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Plan, among others. Prasad's point that UPA-2 does not have a Common Minimum Programme is also valid. The government has set clear targets for the completion of flagship schemes, but these plans have been facing roadblocks at several levels. For example, last week, in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the agendas of seven ministries were kept in abeyance because they had complaints about the lack of funds for existing schemes.
The finance ministry arranges funds for the schemes administered by the Planning Commission. The finance ministry, on its part, insists that the government must go in for Public-Private Partnership (PPP). However, private firms are wary of bureaucratic red tape and are therefore reluctant to get into any arrangement with the government. Consequently, ministries have no option but to look towards the national exchequer for funding. Road transport minister Kamal Nath, for instance, has made it clear that it would unrealistic to expect his ministry to build 20 km of roads daily if funds are unavailable.
Communication minister A Raja too has fired his own salvo. He said that funds were made available to his ministry under the budgetary allocation in the non-planned category to facilitate the 3G programme. It was decided that the money recovered from the 3G bid would be used for the expansion of the service. The bid process is over but the finance ministry is tight-lipped over the money.
The finance minister told Raja the Communication ministry had enough funds to sustain MTNL and BSNL. He also insisted that Raja must keep his ministry out of the spell of private companies and take steps to stop migration of customers from BSNL and MTNL to private operators.
Raja faced a royal snub when the PMO decided to keep him away from the 3G spectrum bid and facilitated the entire process through a monitoring committee of the PMO itself. Consequently, the government was able to raise almost thrice the sum that was earlier envisaged by Raja.
The railway ministry, which has its own funds, is unable to explain why there is no development on the western corridor project. Apparently, railway minister Mamata Banerjee doesn't want to be too aggressive over land acquisition. Similarly, as far as the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission is concerned, CAG is pretty clear that while the Centre has released funds, municipal corporations are hamstrung as the state government's share is yet to materialise.
But CPM leader Sitaram Yechury insists that the ministry has thus far only managed to draw the map of the areas from where the slums had to be replaced by pucca houses. He added that urban development minister S. Jaipal Reddy is singularly responsible for this. Reddy, on his part, insists that the target set for the scheme is perfectly achievable and the ministry is happy with the progress. He also insisted that results would be visible in a few months.
Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad dismisses every allegation against his ministry, most of which were levelled by JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav. Azad says that the guidelines for the National Rural Health Scheme have been set and made public, and that the Opposition should avoid making baseless allegations. He also adds that the fear factor in terms of MCI has been taken care of. He says he wants health services in other states to be as good as those in Delhi so that there is less pressure on AIIMS. He said the promise to open six more AIIMS campuses would be fulfilled in the present tenure itself.
In another incident, last month in a meeting in Kolkata, Pranab Mukhejee said that India needs another Green Revolution. What he meant was that if attempts are made, there would be no scarcity of food in the country. And that surplus grain would mean that inflation can be brought under check. But the question is: why did he need to say these words? In fact, people say that Mukherjee speaks his mind only when he is in Kolkata. So, the comment might as well be a barb aimed at agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. In an earlier Cabinet meeting on economic issues, Pawar was absent. It was later learnt that he was busy with the Internationa Cricket Council elections. Several issues related to storage, distribution and changing patterns of agriculture were discussed in the meeting. Some Cabinet minister also wanted to know what had happened to the recommendations of the National Farmers Commission set up by UPA-1 under the chairmanship of Dr MS Swaminathan. The Commission had suggested several steps to tackle the agrarian crisis but there has been no follow-up. A seasoned agriculture ministry bureaucrat said the commission was disbanded merely three weeks after it presented its report after three extensions. This was the reason behind Mukherjee's barbs in Kolkata. The finance minister wanted to convey the message that while the government was interested in another Green Revolution, Pawar thought that the matter was too trivial to consider. He also wanted Pawar to clarify why he was giving undue priority to cricket over his ministry.
In this entire episode, there are people who believe that the inept handling of inflation has offset UPA-2's many achievements. On the other hand, the unrest in Kashmir and the string of Maoist attacks on security forces in Chhattisgarh give an impression that Dr Singh's is losing his hold on the government. Also, people have started questioning his economic policies. The government's exchequer is empty. The IT revolution has run its course. As the problems multiply on various crucial fronts, the government seems to be fast running out of ideas. Not too many people seem to believe that Manmohan Singh can pull a rabbit out of the hat and decisively stem the decline .
Some Congressmen have even started indicating that the time has come for Dr Singh to quietly pass the baton to Rahul Gandhi as the Nehru-Gandhi scion has gained enough experience and popularity and is now ready to formally lead the nation. But, if party insiders are to be believed, Sonia Gandhi is still averse to catapulting Rahul into the hot seat.
