Without real progress on economic reforms, the current BJP govt is in danger of India Shining 2.0 - the gap between rhetoric and reality is wide enough that more effort must be made to address it:
http://www.afr.com/opinion/india-needs-economic-reform-to-avoid-a-pipe-dream-20150712-giae6u
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The dream is indeed souring. I had hoped for a Hindu Nationalist Libertarian government. But maybe it was too much to expect especially given the exceptionally low standards set by all other political parties. Here is a random list of where this government is goofing up:
- Not taking up freedom of speech and internet freedom strongly enough and u-turn on section 66 of the IT act
- Somehow trying to persist with the developer model in infrastructure. The developer model has failed conclusively in sectors as diverse as power, roads, and oil & gas. In these areas, the best solution is to allow multiple government companies to compete and award work through the EPC route. (Yes communism is better than fascism)
- Boondoggle plans for renewable energy
- Imposing Hindi unnecessarily. This can be a long term plan, but in the short run, most modern concepts or objects do not have Hindi words to describe them.
- Harassment of government officials and somehow believing that making people work like donkeys is the path to superpowerdom. This is resulting in IAS officers competing to find favour with the PMO and inventing needless work for themselves and others while wasting resources and time
- An unnecessary PR angle to everything that is definitely going to have electoral repercussions
- Glorifying people like Dhirubhai Ambani
- Dwelling on the past glories of Hinduism as if all solutions are to be found only in ancient scriptures
- Appointing people with no prior experience in key posts. E.g. Smriti Irani as HRD minister
- Roping in too many technocrats from elite institutions and not respecting relevant corporate or other experience
I do not know what to call all of this yet. Maybe it is not part of a theme. I am thoroughly disappointed.
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