09-06-2006, 01:18 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mid-term evaluation of UPA
PIoneer.com
Government has performed miserably on almost all fronts, the most glaring of them being its inability to tackle terrorism and crime, says Bulbul Roy Mishra
President APJ Abdul Kalam's call on India's 60th Independence Day for transforming India into a safe and economically developed nation before 2020 had a cynical undertone, considering the long time-frame he had set. The targets, as the President spelt out, were to enhance food grain output from the existing 200 million tones to 360 million tones annually, to realise nearly 100 per cent literacy, and to provide effective, affordable and quality healthcare services to all.
<b>The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) predicts a growth of GDP in 2006-07 at 7.9 per cent, industry at 9.7 per cent, services at 9.5 per cent, but agriculture at meagre 1.5 per cent.</b> Despite the current buoyancy in revenue collection that in all likelihood will leave a surplus in the hands of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to spare for promotion of education and healthcare over the budgeted allocation, the down-slide of agriculture is unmistakable.
It is unfortunate that despite being endowed with natural resources, India's annual agricultural growth rate has been showing a sharp decline under the UPA regime. As against 2.2 per cent growth rate in the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), the annual average growth rate in the first three years of the 10th Five Year Plan has fallen below 1.5 per cent. This cannot be explained away by excuses such as failure of monsoon or occurrence of flood that, in any case, are recurring phenomena.
The failure lies in poor management of water resources. First, the elaborate action plan for river-linking that had received personal attention of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is apparently neglected in the UPA dispensation. Second, the UPA brought down the number of ongoing major irrigation projects from 173 to 157, medium projects from 235 to 212 and extension, renovation and modernisation projects from 86 to 83, owing to enormous cost escalation, amounting to about Rs 90,000 crore in view of the inordinate delay in completing those projects and total lack of accountability. Last, the Government under a Minister who gives more time to cricket than agriculture has done precious little to show that Rajiv Gandhi's observation that only 15 paisa out of a rupee spent on the poor actually reached them is no more valid. No wonder instances of farmers' suicides are on the rise.
<b>The single most remarkable achievement of the UPA Government on the economic front was the implementation of VAT by 25 States last year</b>, with a common tariff and an automated system for information sharing. VAT has enhanced the State coffers and is likely to remove resource-crunch. However,<b> Mr Manmohan Singh ought to prioritise implementation of National E-governance Action Plan (NEGAP), as the delay in completing it will enhance the risk of corruption, fraud and tax evasion.</b>
Another area of success is <b>the Railways that has demonstrated how without raising the tariff, the revenue can be increased.</b>
<b>The single largest failure of the UPA is to tackle terrorism and crimes. It is ominous that in Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir, terrorist attacks are on the rise, thanks to the lack of administrative firmness and a clear anti-terrorist strategy and motivation.</b>
The lack of clarity was also writ large in the UPA's Kashmir policy. Mr Vajpayee could be credited with the understanding that cessation of Pakistan sponsored terrorism was governed by the twin pre-conditions: Build up international pressure to get Gen Musharraf into listening mode, and de-alienate Pakistani commoners from Indians by proffering friendly overtures. He accomplished both the tasks and came close to solving the Kashmir issue through negotiation around the time the BJP decided to prepone the general poll.
Disparate agenda of individual leaders in the coalition Government has left the Prime Minister with the Hobson's choice of spending crores of rupees for expansion of reservation in higher education, when millions have been languishing for want of minimum education and healthcare
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PIoneer.com
Government has performed miserably on almost all fronts, the most glaring of them being its inability to tackle terrorism and crime, says Bulbul Roy Mishra
President APJ Abdul Kalam's call on India's 60th Independence Day for transforming India into a safe and economically developed nation before 2020 had a cynical undertone, considering the long time-frame he had set. The targets, as the President spelt out, were to enhance food grain output from the existing 200 million tones to 360 million tones annually, to realise nearly 100 per cent literacy, and to provide effective, affordable and quality healthcare services to all.
<b>The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) predicts a growth of GDP in 2006-07 at 7.9 per cent, industry at 9.7 per cent, services at 9.5 per cent, but agriculture at meagre 1.5 per cent.</b> Despite the current buoyancy in revenue collection that in all likelihood will leave a surplus in the hands of Finance Minister P Chidambaram to spare for promotion of education and healthcare over the budgeted allocation, the down-slide of agriculture is unmistakable.
It is unfortunate that despite being endowed with natural resources, India's annual agricultural growth rate has been showing a sharp decline under the UPA regime. As against 2.2 per cent growth rate in the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), the annual average growth rate in the first three years of the 10th Five Year Plan has fallen below 1.5 per cent. This cannot be explained away by excuses such as failure of monsoon or occurrence of flood that, in any case, are recurring phenomena.
The failure lies in poor management of water resources. First, the elaborate action plan for river-linking that had received personal attention of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is apparently neglected in the UPA dispensation. Second, the UPA brought down the number of ongoing major irrigation projects from 173 to 157, medium projects from 235 to 212 and extension, renovation and modernisation projects from 86 to 83, owing to enormous cost escalation, amounting to about Rs 90,000 crore in view of the inordinate delay in completing those projects and total lack of accountability. Last, the Government under a Minister who gives more time to cricket than agriculture has done precious little to show that Rajiv Gandhi's observation that only 15 paisa out of a rupee spent on the poor actually reached them is no more valid. No wonder instances of farmers' suicides are on the rise.
<b>The single most remarkable achievement of the UPA Government on the economic front was the implementation of VAT by 25 States last year</b>, with a common tariff and an automated system for information sharing. VAT has enhanced the State coffers and is likely to remove resource-crunch. However,<b> Mr Manmohan Singh ought to prioritise implementation of National E-governance Action Plan (NEGAP), as the delay in completing it will enhance the risk of corruption, fraud and tax evasion.</b>
Another area of success is <b>the Railways that has demonstrated how without raising the tariff, the revenue can be increased.</b>
<b>The single largest failure of the UPA is to tackle terrorism and crimes. It is ominous that in Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir, terrorist attacks are on the rise, thanks to the lack of administrative firmness and a clear anti-terrorist strategy and motivation.</b>
The lack of clarity was also writ large in the UPA's Kashmir policy. Mr Vajpayee could be credited with the understanding that cessation of Pakistan sponsored terrorism was governed by the twin pre-conditions: Build up international pressure to get Gen Musharraf into listening mode, and de-alienate Pakistani commoners from Indians by proffering friendly overtures. He accomplished both the tasks and came close to solving the Kashmir issue through negotiation around the time the BJP decided to prepone the general poll.
Disparate agenda of individual leaders in the coalition Government has left the Prime Minister with the Hobson's choice of spending crores of rupees for expansion of reservation in higher education, when millions have been languishing for want of minimum education and healthcare
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