PRIORITIES FOR
NARENDRA MODI , THE PM
With
the swearing-in ceremony four days from Now, Narendra Modi will be the Prime
Minister of India on 26th of this Month. The People who have voted
with so much enthusiasm for Modi will heave a big sigh of relief that their
Vote has become fruitful.
There
are already clear indications that Modi will be a PERFORMER and not just an
ORATOR, though, both roles are important for a Prime Minister. It was
unfortunate that Dr.Manmohan Singh was neither of these, during his tenure as
PM. Whoever says whatever, Mr.Singh wasn’t willing to Talk. For a PM, that was
not a great quality. Silence is Golden, only when controversies arise. They
need measured responses. But, for everyday problems of the nation, two-way
communication between the Governing and the Governed is a must. That, surely,
will happen, in the coming months in a
healthy way. Modi must ensure this two-way communication always.
Your
bitterest critics are ultimately, your best well wishers, if you learn the
right lessons from them. You will always have a lot of lessons to learn from their
criticism, if you have the willingness. Putting it the other way, allow or even
ask your well-wishers to be your bitterest critics – and, do it consciously. This
is Lesson No.1 for the Modi Government – and for that matter, for all of us.
This
is one of the Best management Lessons that Bill Gates of Microsoft is very
famous for. Microsoft was one company, which consciously invited the worst
ridicule and criticism from all around the Globe, on all its new products –
but, that ridicule only made Microsoft correct the flaws in its products and
make them unbeatable. Over the years, it has built up a huge reservoir of the
best and bitterest critics, who will first receive its product copies (free!) –
for them to analyze and criticize. That makes Microsoft the world leader. Over
a period of time, the same critics have also turned the best
admirers-cum-critics of Microsoft.
India’s
governments at the Centre and in the States do not invite criticism and do not
take criticism when offered even in the most constructive way. The record of
UPA Government is DISMAL and ABYSMAL in
this respect. The one single reason for its FALL is its intolerance of Just
criticism.
RamDevji’s
criticism was Just Criticism. Initially, he never criticized the Party in
office. He wanted Black money and corruption issues to be tackled by the
Government. But, UPA government TACKLED HIM, rather than the issues.
If
I am to address the issue, when RamDevji was sitting in Fast, I would have
invited him and asked him to assist the Government in any and every possible
manner in unearthing Black money. Unless UPA leaders had something heinous to hide from
public view, why should they be afraid of RamDevji’s demand on Black money ,
especially?
Even
ignoring Ram Devji was not done by UPA. He was hounded with all the forces in
the Government’s command. Therefore, RamDevji vowed to bring down the UPA
Government. Apart from Modi, if there was one single person who effectively
campaigned against UPA, it was Ram Devji. And, UPA has to blame itself for it. Modi
has to thank Ram Devji for it. Anna Hazare was also similarly tackled by UPA.
Arvind Kejriwal was also UPA’s creation. If there will be a future effective
opposition leader in India, it will be Arvind Kejriwal – not Congress - but,
only if he rectifies his own theatrics.
The
Way, Modi himself was hounded by UPA II, was the prime cause of Modi’s rise in
people’s mind. The only governance of UPA which was in full public view, till
the last day, was its anti-Modi measures. How much was Kapil Sibal, Diggy Singh
and others trying to find some Judge or other to agree to sit on Snoopgate?
Rahul was speaking as if all “WOMEN” in Gujarat were being snooped by Modi for
no reason in Gujarat. Ditto with Priyanka and Sonia. For all that, the woman in
question and her father had thanked the Gujarat government for the HELP it
rendered. Brazenness and misuse of Power has to have some limits. Manmohan
Singh’s Government did not have any such limits. Neither did Rahul’s Congress
Party. Evidently, till this moment, Rahul and Congress have not learnt a single
good lesson from the people’s verdict.
Ahead
of swearing in, Modi and BJP are both making the right moves and sending the
right messages to all people and nations around.
Inviting
SAARC leaders to the ceremony is a Good thing to do. The problem within India
is – the contiguous Indian states unnecessarily, either have too much affinity
or too much aversion for the foreign countries surrounding us.
They
are not realizing that, long term friendship
with these countries is a MUST, and that can of course be based on continuous
solving of inter-country Problems. Every border country is a Potential ally of
either India or of China. Except Pakistan, Others don’t really Prefer China
over India. But, India, would be foolish to force them to opt for such
friendship with China – for any reason on earth what so ever.
All
internecine problems can be addressed much better – with India as a friend and
not with India as an enemy. The Indian border states must understand this long
term compulsion and offer cooperation to the Centre in tackling their own
problems with neighbouring countries in a spirit of friendship. This is the
second immediate challenge cum opportunity for India.
Modi
has clearly indicated that performance as a Minister and as a Secretary is a
must and the Individuals must be accountable for their performance or the lack
of it. Dr.Singh was a total failure in ensuring compliance with his views. Mr.
Raja is a glaring example of this, but other Ministers were also in the same
genre. There wasn’t any great performance coming from any one. The whole nation
was suffering under serious inflation in essential commodities and yet the
Central food, agri and commerce Ministries were dozing comfortably and doing
nothing.
They
along with state Ministries must have geared up for strong administrative
measures and supply side measures. This is one of the priorities for Modi
Government. Within a month, there must be a Minister cum secretary level conference
of all relevant central and state Governments, to plan for reversing the
Inflation levels significantly. This meeting must come out with concrete measures
at both centre and state levels to tackle Inflation and bring it down to
comfortable levels within 3 months. This is a priority for the Modi Government.
Power,
Coal, Gas and other energy sources must be harnessed fast. There are so many
Power projects waiting for either land or Coal or gas, for their functioning. The
next Energy Minister must make Coal India and other Coal Producers more
productive. All mafia-like operations in them must be ruthlessly eliminated.
India needs more Coal and Coal India must rise up to the occasion. Coal-supply
to Power sector must be augmented immediately. Coal India’s productivity is
crucial to Power sector performance. Ditto with Petroleum and Gas reserves.
ONGC’s role in holding back Reliance and CAIRN
from their own expansions and efficient functioning must be curtailed.
Instead, Reliance and CAIRN’s Representatives must find place on ONGC Board, to
speed up its own operations. India needs to achieve self sufficiency in
Petroleum and Gas . Small changes like these will go a long way in boosting the
performance of ONGC, Reliance and Cairn and other players in this sector. Have
private sector reps in Public sector Companies. This helps mutually.
Road
Building is languishing for lack of land acquisition. This must be remedied.
The Land acquisition Bill must essentially take care of the interests of the
Landholders displaced. They must be justly compensated. If that happens, the “additional
land cost” incurred will be a small percentage of the overall project cost and all projects will
take off quickly. But, Roads are a must and Land acquisition for Road Building
is a Must. Separate Road Building requirements, from the rest, in the LA Bill. Road
Building is unlike any other activity. The ownership rests always with
Government and all members of Public are its free users. At the same time, it
is a monopoly of the Government and therefore, Government has to plan for roads
for at least a hundred Years’ requirements.
Roads,
Power and Water are the three important things that Government has to Provide.
Water is something that can be provided to every village of India, but, it
takes great planning and serious effort. I am suggesting to ChandraBabu Naidu
of AP, Navin Patnaik of Odisha and the Central Government under Modi to first
plan the linking of the easy stretch of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Penna
and providing water from the Northern most district of Odisha to Southernmost
district of AP.
Naidu
can take the lead in the formation of the plans for AP and Patnaik for Odisha
and the linking can be done at the border. Even if only Flood waters are put
into strong canals, instead of into Bay of Bengal, it can provide waters to all
districts which currently do not have water. Cleaning of Ganga is a Major Plan
and should be implemented in stages. Revamping Varanasi is another great Plan.
So,
..as the saying goes...and miles to go before Modi or his Ministers can sleep...
From
(v.vijayamohan)
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