By Anil Swarup-
(Anil Swarup is a former Education Secretary and Coal Secretary in the Government of India. He is also a renowned author. The views expressed in this article are his own)
Going beyond glitz and glamour post-elections.
“Today we need to convert development into Jan Andolan (mass movement)….India should aspire to become second or third largest economy by 2047” said Rajiv Kumar, when he was Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog at a Webinar organised by Bhartiya Shiksha Mandal some time ago.
Arvind Pangarhiya, former Chairman, NITI Aayog told The Week some time ago, “India can be $7 trillion by 2030”.
Both are right but what will it take to “make it happen.” Arvind Pangarhiya and Rajiv Kumar occupied the exalted position in NITI Aayog. The former should have probably stayed on in India to make his “dream” come true for the country but he chose to go across the Atlantic and continue to do the “talking” and writing instead of walking the talk. He is back here though in his capacity as Chairman, the Finance Commission. All those that came in from across the Atlantic and made a timely departure back to the cool climes must be heaving a sigh of relief as they don’t have to face this unprecedented “heat”.
There is no dearth of ideas in the country. There is no dearth of “expert rai sahebs” (advisors) either. In fact, there are too many of them. The problem is that in a country like ours, for any idea to fructify and sustain it has to be politically acceptable, socially desirable, technologically feasible, financially viable, administratively doable, judicially tenable, emotionally relatable and environmentally sustainable.
If just talking worked, by now we would have traveled a long distance. Unfortunately, for traveling this distance, we have got to persevere and walk with our feet firmly on the ground.
Given the limitations of finances, the Finance Minister announced a decent package some time ago for managing the COVID crisis. Those impacted by the crisis will always want more. Perhaps legitimately so. Amrinder Singh, the then Chief Minister of Punjab asked for more as did other Chief Minsters of the states. Thanks to GST, states’ dependence on the center has increased and unfortunately, even before the onset of COVID, the GST collections were nowhere near the projected amount. Some of us never admitted but the economy was in trouble even before COVID arrived. Now, of course, there is a full-blown crisis looming large. Unlike the center that can “print currency notes”, the states cannot. However, it is easy to push for printing notes but the impact of consequent inflation has to be kept in mind because the poor bear the brunt of inflation. Hence, there will have to be a measured approach. The tragedy is that both the centre and the state are right but there is no financial wherewithal to make it happen. Like many other crises, the COVID crisis has also blown over but the key is how can the “dreams” of the former Vice Chairmen, NITI be “made to happen”? Most of the schemes announced by the government are politically acceptable and, by and large, socially desirable. The key questions relate to the availability of funds, use of technology, deployment of administrative machinery and somehow to convince the judiciary to do its own job rather than spend precious time on deciding whether the center seat in an aircraft should be allocated or not.
Finding additional resources has been the constant endeavor of any government. It will perhaps be even more intense now. As we continue to search for additional sources for increasing revenue, a possible immediate way forward could be to dispense with expenditures on statues, road-shows, publicity and the like. Let actions speak for themselves.
The Prime Minister has been rightly emphasizing on the need for the use of technology to improve efficiency in governance. However, despite this emphasis, it is hard to believe that a large number of Ministries and Departments have not gone digital. There is sufficient evidence that transparency and the use of technology have multiple benefits (demonstrated in Ministries like Coal and Rural Development where hard files have been dispensed with). An organization called Samagra is engaged with the Haryana Government to digitize all the processes. This approach is already making life easy for the common man. The Central Government can facilitate the implementation of digitized processes in all other states of the country. This does not require much funding. Similarly, the use of technology to enable portable benefits for migrant workers can be a game-changer.
Human Resource management is the key to the success of any program. The government has to closely look at the schemes and programs that have done well. The next step should be to understand why and how did they do well. The government should then attempt to replicate the approach adopted in these programs. Similarly, the government will have to locate more competent, honest and efficient, and not necessarily pliant officers to head organizations and institutions to “drive” the programs. They will also have to look at why and how coal production reached unprecedented levels between 2014 and 2016 and didn’t grow at the same rate thereafter. The coal shortages re-surfaced. Should an organization like Coal India be left without a regular Chairman for a year? No matter how good the idea is, the implementation will be adversely impacted if there isn’t an appropriate administrative machinery and a leader to drive home the idea.
Policies and announcements are important and they also make for good publicity but it is time we got down to brass tacks. We need less of “gyaan” and more of action. Each policy will have to be followed by an action plan that clearly outlines what needs to be done, how will it be done, who will do it, and when will it be done. Roles of various stakeholders will have to be defined and Central Government will have to play the role of a facilitator.
Not much can be said or done about the manner in which the judiciary responds but there is no point in labouring a point over which you have no control. The best would be to focus on what you can rather brood over what you can’t.
The dreams of former Vice Chairmen can indeed be realized provided we mean business, we get down to business and we do business beyond glitz and glamour.
