Modinomics Works: Red Carpet Not Red Tape

Modinomics Works: Red Carpet Not Red Tape

Rahul Gandhi recently executed another one of his desperate and hysterical speeches, this time in rural Gujarat, when he repeated a few talking points in common with AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, and called Modi a ‘Watchman’ and ‘Hitler’. Shouting against big business like the Adanis and Ambanis is  both harmful and counter-productive to employment and nurture, but Congress is probably beyond caring and the upstart AAP couldn’t care less.

RG babbled on about the Congress Party,  MK Gandhi, V. Patel etc. and claimed all the progress made by his party was being claimed by the BJP. He highlighted the RTI and the Lokpal Bill. He said computers were promoted by Congress in the face of opposition from the two BJP representatives in parliament at the time, meaning Messrs Vajpayee and Advani. The outrageousness of this spurious claim eluded him, of course. 

And so he blundered on, trying to marshall his scattered thoughts long enough to sustain his ‘fiery’ speech. The scattered crowd in attendance seemed bewildered as they watched the spectacle, poker-faced but far from convinced, wondering at the rantings of the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Still, he can’t be blamed for trying, there in the lion’s den, and in the face of utter despair.

Much as AAP and Congress may try to decry the gains, the benefits of Modinomics cannot be wished away. The dismal and graft-ridden performance of the UPA under a blind-eyed and largely mute Dhritarashtra-like Manmohan Singh, weak and worldly at the same time, is abysmal. Modinomics in Gujarat, by way of contrast, has notched up an impressive track record. Modi’s slogan of Red Carpet Not Red Tape For Investors has made Gujarat the number one go-to place for domestic and foreign industry. The famous ‘Single window system for new investors’ has done its bit too. Besides, Gujarat’s track record for ‘implementation’ along with a ‘conducive business climate’ has made the crucial difference. This ability to implement is certainly one gift that can be put to work nationally irrespective of the constraints of  a coalition government.

Of all places, Tehelka published an altogether positive article written by one Rajiv Kumar, probably the one who is the Secretary General of FICCI, on 28^th September 2013, in which he writes, amongst other laudatory things: ‘With 5 percent of the country’s population, Gujarat contributes 16 percent of India’s industrial output and 22 percent of its exports. On average, the agriculture rate of growth has been 10 percent, when the national average is 3 percent. It has reversed the trend in groundwater depletion and provides 24x7 supply of electricity to rural households. What’s more, farmers pay for the electricity consumed!’

Some quarters do continue to clamour for greater clarity on Modinomics, more out of panic than confusion, and because it has delivered far more than the inefficient Socialism practiced by Congress and the UPA. There is also a recent book released on Modinomics written by one Sameer Kochhar, but it too largely describes the Gujarat success story.

The expectation by business and industry and the surging stock markets is that many of the same winning principles will be applied nationally once the NDA is swept into power shortly. Rajiv Kumar in the same Tehelka article writes: ‘In essence, this model has investors and the state working together for the economic advancement, with the government ensuring that the benefits of growth are evenly spread and inequalities are not exacerbated. One of the consequences of this approach is to eliminate the spurious trade-off between growth and equity- both can, and must be achieved simultaneously to sustain growth’.  A Gujarat government press release could not have put it better!

 More recently, writing in Mail Today on March 2^nd 2014, Sandeep Bamzai wrote, with regard to the state of the Indian economy: ‘The rot runs deep- five straight quarters of sub-five percent growth and nearly all economic parameters in disarray’. He goes on to cite manufacturing as the most downtrodden sector, though agriculture too is in a mess. He thinks Modi will have a tough job ahead but: ‘Economic capitulation has to be righted’. Indeed!

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March 11^th, 2014

Gautam Mukherjee