An agenda for the last lap

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The recent annual meeting of the CII has somewhat overtaken the debate on evaluating the three years’ performance of the UPA government in office. Course correction is always an ongoing process. It is important, therefore, to highlight the success and failures of the government to encourage further action. In the case of the UPA government, the circumstances of its coming to power are also relevant. The Left parties have reminded the Congress that the numerical Parliamentary difference between the Congress and the BJP is small, and it was the combination of their preferred electoral alliance which brought the coalition to power. They have lamented what they see as lack of progress on the UPA’s Common Minimum Programme. Further, on important economic issues, the so-called ‘neo-liberal’ policies (used by the Left in a pejorative sense) are not shared by all members of the Cabinet, and the gap between this approach and populist schemes is never easy to reconcile. The Congress president has been truthful in attributing the party’s recent electoral defeats, particularly in UP, to organisational failures. In all fairness, she has fully endorsed the UPA’s economic policies and does not regard the recent elections as a referendum on them. No doubt, the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Bharat Nirman, and inability to subdue inflationary pressures early enough, have caused concern.

Given the aforesaid, an honest report card must be sensitive to the exceptional circumstances under which the UPA government has had to function. First and foremost, the Economy has performed exceptionally well—having achieved unprecedented GDP growth for three years in succession. The external sector is healthy, reserves are high, FDI buoyant and fiscal deficit contained. There has been no major reversal on the continuing reform initiative, except perhaps suspension of the disinvestment programme. Fresh initiatives have, however, been limited to civil aviation, Vat implementation and the new emphasis on agriculture and infrastructure. It will be wholly appropriate for the PM and his team to take credit for the economic record of this government. The debate on whether this is the outcome of earlier initiatives must remain a footnote.