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The Case For A Nike Government Omkar Goswami
There
are few, if any, among Given
the respect that Dr. Singh enjoys, it is not surprising that we have all
given him the latitude to gradually carve his agenda for the nation. We all
recognised that he had to deal with an unwieldy coalition consisting of
strange bedfellows like Laloo Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and Shibu Soren;
moreover, he has had to grapple with the Left, which has enjoyed the luxury
of wielding power with no responsibility by supporting the government from
outside. Six months have passed. Almost imperceptibly, there are signs in newspapers that the honeymoon period is coming to an end, and that commentators now want to see palpable action from Dr. Singh’s team.
Its
not as if the economy is doing badly. Far from it. There is every sign that
2004-05 will end up with around 6.5 per cent GDP growth which, coming on the
back of 8.2 per cent growth in 2003-04, will be very creditable. Industrial
production and manufacturing are doing well, with both exceeding 7.5 per
cent growth. The services sector is growing at around 8 per cent plus —
the sixth time in the last eleven years. Yes, there is the spectre of rising
inflation; and yes, the fiscal deficit of the central and state governments
are still far too high. But, all said and done, among the large economies of
the world,
The
worry of most commentators is that we haven’t seen any significantly
decisive set of moves in the direction of faster economic reform. Consider
the country’s highways, for instance. As on 31 October 2004, of the 5,846
kilometres that comprise the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) project, four-laning
and six-laning has been completed for 3,294 kilometres; and projects are
apparently under implementation for the remaining 2,552 kilometres. Yet, it
is a fact that after the new government came into power, the road programme
has slowed down considerably — and according to some, has even come to a
halt. The Prime Minister and the people of There
were five reasons why the GQ project was such an obvious success during the
tenure of the previous government. First, Dr. Singh’s predecessor raised a
clarion cry for highways and, thereby, made it a political mission. Second,
having made it such, he ensured that a sizeable chunk of the financing was
in place through the cess on petrol and diesel. Third, the highway project
was being monitored on a fortnightly basis by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Fourth, General Khanduri — Mr. Baalu’s predecessor at the ministry —
was an efficient and honest man with an army background, and a person who
took this on as a mission. And fifth, the good general was backed up by an
excellent chief of the NHAI. The
success of the National Highway Development Programme was managerial.
Targets were set; contracts were awarded transparently and expeditiously;
targets were regularly monitored; and the people concerned were so chosen
that they could be expected to deliver. This is what I call the Nike form of
governance: you know what the problem is, you know what needs to be done,
now “Just Do It”. Six
months down the line, it is imperative that the Prime Minister’s Office
resurrect this programme, give it equal, if not greater, managerial impetus
and accelerate the process of implementation. The GQ needs to be quickly
completed. More significantly, little has happened to the
North-South-East-West project —7,274 kilometre long highways that will
link
What
is true of roads is also true of airports. The only saving grace of a
disaster called
Everyone
agrees that the single largest determinant to growth is infrastructure. The
Prime Minister is too good an economist to believe otherwise. Can we then
expect from him some clear action regarding infrastructure? Let’s forget
about what to do with $15 billion of foreign exchange. Let’s just focus on
time-bound implementation. Highways and airports are good enough places to
start. So, here’s waiting for the transformation of government by
coalition to a government for action.
Published: Financial Express, December 2004
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