Author: Mona Gupta, New Delhi
In spite of setbacks like drought, swine flu and Sharm el-Sheikh, UPA has made steady progress at the start of its second innings by taking some crucial steps. But it has plenty of problems to deal with. In its first 100 days, UPA 2 has had to negotiate some sharp bends with drought and swine flu but it hasn’t lost momentum. But then it has to run a five-year marathon.
Following is the analysis of the first 100 days of the UPA government on 10 major sectors.
1. Judicial System:
The judicial reform journey started three months ago with law minister Veerappa Moily. He had a smooth drive till now. Moily’s roadmap on judicial reforms had four major components
• Make judges declare assets
• Make them accountable for misconduct
• Reduce the huge pendency of over 3 crore cases in trial courts and the high courts
• Speed up the snail paced justice delivery system.
The UPA government is in the final stages of preparing a blueprint on appointment of ad-hoc judges for clearing the backlog and tune up the justice delivery system to reduce the average life of litigation from 15 years to 3 years.
Priorities:
• To reduce pendency of 3 crore cases to manageable levels by 2011
• To reduce litigation life from 15 years to 3 years by 2011
• To bring in a law to make judges accountable for misconduct
Misses:
• Judges Assets Bill way off the mark, SC judges virtually make it redundant
• Promise of laptops for trial court judges by 2009 not kept
• No concrete plan to persuade states to increase trial court judges’ strength
Challenges:
• Finance. Will Centre assist states?
• Executive’s role in appointment of judges
• Will the impeachment mechanism finally be simplified?
2. National security:
The home ministry continues to be on its toes, maintaining the pace it set last December while launching its grand plan of shoring up the country’s security and intelligence infrastructure after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
First 100 days of the second UPA government appears encouraging. There’s perceptible improvement in intelligence sharing, which shows in the fact that the country has not witnessed any terror incident beyond the disturbed zones of Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast.
However, the continuing Maoist mayhem remains a major concern particularly. The recent chief ministers’ conference on naxal issues showed encouraging results with non-UPA ruled states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal showing signs of narrowing differences over security matters.
Hits:
• Four NSG regional hubs — Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai — get operational on time
• Peaceful conduct of Amarnath yatra, World Badminton Championship and Independence Day celebrations despite threats
Misses:
• Increasing casualties among securitymen in anti-naxal ops
• Jharkhand, despite being under central rule, continues to be a soft target for Maoists
• Alleged fake encounter cases in Manipur virtually derail peace process, raising questions over methods of security forces
Challenges:
• Ridding states of naxal presence. Hope rests on the upcoming grand anti-naxal operation
• Strengthening nationwide security, intelligence infrastructure
• Handling the boiling Northeast. Focus has to be on a solution to Naga issues; elimination of Ulfa in Assam
3. Health:
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has probably been the country’s busiest cabinet minister. With a global pandemic — the first in 41 years — threatening to infect two billion people across the globe over the next two years, which includes 33% of India’s population, health minister has his hands full.
Besides swine flu, Azad’s crusade against fake drugs has made his critics sit up and take notice.
Ghulam Nabi Azad has also been working hard to fill vacant medical posts in rural areas. Doctors willing to work in farflung areas have been told they will earn double of their urban counterparts.
He is now planning a National Council for Human Resources in Health; an overarching regulatory body that will look to enhance skilled medical personnel.
Hits:
• Decentralizing stock of anti-virals against H1N1
• Quickly upgrading 20 govt labs to cope with H1N1 testing
• Harsher punishment for making and selling spurious drugs
Misses:
• Failure to launch National Urban Health Mission Not upgrading state medical colleges to increase postgraduate medical seats
• Failure to initially bring in line states over containment of H1N1
Challenges:
• Minimise the spread of H1N1 and thereby reduce the number of deaths due to infection
• Upgrade Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme
• Fast-tracking of six new AIIMS like institutions and 13 other medical institutes in next 3 years
4. Foreign Policy:
The UPA government, in its second avatar, came in under the dark shadow of 26/11. To that extent, it was probably inevitable that Pakistan would dominate the government’s foreign policy, as India piled on the pressure on Islamabad to take action against perpetrators of 26/11 and more comprehensively against terrorist groups.
PM Manmohan Singh ran into his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani in Egypt on the sidelines of the NAM summit and the joint statement set Singh’s entire Pakistan policy on fire.
Pakistan will continue to be a challenge, but the government has also shown that India is yet to rise beyond Pakistan as its principal foreign policy. In Nepal, India’s dubious role in precipitating a crisis between the Maoist government, political parties and the army led to political instability that the new government — made by the same squabbling parties — has not yet been able to overcome.
India is treading warily with the new Obama administration in the US, where the challenges of a non-proliferation initiative in the form of CTBT and a global climate change agreement may test the relationship painstakingly built by Bush and Singh.
Hits:
• India stared down China at ADB over Arunachal project
• Security arrangement with Maldives to keep western coast secure
• India played a constructive role in helping Lanka defeat LTTE
Misses:
• Joint statement with Pakistan at Sharm el-Sheikh
• India seen to have contributed to instability in Nepal
• Five dossiers later, Pakistan yet to act against terrorists
Challenges:
• China: Managing ties with a more assertive and a tad aggressive Beijing
• Af-Pak: Trying to prevent the next big terrorist attack from Pakistan
• US: CTBT and climate change promise to be fraught with political minefields
5. Power:
The power ministry has failed to live up to its promise of an electrifying first 100 days of UPA-2. Against the much tom-tomed target to bring on stream 5,653 MW generation capacities, the ministry has been able to switch on only 4,000 MW. The effect of poor project management and constraints in capacity to manufacture equipment for power plants have made most of the power targets a farce.
Hits:
• Thrust on Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
• Progress on induction of super-critical tech
• Initial public offering and partial sell off of NHPC
Misses:
• Promised number of power projects not switched on
• Additional ultra-mega projects not announced
• Still no policy for ramping up inter-regional transmission capacity
6. Education:
A new minister and a new work culture in the ministry are right now geared to meet the 100-day deadline that ends in the first week of September. The biggest of them all, the Right to Education, has been passed in both Houses of Parliament.
Though there is many other big ticket changes on the anvil, public interest will be on weather the class 10 board examination will be made optional and evaluation will shift to grading system.
But it is higher education where the bulk of action is taking place. Sibal’s promise of initiating a slew of legislations is on track.
However, in case of UGC, Sibal seems to have committed a mistake by setting up two review committees —one by the ministry and other by UGC — to look into deemed universities.
Hits:
• Right to Education Bill passed in both Houses of Parliament
• Making Class X board examinations optional
• A new regulatory body to oversee higher education
Misses:
• Review of deemed universities not handled well
• A thorough probe into doling out deemed status not done
• Not enough attention paid to National Council for Teacher Education
Challenges:
• Implementing the Right to Education and ensuring private schools abide by its provisions
• Cleaning mess in regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE
• Gross Enrolment Ratio in both elementary and higher education should increase
7. Agriculture:
UPA mandarins face two mega-challenges in the coming days
• Check rising food prices and
• Give relief to drought stricken farmers
If the government fails to address farmers’ problems in the 278 drought-hit districts across 11 states, UPA’s carefully cultivated ‘aam admi’ image will take a huge dent. With 278 districts affected by drought, it is estimated that rice production will go down by 10 million tonnes this season and it may trigger a further hike in prices, which is going to be the biggest challenge.
Hits:
• Taking states on board to check price rise and for drought relief measures
• Agreeing to share 50% diesel subsidy with states to protect crops
• Hike in procurement prices of paddy and pulses
Misses:
• Failure to check price rise
• Delay in drought relief measures
• Consensus eludes on beneficiaries to be covered in food for all law
Challenges:
• To check spiraling prices of essential commodities
• To minimise impact of drought
• To get the Food Security Act passed
8. Infrastructure:
The change of guard in the road, transport and highways ministry was seen as an indicator of the government’s resolve to revive the road and highways sector. In the past 100 days, announcements have flown thick and fast, faster than actions and award of projects, but with Kamal Nath in charge there is a visible change in the attitude and enthusiasm among ministry and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials. Now, at least, there is hope more roads would be built, that too at some speed, in comparison to the past couple of years.
9. Finance:
Setting in motion the disinvestment process, the finance ministry within two weeks of passing the Union Budget unveiled the Direct Tax Code proposing radical reforms in income tax laws that is set to broaden the tax base and make huge difference in revenue collection.
Among finance ministry’s immediate challenges within the first 100 days was to arrive at a consensus on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and reforming indirect tax by introducing a unified tax structure across the country.
Divestment was another area of reforms that the government was looking at. After NHPC’s initial public offering, which was oversubscribed 23 times, OIL’s IPO is set to be launched next month.
10. Commerce:
With the world yet to climb out of recession, the job of the commerce ministry remains challenging, to say the least. Though the ministry is doing its bit, the macro picture still doesn’t look too good; exports continue to dip month after month even as prices of essential food items march upwards.
The ministry in its first 100 days can claim at least two hits; clinching free trade agreements with South Korea and Asean countries. Both are expected to help Indian industry and consumers, though there are apprehensions of an adverse impact of the Asean FTA on farmers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as cheap tea, coffee, pepper and rubber come in from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Hits:
• Signed Free Trade Agreements with S Korea, Asean
• Got concessions for SEZ units in Budget
• Played important role trying to resolve the Doha deadlock at WTO
• Announced Foreign Trade Policy
Misses:
• Hasn’t been able to arrest decline in exports
• Prices of essential commodities continue to rise
Challenges:
• Rev up exports
• Curb rise in prices
• Safeguard Indian interests at WTO
Author: Mona Gupta, New Delhi.
Connect & Follow Exam Results