Dr. Manmohan Singh and his 79 Ministers

People have given their verdict for 15th Lok Sabha elections in favor of United Progressive alliance. In the Euphoria of UPA getting a massive win a major point has been missed, in its last term UPA hasn’t really done anything special for the economy. Indian economy boomed in the initial 4yrs largely due to global conditions and to UPA’s credit they let it grow without too much meddling. In the current global conditions UPA led by Dr. Man Mohan singh cannot sit back and wait for things to happen. It is time for them to step up and take the country forward.

Cabinet has now been setup, decision of having 79 cabinet ministers didn’t please me initially. But to their credit Congress has withstood the pressures from their allies and managed to keep most of the Key portfolios with them, thereby managing to have a strong hold on key areas of governance. There are many interesting aspects in this cabinet. For the first time we see many new young faces in the cabinet, most of the key portfolios are put in the hands of clean politicians.

Here are some of the major issues that the government needs to tackle urgently.

Fiscal deficit

I have pointed out this in my article on Interim budget for 2008-09, our fiscal deficit was at 6 percent and for the current year it is likely to be over 10 percent one of the highest in the world. An emphasis has to be laid on the quality of spending. With seasoned politician like Pranab Mukharjee as Finance minister, we can be sure that this issue will be addressed with proper care.

Disinvestment

It is very important for the current government to resume the process of disinvestment. It was elected to run the country, not companies. Perhaps disinvestment was one of the achievements of previous NDA's govt. this process have come to a grinding halt when UPA took charge, this is time for it to be resumed.

Education

For a young nation like India, education must take a very high priority. Since the times of Nehru we haven’t had a Prime Minister who had focused on education and had made a positive impact. It is high time now for the government to improve the education system and provide its people quality education which they are longing for. It is heartening to see Kapil Sibal as HRD minister and is interesting to see Purandeshwari as MOS to assist him.

Infrastructure

To become a superpower, we first need power. There is consensus that India’s infrastructure is very bad. To grow at a fast pace for a long term we need a proper infrastructure in place. Power reforms and highway construction needs immediate attention. Kamalnath has been taken off from Commerce and is given this ministry, this is certainly a positive sign from the government that this area is been considered very important.

Food security and Agriculture

Agriculture growth in India has fell by 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2008-09. With 68% of its population still in rural areas, agriculture should remain as one of the top priorities for the govt. A slightest improvement in agricultural production will mean that our imports will come down and our domestic consumption increases which will be a big boost our economy, especially in these times. It appears from the outside that Mr. Joshi has been carefully handpicked by Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan singh to head this ministry.

Land and other procedural reforms

A world bank report in 2007 ranked India at 134 out of 175 countries in terms of ease of doing business. This blame largely should fall on the administrative procedures and regulations which strangled hold any business. Take the example of SEZ’s(Special Economic Zones) in theory are a step ahead towards greater industrialization. But as the land acquisitions problems showed up, the policy has to be properly thought out to the last detail. Issues like Nadigram in West Bengal and Raigad in Maharastra should be avoided.I personally have a lot of hope on this government headed by Dr. Man Mohan singh, while most of political problems from last 5 years for him were solved by the decisive verdict, which kept Left parties out of the government. It is time for our prime minister to kick start reforms and take us forward.Finally I will say that this was a verdict of HOPE.

-Srikanth Achanta