The meter starts now

Going beyond economics, the CMP has other important ideas that deserve consideration. The repeal of POTA, the constitution of a States Reorganisation Commission and a new thrust on administrative reforms. This election was about governance and that is where the electorate wants the CMP to deliver some action. There is also an urgent need to modernise education, after the damage inflicted upon higher education by Murli Manohar Joshi. If the UPA can deliver on promises on health, education, agriculture and infrastructure, few will worry if there has been or not been disinvestment! In any case, the final formulation on disinvestment and privatisation leaves enough scope for some forward movement on this front. Public policy will have to focus on the generation of jobs in a fiscally sustainable way, rather than distribution of shares alone. The CMP’s assurances on priorities in foreign policy and national security policy are also along correct lines and indicate a degree of continuity in policy that should be welcomed abroad. While a CMP gets a lot of attention at such times, in the end people will judge the government by what it does, not what it promises to do. That, anyway, was the message of Election 2004.