Look closer home

From 2006-07 to 2012,the Centre approved 1,361 projects for various cities under the urban renewal mission. Of those,just a fourth got completed. In the process,66 per cent of the money was used up. These are government statistics that show why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can get a lot done simply by getting his ministers to do their jobs,rather than wait for the elusive political consensus on reforms that he blamed for the growth slowdown in his Independence Day speech. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission involves no legislation,at stages it does not even involve state governments. Yet,as the statistics show,it is inertia that makes Rs 81,000 crore of government money go waste,under the watch of Minister for Urban Development Kamal Nath. As a result,India will see the lowest rate of investment in its urban areas in the next five years compared to the world average,on an already low base.

This is a familiar pattern in the Manmohan Singh government,where differences among ministers have held up reforms more than any outside interference. Commenting on the drop in exports by 15 per cent in July,Commerce Minister Anand Sharma referred to the global slowdown instead of taking a firm stand against the on-off policy approach of his party on agricultural exports. This is also true of the railways,which has earned the dubious distinction of having the highest accident rate among all the major railway networks of the world. The coal sector is in trouble from the environment ministry that does not clear projects. Just days before the PM spoke from the Red Fort,India notched up another distinction a power outage of stunning magnitude.

In none of these sectors is there any need for new legislation,the states are fairly united in their response and the curative procedures are known. Yet in power,coal and trade and on urban issues,the report card is far worse than it was when the UPA government took charge. In each of these areas,a lot can be done,if only ministers talk to,and work with,each other.