Opinion A Chip of the Old Block
Yoginder K Alagh | Charawak<br> Pranab Mukherji was delightful in the extra work of spinning out a vote-on-account and delivering home truths later.
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Pranab Mukherji was delightful in the extra work of spinning out a vote-on-account and delivering home truths later. A section of the media,fortunately not The Indian Express,was comical in its heroics on ‘demanding’ strong policies in the vote-on-account for the next fiscal year to fight the meltdown,from a Government which had a six-week life after March 1.
There were obliging ‘experts’ in Delhi to help them. Civics education leaves much to be desired. But what I liked the most was the forthright manner in which problems were discussed by the all-rounder acting as ‘night watchman’ Finance Minister. He is a political leader of some maturity and knows that when discussing serious bread and butter issues,confidence and political mileage are generated by speaking the truth rather than keeping an eye on the gallery. That is a correct perception. In another piece in From The Fields (a special page in the The Indian Express),I report on the misery of losing jobs and going back to the villages,but strangely enough,our people know what is possible and are very realistic in their expectations.
So,unlike the economists working in the Government,still insisting on seven per cent growth next year,Pranab Da is clear that the worse is yet to come. If you accept that,you can do something and then maybe even seven per cent would be possible.
His speech was on the achievements of his Government,on high growth,agricultural turnaround and the big initiatives on NREGA and rural infrastructure. The defence was measured and difficult to quibble with. The big attack: you have ignored the past eight months was anticipated and in fact made a song and dance of. We have grown this year,he said,but in the past six months life has been tough. Much worse,he said,we have lost almost half a million jobs. If one job lost means ten disaffected persons,that’s five million people — a lot of votes — walking back to listen to a man who recognised their plight. No longer around an average growth some lose and others gain stuff. No wonder the leader of the Opposition wanted to be the man who made that speech.
Well done. Now tell us what to do? If you want to know my bit,read my column in the print edition,getting more and more hysterical in the past six months,beginning with forecasting seven per cent growth this year and five next year and then getting paranoid on the job losses,as the forecasts of exports and FDI came out worse. Or would you like to tell them what to do! If so,blog on. The Charawak space is all yours.
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