Omkar Dattatray
Modi government has completed nine years in office and this government is giving the report card of its successful nine years. No doubt the BJP government has excelled in many sectors and has framed and implemented many schemes, policies and programmes. But then its governance of the last nine years is not free from limitations and defects. Skyrocketing of the prices of essential goods and services and increasing unemployment are the two main drawbacks and the government has miserably failed to contain inflation and the problem of unemployment. However the BJP under the instructions of Modi-Amit Shah duo is busy in counting the achievements of the BJP government of the last nine years of its rule. The BJP government has deputed its central ministers to different Indian states and has also asked its chief ministers and its state presidents to put before the public the achievements and works of the nine years of its successful rule. As is everybody’s knowledge that Modi is adept and expert in selling and marketing the achievements of its government and he depends upon the advertisement and propaganda to beat its political rivals and also to bring home to people the achievements of its nine years of its rule.
Modi, his ministers, BJP chief ministers and state heads of the BJP all were directed by Modi to sell and market the achievements of its magnificent rule of nine years and all the functionaries of BJP were directed to present the balance sheet of the good works of the BJP and its rule for nine years mind that the BJP leaders and ministers as well as the chief ministers and state presidents are only counting the good work done and they deliberately brush aside the limitations and misrule of its nine years of its rule.
BJP government is arranging programmes and press conferences in all states of the country to show and put before the public the good deeds of the nine years of its rule and the BJP functionaries, ministers, chief ministers and state heads of the BJP are holding press conferences in different states to count the good works and pro people schemes of the nine years of its rule.
PM Modi acknowledges the nine achievements of his government picked by citizens ,here are the top 9 of them selected by most people. The Narendra Modi government will complete 9 years in office in two successive terms on May 30. BJP has planned a month long mass reach -out programme across the country. Amid the celebrations of the 9th year anniversary of the government, social media users are posting their top nine picks for the achievements of Modi government in the last nine years.
PM Modi said that his government has been able to deliver because people elected a stable government and its unparallel support is a source of great strength .These achievements are 1-Abrogation of Article 370. Abrogation of Article 370 along with article 35A, the two articles of the Constitution of India that gave a special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir.2-Ram Mandir construction, Kashi Vishwanath Corridor and others. For BJP, the construction of a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and freeing other ancient Hindu temples converted to mosques by the Islamic rulers always have been a major promise. The dream of crores of Hindus came true in 2019 ,as supreme court delivered its verdict in decades on Ram Janambhoomi -Babri Masjid title suit ,handling the entire premises to Hindu parties.
Following the order, while Hindu petitioners started the construction of the temple, the Modi government contributed by facilitating the process and a grand Ram temple will be ready in the beginning of 2024.
Another important achievement of the Modi government according to social media users was the freeing of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and its surroundings from encroachments.
The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated in December 2021 ,which connects the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple with holy ghats along the river Ganga.3-Covid handling and production and distribution of the vaccine .All most all people who listed achievements of Modi government thinks its handling of coronavirus pandemic was a success. 4-UPI, digital economy is another feather in the cap of Modi government as today India leads in terms of using digital transactions ,where even road side vendors accept digital payments even for a very small amount. 5-Financial inclusion, Modi government had taken various steps for financial inclusion of people, most of those who were not associated with the banking system earlier.
The JAM trinity, Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile has been one of the major successes of the government in bringing people into formal financial system.
6-Infrastructure, There is massive development in the infrastructure sector in the country .People have noted the rapid construction of highways, express ways and other roads ,massive expansion of railway networks, 7-Swach Bharat and Jal Shakti, under Swach Bharat mission ,over 3 lakh villages have been declared open defecation free .Several schemes have been launched under JaL Shakti to improve availability and quality of water in the country.8-GST,Economy.Implementation of GST was a major milestone which made doing business much easier by removing several different taxes and included them in Goods and Services Tax . 9-Welfare Schemes .Successful welfare schemes is a major hallmark of the Modi government .Schemes like the Ujiwala scheme ,Ayushman Bharat scheme, Housing scheme ,monetary benefits given to farmers have benefitted many people .Modi rule has to its credit many achievements as well as some failures and setbacks too .By taking bold steps on major economic ,social and foreign policy issues ,the Modi government has indeed surprised not only the citizens of India but people across the world who are watching in awe the meteoric rise of India on the global stage. Abolition of triple talaq among Muslim women is a big achievement and is a revolutionary step and it has given a sigh of relief to Muslim women .The nine years of Modi rule have been revolutionary in the sense that there was total transformation and reformation in the economy of the country .The achievements of the nine years have been unprecedented. The failures of the Modi government are the rising cost of living and inflation which has broken the back of the common man .Unemployment and failing to provide job opportunities to the educated and skilled ,semi skilled and un skilled youth is the main failure of Modi government .Demonetization and GST are the two main setbacks of the Modi government and it has done more bad than good to the people and economy. These two hard economic decisions were the two jerks and setbacks to the economy .The irony is that the very issues Modi campaigned in 2013 are the ones his government has managed to aggravate the most since coming to power .It is interesting that during campaigns for elections to five state assemblies ,PM Modi has been noticeably reluctant to talk about his government’s achievements .This is also ironic because we know that PM Modi loves to advertise .So much so that a parliamentary query revealed that government has spent close to Rs 4,880 crore of tax payers money on advertising their achievements .The successes of Modi government are debatable .However ,there are ten critical missteps which will without a doubt define Modi government.1-Demonetisation.This would be at the top of any list for its sheer lack of success and widespread havoc that it inflicted on the economy.2-The betrayal of Farmers .Farmers suicides rose sharply during Modi government’s tenure .In its final budget ,the BJP on the demand of MSP plus 50% ,gave a version that satisfied none.3-The questionable rewriting of the Rafale deal .The PM and his cohorts changed the terms of a deal to acquire fewer jets for three times the price without following the stipulated procurement procedures.4-Media capture .There has been an enslavement of certain sections of the media which simply choke on any criticism no matter how innocuous of the PM and BJP president.5-Perhaps biggest failure of the BJP government is perhaps the cultivation of hate .There have been a sharp increase in targeted attacks on Dalits and members of the minority community.6-Weakening of the institutions .The parliament is an inconvenience to this government which prefers to rule by fiat and ordinance .The PM rarely attends the parliament and when he does it is more to give electoral speech than to lay out a legislative agenda or answer the questions of the MP’s .7-Mishandling of Kashmir.
This government deserves the credit of having alienated the Kashmiris from rest of India through a poorly thought out engagement policy. But despite many failures ,the achievements of the BJP government’s 9 years of rule outshine its drawbacks as the government has done enough for the poor citizens of the country and so Modi has become a darling of the common and average Indian.
(The author is a
columnist, social and KP activist).