Verdict on the Modi Government

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The following is an article by our Economic Advisor -Rijul Arora :


Since the entry of Modi Government the big question has been “Acche Din kab aaenge? “. The analysis of the economy after the first year of the Modi government is satisfactory and it looks like “Acche din jaldi aaenge” but there are certain loopholes too. The Modi Government has certainly performed better than the previous Government after the end of first year but it still hasn’t lived up to the expectations and hasn’t fulfilled all the promises yet. 
Let us start by highlighting the positives of Modi Government after the first year of governance. The Modi Government has certainly improved International Relations whether it is in helping Nepal out or helping Mongolia to set up their Dairy Sector etc. Our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has travelled to a whopping 18 countries over the last 12 months which says it all. He has tried his best in improving International Relations. This is the first time in seven years that Fiscal deficit fell under 4 per cent of the GDP which is a very positive sign for the economy. The Modi Government has also eradicated Corruption to a certain level. In this last year we haven’t seen a single instance of any scam. There was a lot of problem in allocation of coal and spectrum for phones where there was preference of allocation to a certain groups but this has not been the case this year around and I’m glad to say that it has been transparent this time. This is not all. The progress on the Infrastructure Projects is also much better than it used to be before the Government came into power.
Now we come to the negatives. The Modi Government promised a lot before the elections and created a lot of hype. It hasn’t been able to live up to that hype. Agriculture Sector has been one of the biggest disappointments. Agriculture Sector hasn’t grown as much as it should have. It has grown a meagre 1.1 per cent in 2014-15 which is alarming considering the fact that majority of our population is involved in Agriculture Sector. This can have major drawbacks like fall in income of the farmers and hence inability to feed their families as Agriculture is their only livelihood. The Modi Government promised that they would give each citizen of India Rs 15-20 Lakh from the black money brought back to the country within 150 days of governance but they failed. Since Modi government has come to power it has relaxed several environmental rules to make it easier for certain companies to build new projects which would have a huge impact on the environment. Modi Government is clearly focusing on growth but isn’t considering the harsh effects it would have on the environment. The NDA government has constantly favoured the Land Acquisition Bill 2015 (passed in Lok Sabha recently) which seems to be “anti-farmer”. The government seems to favour the interest of private industries and in turn compromises the farmer’s livelihood by favouring the Land Acquisition Bill 2015. The changes which were made to the Land Acquisition Bill 2013 to bring about the Land Acquisition Bill 2015 are clearly “anti-farmer”. The focus of Modi Government through Land Acquisition Bill 2015 has been development and growth but it might lead to a negative effect on the livelihood of famers. As of now it’s difficult to say what the result of Land Acquisition Bill 2015 is going to be. We will have to wait and watch and observe whether it holds as good as the Modi Government claims it to be.
There have been mixed reviews after first year of Modi Government. While some think Modi has been lucky in his first year of governance and say that majority of the positives have been due to fall in oil prices while others say that the positives are due to good governance. For now nothing much can be said and we will have to observe the next 4 years carefully and make a conclusion after the end of term of Modi Government and decide whether “Acche din aaye ya nahi “.
Rijul Arora
Economic Advisor
Wall Street Club BITS Pilani Goa