Image Courtesy – Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Notice- This piece is solely associated with the writer and not FinStreet.
Back in 2009, influenced by the Left in Calcutta, and being an ardent admirer of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, I had entered All India Student’s Block , the famed students wing of the All India Forward Block. But given the misrule of the left and the same poll violence plaguing the Bengal elections since the congress days, I decided to leave the organization by 2010, expecting a revolution against the left and the same happened..
In 2011 when the All India Trinamool Congress came to power. The expectation was high and they had performed well compared to the left until 2013, when I had left the State for a more secured future given the left had left close to nil job opportunities in the state. I therefore had to leave for New Delhi to tend to my graduation in Delhi University. I had joined a Bachelor’s in Economics Course and started to understand how policies were made and how to ensure that they can be actuated upon. My interest in being a public representative was still alive. I fought the elections in the campus, this time from a different organizational backing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. I had fielded two other candidates and both won. By this time the JNU incident had emerged and I slowly gravitated towards the right. My ideology has slowly started matching that of what was presented to the country in the form of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s iconic speech titled “Andhera Chhatega, Suraj Niklega Aur Kamal Khilega”.
In 2014, The Modi government had come to power and since then I have been a strong supporter of that cause. My interest in books helped me get through various versions of Hindutva, Economic Policies and much more. Although there are certain things that I do disagree with, I tend to support the government based on issues. I still remember being extremely distraught when majority of lawmakers decided to abstain and not vote for the private member bill decriminalizing homosexuality and chose to speak against the government on that issue. But my support for demonetization (not for the ‘black money’ narrative, but for the sheer reason that I believed digitization is the way forward and that a cash based economy creates a lot of leakages in the economy). I supported the government on the creation of bank accounts (Jan Dhan), Ayushman Bharat (Medicare), Ujjwala (Free LPG connections) and Awas (Housing). These policies, I believed not only were these policies revolutionary, but they required a leader who could take a political suicide risk to take these decisions. GST further added my support. There is no debate that jobs were lost, but these decisions were necessary. The decisiveness of the government on such decisions aided my decision to pick an ideology both socially and economically. Again I am free to debate on this topic with anyone who has a different view.
Despite such policies, It has to be noted that such policies need to be executed by civil servants and local level political leaders. To lead to a change on the ground, the role of a Councillor and a Mayor is very important. They ensure that the issues faced by the people on the ground. Broken roads, broken lights, broken water and sewage systems and all these other issues are taken into cognizance by small issues. No matter which government comes to power, the dissemination of policies and ensuring their execution as well as advocating further investment is to be done by local councillors. Further development has to be undertaken in MLAs and then MPs who have the resources to create parks and bridges.
These videos show how pradhan’s and low level representatives are interested in scamming people and that is why reforms don’t reach the poor.
It is in this light that I wish to enter into public service in 7-10 years with the goal of serving as a Councillor for at least 10 years to enforce the best of policies. But what drives this decision. Books have always helped me understand how the world ‘thinks’ if not how the world works. From the communist manifesto, to the wealth of nations, to Raghuram Rajan, Amartya Sen and all the way to Jagadish Bhagawati and Arvind Panagariya. All these books let us to believe that Good Economics is sometimes not good politics and bad economics is sometimes good politics/ For example. the MGNREGA was a solid plan in order but accounted for an immense amount of leakages in the form of corruption. There are still complaints of how individuals are paid X-200 amount when they are to be paid X. Demonetization is another example. The consideration to move the economy from a cash based to a digital economy, is a great idea, and to a very large extent it has been successful, however, the loss of jobs and demand in the market in the short run is a very big short term loss to the economy and people.
There have been policies everywhere, however it all boils down to execution. My appreciation of this government is limited to its economic ideology. The sheer pattern of policies is something worth appreciating. From starting off with the creation of bank accounts via the Jan Dhan Yojana, to a deadline for Income Tax inclusions, to Demonetization so that the focus shifts from cash to digital payments and finally GST so that tax collections are high. Everything was a painful shift from the way people saved or spent their money. However, such tough decisions were taken with the possibility of a political suicide and whether that is the case will be determined in the elections to come.
Other policies like Ayushman Bharat and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code were also noteworthy. All these policies have to be executed keeping all contingencies in order. Except demonetization, all other policies were fairly executed.
While this piece has no significant conclusion, it just explains how varies fields and disciplines coincide and collide to create policies and how policies need to be executed. I am free to discuss this piece with anyone and therefore will be open to questions.
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