Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Narendra Modi: One of the best CM's of Independent India

The title would provoke many people because Narendra Modi was the one who was responsible for 2002 post-Godhra riots. Unfortunate and ghastly were those events. Modi had become a villain, a mass murderer overnight. Media over hyped him than what was just necessary w.r.t Godhra and never bothered to cover his government's achievements. To what extent was his machinery involved in Godhra is a contentious issue.

However, he has become a very different personality today. Having won 3 times, he is the 3rd time CM in a row in Gujarat. It is shocking how even Muslims in many regions, voted for Modi. Congress lost heavily (of course, it won Godhra seat) - many of them were Muslim leaders too.

The reasons for his victory was purely because of his governance. You might wonder what he did - Did he follow SM Krishna style of functioning? Did he adopt Chandrababu Naidu style of functioning? The answer is - Different from both, but many ideas similar to Naidu. He targeted his governance primarily at the rural level. His policies benefited the farmers at large - which sets him apart from both Naidu and S.M.Krishna. As far as urban development is concerned, a lot of industries had already been established in Gujarat and so urban areas considerably improved in terms of labor, employment etc.

Strict vigilance, reduction in red tapism, appointment of efficient bureaucrats, authoritarian style of functioning, direct contact with people made Modi become a role model. SWAGAT (State-wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) is a unique program by which people interact with Modi directly - much like that of Chandrababu Naidu.

Consistently ranked as the best CM for 5 years in a row by India Today-OMG Poll, he has proved himself to be one of the best Chief Ministers of Independent India. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation,headed by Sonia Gandhi, looking into the best performing states called Gujarat a role model and the best governed state. Many of his schemes like that of direct talk with people about their grievances against government officials resemble that of Naidu. However, his own initiative in ensuring rural progress is applaudable. His personal intervention in solving some of the basic problems faced across India, namely water and electricity have become success stories on their own. Following these many states have started to make changes on similar patterns. The National Commission of Farmers has praised Gujarat governance as a role model.

The fact that even leaders like Naidu and S.M. Krishna failed was mainly due to agricultural neglect. No doubt they performed well, improved bureaucracy, made good roads etc. The lack of ground work for development in agriculture cost them their own seats.

Even after winning for the 3rd time, he has not sat quiet. He has embarked upon rural broadband connectivity to ensure that farmers get instant information about market prices, crop patterns, loan information, distant learning, telemedicine, etc. Here's the article proving implementation in several parts - no longer a dream.

A large number of Gujarati NRI's in US have constantly made a propaganda to people in Gujarat to support Modi because the large scale money they deposited gave good benefits to them. An area like Kutch which had witnessed earthquake has become most developed city in Gujarat. How? Because of speedy implementation of buildings and apartments from money got from NRI's.

Apart from NRI's let's not forget that literacy rate in Gujarat is 70% and rural literacy is itself 69%. This is much higher than national rural average and many other states. Which means that unlike Bihar, U.P, Jharkhand, Orissa people are more advanced in terms of their thinking. The high literacy has always given rise to many small scale and medium industries. So, people were not fools to simply vote the CM 3rd time in a row. He has definitely delivered and so people are happy. The real benefits have reached everyone - from the farmers to middle class to rich business units.

Even big corporates have appreciated Modi. In fact Mukesh Ambani who is very far from politics( unlike his brother Anil) told Modi has shown what many could not have done in 50 years. He called him a leader who has proven through implementation. Ratan Tata, said, "You are stupid if u have not invested in Gujarat". In fact Leading Economist Prof. Swaminathan once told Gujarat economic model must be replicated across India. He appreciated the fact that the state has proved how some of the ailing problems since decades can be solved in a short time span.

Modi followed a simple style of governance. He used the same machinery, same rules and regulation, same constitution. What he did different was to involve people at various stages of implementation. In a speech he said - "I just made policies, gave aid, people who had the talent to make money made money and I only distributed it. This is how government interference should be. It should not create wealth, rather distribute. Unless people are involved in various schemes, government can never deliver 100%". This open acceptance is a honest one. He could have said it was only because of him. He instead chose to explain how people really got involved and success was achieved due to joint effort.

Given below, is a series of Articles about how his governance made sea changes in the state.

Note: I found out materials from a lot of sources - all of which (excepting one or two) from non-governmental documents. I didn't want to deliberately choose because the facts could have been over hyped.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

dear rising citizen,
your opinion that the state machinery was involved is wrong. modi ordered army help within 24 hours after riots broke out.

RisingCitizen said...

It might be true. I also know that neighboring state governments were not ready to help Modi in terms of police and army. All were Congress led governments. Infact, the reality is media over hyped the massacre and continue to keep it alive. I will bring this as another article on my blog...

But who are u? Can u tell me your name?