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| UPA performance | | Good, but not good enough | |
DR Manmohan Singh has
said that his political op
ponents are giving a distorted picture of the economy. While BJP leaders focus on “one bad year” of the UPA to emphasise that growth has touched a decade-low level, the Prime Minister points to the average growth of 8.2 per cent during the eight years of UPA rule, compared to 5.7 per cent in the previous eight years. He also claims faster poverty reduction and higher rural purchasing power than that under the NDA. The UPA's economic performance, it is true, is not as bad as it is made to appear, thanks to aggressive BJP spokespersons. Congress leaders are less articulate in highlighting the UPA's strengths and more often are on the defensive due to scams, price rise and acts of omission and commission by some ministers.
For the first three years, the UPA suffered from policy paralysis and inaction has contributed to the present gloomy economic mood in the country. Issues like delays in project clearances, land disputes, slow highway-building and ban on mining have not been tackled. The opening up of telecom, defence, retail and other sectors could have been done much earlier. Had the food security Bill and the direct benefits transfer scheme been introduced earlier when the government finances were robust, the result by now would have lifted the UPA's political fortunes. Instead, these were deferred to the pre-election period for deriving maximum political mileage.
Now the government is trying hard to woo foreign direct investment. But why was the 2012-13 budget allowed to scare away foreign investors by making tax changes retrospectively and a revival of the Inspector Raj? An attempt was made to discourage gold investments and imports, but it was abandoned under jewellers’ pressure. If the UPA faced a difficult external environment due to troubles in Europe and the US as well as the hardening of oil prices, it also benefited from a normal monsoon. The BJP did delay the passing of important Bills, thus doing its bit to hinder development, but the UPA has to take the over-all responsibility for the present situation. |
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