Image courtesy narendramodi.in

 

NDA's Drones, Naptha-Based urea & green approvals mess reflect ABCD

 

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is emerging as an undisputed king of lingo twirl. He once again exhibited his spinning skill while articulating his vision for reforms at the National Workshop on Manufacturing that was organized by FICCI on 29th December.

Mr. Modi said he intended to change the “ABCD” culture of Government that he described as “Avoid. Bypass. Confuse. Delay.” He intends to alter it to the ROAD to success – “Responsibility. Ownership. Accountability. Discipline.”  

He also chanted “Citizen-First” mantra on 25th December, which was celebrated as Good Governance Day.  In his message to the nation on the occasion, he said: “Our government is committed to providing a transparent and accountable administration which works for the betterment and welfare of the common citizen.”

No one should doubt Mr. Modi’s good intentions. Time has, however, now come for every citizen to ask whether he can transform his wishes into horses without rocking the indifferent Indian system. 

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Can the Chairperson of a statutory commission embody one-person quorum? Yes. This has become a de facto rule under the ‘smart governance’ expounded by the NDA Government at the time of its formation.

In a release dated 26th May 2014, Prime Minister’s Office had stated: “Mr. Modi is eventually aiming at Smart Governance where the top layers of Government will be downsized and there would be expansion at the grass root level.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi perhaps might not be knowing about the quorum issue at National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), where the posts of three members are lying vacant. NCST is now left with Chairman and Vice-Chairman, both lightweight congressmen appointed by UPA Government. 

Under the new quorum rule and the exisitng situation, if the Vice-Chairman is unable to attend the meeting even after half-an hour adjournment, then the quorum requirement stands dispensed with. This, in effect, means the Chairman represents the quorum in such circumstances. 

One-man quorum certainly does not fit into Mr. Modi’s or any other democratic scheme of governance. It has, however, emerged due to the lax and bad governance that gets passed on from one Government to another. 

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It is time for introspection for almost every entity against the backdrop of the unbelievable verdict of the Indian electorate. Introspection can help the vanquished party embrace failure as the stepping stone for its resurrection. The same failure can also serve as a warning signal for victor who often loses vision due to heady success. After all, wisdom is the art of learning from the mistakes of others and avoiding a repeat of one’s own follies.

The new ruling party BJP wants to first learn about the pitfalls of bad governance from UPA’s trusted civil servants. The Cabinet Secretary has reportedly asked secretaries of all ministries to specify what went wrong with the UPA regime and what they would have done if they had the full freedom to perform.

It is good for BJP to get an insight into self-created hurdles that led to the UPA’s ignoble exit. It is equally or perhaps more important for the BJP to draw lessons from its past failures committed during the previous NDA regimes. We will discuss the list of don’ts for NDA later in his column.