Two Years On, Modi Could Have Done Better!

While the Modi sarkar has done well on economy, infrastructure and foreign policy, it has been dragged down by setbacks on the political and social fronts

- Raj Chengappa

From those to whom much is given, much is expected. Two years on, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is getting the measure of that Biblical saying as he spends time taking daily reviews of the performance of his government and chalks out what he needs to do in the remaining three years.

At a recent meeting of his council of ministers, Modi turned testy about the delays in implementing many of the decisions and policies of his government. He pointed out that even while an Act is being prepared for parliamentary approval, the concerned ministry should formulate rules so that there is no time-lag between the President giving his assent and the people benefitting from it. He cited the amendment moved by his government to give greater protection to SC/ STs that received presidential assent on January 1 but was gazetted only on January 26.

Those who have wandered through the Indian bureaucratic and judicial labyrinth would think that getting anything done in three weeks is superfast. Not so an impatient Modi, who has always been a man in a tearing hurry and believes that work on a scheme should begin the day after it is announced. May 26 will mark the completion of his two years in what is arguably the globe’s most difficult job—fulfilling the aspirations of a billion-plus people in the world’s largest democracy. Modi remains acutely aware that he has been given a decisive mandate that no prime minister has been bestowed with since Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 and appears determined to take the million little steps needed to transform the country.