The Modi Government's Reform Agenda Continues To Face Opposition From The RSS

The Modi government's reform agenda continues to face opposition from the RSS.

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

A host of fresh differences have cropped up between the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the economic arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government – over the functioning of NITI Aayog, over the genetically modified (GM) mustard trials, over Chinese investment in India, over the inroads made by Uber and Amazon, and more.

The SJM has openly expressed its disappointment with Arvind Panagariya and Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog’s Vice Chairman and CEO, respectively, both of whom were handpicked for their current jobs by Narendra Modi himself. “They don’t seem to be aware of the realities on the ground or the diversity of India,” says Kashmiri Lal, SJM’S National Convenor. The SJM leadership has sought an overhaul of Niti Aayog.

The SJM, along with several economists and other experts, spent a full day, January 10, reviewing NITI Aayog’s performance in the two years since it replaced the Planning Commission on January 1, 2015. The meeting took a uniformly dim view of NITI Aayog’s recommendations and the quality of its work. “We analysed 23 reports and it was shocking to see how hollow they were,” says Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-convenor, SJM. “They would not even qualify as M. Phil dissertations. Many of them also run counter to the nationalistic commitments and political stances taken by Prime Minister Modi.”