There have been deep disruptions all around us nationally and internationally. From Brexit to artificial intelligence and automation, and from demonetisation to abolishing the Planning Commission to disrupting the budget process and tax procedures – all these have been key components of disruption.

Another critical disruptive measure which still remains as a policy thought process is lateral entry into senior positions in the government. This has worked well reportedly with several developed countries that hire people with relevant domain experience as lateral entrants. Once put into effect, it’s bound to generate a lot of counter-reactions.

In the sporting arena, even as the Board of Control for Cricket in India is yet to comply with the Lodha committee recommendations, it’s now being asked to explore e-auction of broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for greater transparency.

Several global agencies and thought leaders strongly feel India is at an inflection point since it has a leader who believes in disruption.

Without question, disruptions have become the new norm, a norm people are getting used to. We must brazen out this reality with a pragmatic outlook but with a resolve that our values of equality and diversity are non-negotiable. Under no circumstances should they be disrupted. As the Narendra Modi government enters the fourth year of its five-year term, it has been greatly disruptive in its approach towards the political economy. Several central government policies are found to be disruptive as they overturn existing arrangements or destroy legacy structures and vestiges. According to government, with positive disruptive measures like the shift of subsidies to cash, or direct benefits transfers, demonetisation, GST etc. the economy will emerge more robust in a couple of years.

Prime Minister Modi spoke about ‘metamorphosis’. In his opening comments last year at the inaugural lecture of the NITI Aayog’s Transforming India lecture series at Vigyan Bhavan, Modi said “A transformation of governance cannot happen without a transformation in mindset. A transformation in mindset cannot happen without transformative ideas”.

However, as things stand today, with several disruptive measures in place, the country is as divided as it has been, in terms of incomes and opportunities, politics and perhaps most importantly, optimism. Incidentally, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) latest Government at a Glance report finds 73 per cent of citizens still have confidence in Modi government.

According to OECD, the trust on government is significant because the success of wide-ranging public policies, programmes and regulations depend on the cooperationand compliance of citizens. People’s trust in its government also acts as confidence-building-measureto investors and consumers apart from being an essential element in country’s economic policies.

What does all this indicate broadly? It indicates people of this country by and large have approved of disruptive trend emerging out of the BJP-led NDA government’s bold teps. In hindsight, it also indicates government’s broader political strategy of making credible policy commitments to voters.

It’s true that the Modi-led government is increasingly getting impregnable and also on track to getting a majority in Rajya Sabha. An upper house majority might allow the ruling dispensation latitude to get important bills passed, but there are serious concerns too – concerns about exploiting absolute power,  concerns about majoritarian tyranny.BJP with over 10 crore members (considered world’s largest political party) aiming to capture the space occupied by regional parties in different regions might just add to those concerns.

If unprincipled opportunism is the grammar of mass politics in India, so are the unfortunate anomalies and aberrations in our democracy. Defections, resort politics, lynching, hate speech, selective approach towards the corruption narrative and secular cosmopolitanism are some of the grave symptoms. Each of these issues represents plausible possibilities for large-scale transformation in the political landscape. Sadly, there is hardly any disruptive measure to address these issues effectively. Truth be told, Indian politics is ripe for disruption to ease political influence, interference and corruption.

Just consider what happened to the disruptive measure introduced earlier to abolish ‘Lal Batti’ culture. A section of elected representatives chose the great Indian jugaad to get around the ban – replacing the VIP light with sirens, thus reducing the highly-touted ban on red beacons to a farce.

As a matter of fact, it’s this jugaad by politicians that offers little accountability, other than the promotion of the hidden agendas of their core constituencies responsible for various societal and political ills. An article With Trump political disruption matters more than morality by Joseph C. McGowan reads “We’ve had presidents with serious flaws: philanderers, scoundrels, and racists. Donald Trump likewise has his shortcomings n character.…But in the postmoral era, we don’t care what he’s done. We only care what he can do for us.

“Why were so many decent Americans willing to overlook Mr. Trump’s insults and flaws?

“Because for decades they have been ignored by mainstream media and establishment politicians on both sides. As a result, they elected Mr. Trump, a disrupter who will fight with the pointy-headed coastal elites in Washington.

“Many who voted for Trump say he won’t implement much of what he offered during the campaign. But then why did they vote for him in the first place? The only answer is that the desire for change is so great that it transcended policy. And morality.”

Much as the present generation of pragmatic, tolerant and diverse Americans who elected Mr. Trump, a disrupter, fully knowing his faultlines, people of this country too elected Mr. Modi fully knowing his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The dissimilarity however lies in the fact that while Trump is cornered as disruptor, Modi is hailed as a disruptor both domestically and internationally. The latter would be  short-lived if his can-do-will-do disruptivespirit falls short of challenging the political status quo.

In the seventh decade of Indian independence, if Narendra Modi truly believes in ‘transformation of governance’ it has to have public resonance. And to maximize public resonance Modi must strive to bring an efficient Lokpal Bill. He also must usher in much needed reform measures that include police reforms and long-pending electoral reforms. These reform measures are likely to impact our political process more than anything else.

Surveys show Modi government continues to enjoy public support despite a few disruptive measures including reduced interest rates on small savings that inflicted sufferings on poor people. It will indeed be interesting to see if the Modi phenomenon impacts our netas who are temperamentally prone to fear any change.

The writer is former General Manager, The International Centre, Goa and former Deputy General Manager, India International Centre, New Delhi.