Built at enormous public cost, inauguration of the new Parliament building, exacerbated differences between the ruling party and the opposition, turning an occasion for national celebration into a mud-slinging row between rival politicians.

The public viewed, with distaste, the sorry spectacle of a slanging match between eminent parliamentarians, which would not have taken place had a statesmen-like approach been adopted. The din over Parliament inauguration had barely died down when the ruling party issued a diktat to all ministers to publicly extol its achievements of the last nine years.

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With General Elections due in the next twelve months, the opposition responded with its own litany of failures. The compulsions of both sides were clearly visible; the ruling party wanting people to believe that they were living in seventh heaven and the opposition going all out to puncture this narrative.

However, one thing cannot be denied; the concept of India, as imagined by PM Modi, is vastly different from the vision of his predecessors. Mahatma Gandhi saw India as a collection of selfdependent villages, with State power confining itself to the most essential tasks. Jawaharlal Nehru onwards, all Prime Ministers, even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, imagined India as a socialist country, marching ahead at a leisurely pace, where none was left behind. Contrarily, Mr Modi believes in quantum change, where the best in the world should come to India.

Secularism and socialism have taken a back seat, capitalism has come to the fore; those not running fast enough have to resign themselves to be left on the side lines. In the new scheme of things, entitlement is anathema, the State is all powerful and individuals are powerless before it; decisions once taken are final. Such tenets run counter to the socialist ideology (though tainted by a desire for the fish and loaves of office), which most other parties follow.

This ideological divide could probably explain the implacable opposition to most of Mr. Modi’s ideas. Given the great divergence of perception and opinion, preparing a balance sheet of the last nine years is bound to be difficult. One can say that the flagship initiatives of the Government ~ Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Jan Dhan Yojana, Digital Payments, Aadhaar etc. have been hugely successful.

Opposition parties claim that these were their initiatives, rebranded by the new Government, but it cannot be gainsaid that Mr Modi gave them much needed impetus by espousing them personally. Then, we had changes like abrogation of Article 370 A, which was long overdue, but not attempted earlier because of the possible political fallout. The Government also took some other popular measures, like construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. A brilliant foreign minister has successfully steered India’s foreign policy to great heights. Mr. Modi himself has been frequently seen in the company of top world leaders, with the Presidency of G-20, being the icing on the cake.

However, China’s incursion in Indian territory, which it shows no signs of vacating, is an ugly blot on our national honour. Our dependence on cheap Chinese imports compounds our misery. Infrastructure building is a great priority for the present Government; good roads now exist in most parts of the country. Similarly, many smaller towns are now connected by air.

Vande Bharat trains provide fast and comfortable travel between many places, but the Bullet Train slated to run by 2023, is nowhere in sight. A number of railway stations have been upgraded to the level of airport lounges but train travel for the common man has suffered in the bargain.

The prepandemic time-table has not been fully restored. Existing trains cannot cater to the demands of the common man; tickets of 2.72 crore waitlisted passengers were automatically cancelled for want of accommodation in 2022- 23, as against 1.65 crore cancellations in 2021-2022. Rail veterans feel that functioning of the railways can be improved only by addressing core issues like adequate maintenance time and funds, punctuality and cleanliness of trains, regular field inspections by officers, meaningful training of staff, rationalization of tariff structure etc. rather than by focusing only on big ticket issues like faster trains, Wi-Fi and modernisation of railway stations.

The economic scenario presents a mixed picture with many successes and some failures, and sequential progress rather than the quantum change that Mr Modi had desired. The ‘twin balance sheet problem’ of overleveraged businesses and banks burdened with bad loans is over now but after a humongous write-off of Rs.10.10 lakh crore.

Underlining poor decision making, and probably corruption also, banks have taken a haircut of 69 per cent in Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) proceedings. Gross Domestic Product (in absolute terms) has grown satisfactorily, clocking a growth of 63 per cent in the last nine years, but belying the Government’s claim of accelerated development GDP growth in the immediately preceding nine years (2005 to 2014), was 97 per cent.

We are still poor; despite growth of 47 per cent in per capita GDP in the last nine years, our world rank hovers around 140. Poverty has risen to unacceptable levels; eighty-one crore persons, that is around 60 per cent of our population are surviving on subsidised rations provided by the Government and demand for employment under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is surging.

Even more disturbingly, inequality has increased enormously; World Bank studies, economists Chancel and Piketty, Oxfam etc. all have pointed out this fact. According to the Oxfam International report, “Inequality Kills,” the Covid-19 pandemic had diametrically opposite consequences for the rich and poor; for example, high crude prices that made domestic petrol prices surge, resulted in windfall profits for oil refiners.

No wonder, during pandemic times, the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142 and their wealth increased from Rs.23 lakh crore to Rs.53 lakh crore. At the same time 84 per cent households suffered a decline in their incomes, with 4.6 crore persons falling into abject poverty. Earlier, too, the “World Inequality Report 2022,” and the homegrown PRICE Survey had reached a similar conclusion i.e., the emergence of an unacceptable degree of poverty and inequality in India.

Despite the Government promoting manufacturing through initiatives like Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Production Linked Incentive etc. it is agriculture that has come out as the star performer, showing growth even during the pandemic, and outstripping our rampant population growth. Statistically put: Population has grown from 33 crore in 1947 to 142 crore, that is by almost 4.3 times, while our wheat production increased by almost 17.2 times (from about 6.5 million tons in 1951 to 96 million tons in 2014 to 112 million tons in 2023).

Rice production has gone up by more than 6.3 times (from 20.6 million tons in 1951 to 106.5 million tons in 2014 to 130.8 million tons in 2022-23), and milk production by more than 12 times (from 17 million tons to 137 million tons to 207 million tons). Agricultural exports have also grown proportionately. Some challenges remain. Sometime in 2023, we will achieve the dubious distinction of becoming the most populous nation in earth. Disturbingly, our population is projected to grow for the next forty years, reaching a peak of 166.8 crore in the mid 2060s.

Uninhibited growth in population has proved to be a millstone around our necks, straining resources to breaking point. The most visible manifestation of unbridled population growth are our overcrowded cities and villages, bursting at the seams with deficient infrastructure and minimum civic amenities, and in absence of proper planning, our demographic dividend has turned into a nightmare.

To explain: We are projected to have one hundred crore people in the working age group (15-64) by 2030, but with an employment rate (percentage of persons employed in working age population) of around 37 per cent, unemployment may rise to unacceptable levels. But, even with a billion challenges before us, there is no need to feel overawed; the spirit of India always bounces back.

As poet Mohammed Iqbal had written in ‘Saare jahan se achcha’: Yunan-o-misr-o-roma sab mit gaye jahan se, Ab tak magar hai baqi namo-nishan hamara, Kuch bat hai ki hasti mitati nahin hamari, Sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara. (Greek, Egyptian and Roman civilizations, all have perished but the Indian civilisation lives on. There is something in us that we always rise up, even though everyone has been against us through the ages).

(The writer is a retired Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax)