Indian VotersEssay Preview: Indian VotersReport this essayIndian voters have always been known to be the smart kind. They have invariably cast their votes keeping in mind the events that transpired just before the actual elections. Under such a premise, the election propaganda of a political party becomes all the more significant. That is probably why populist schemes are held in such high esteem by the parties. The ordinary voter in India keenly follows these pro-people policies and infallibly goes for the party that has promised the most incentives.
Populism is not by any means new in India. This precious tool has been generously used over the years by political parties both regionally and at the Centre. Though the term per se has taken thanks to the media, a repelling tone of late, it has not deterred political parties to wield it implicitly in their manifestos. Glaring examples include Rs.2 per kg of rice, free television sets to the poor, bicycles to young girls and the more recent and widely debatable Food Security Bill of the UPA. The Aam Aadmi Party gained recognition owing to its adherence to a cleaner form of politics and utopian ideologies. Nonetheless, it too has not failed to put forward a barrage of anti-elitist schemes including free water and subsidised power tariffs.
Such measures sound melodious to the ear of the common man. But if truth be told, the situation behind the scenes is not all hunky-dory after implementation of these ruinous programmes. Economists believe that the economic quality of the general public under such schemes follows an inverted-J curve, with rapid eventual decline. The government coffers come under immense pressure to sustain such practices, with a constant fear of bankruptcy. With the monetary stability of the government in dire straits, it doesnt exactly paint a happy picture with investors. Moreover, the state is not left with any more capital to pursue pro-growth measures and thereby improve the overall living standards. The burden of the treasury has to be ultimately borne by the tax-payers money, giving ample scope for inflation to shoot high up. Evidently, the seemingly innocuous populist agendas are bound to spell doom in the long run.
The populist rhetoric followed by political parties chime well with the hoi polloi, but are nothing but myopic schemes targeted to influence vote banks. India grew in stature as an alluring ground for future investments in the early part of the new millennium. But riding on such unfruitful policies, the financial grandeur of India has slowly but surely weaned off at the global market in recent years. If India wishes to see itself as an economic powerhouse by 2030, it has to sacrifice such detrimental schemes in favour of more development-oriented ones. It should focus on improving infrastructure and the standard of living. Shunning the spirit of populism is, undoubtedly, in Indias best interest.
The IMF and JSF will hold the meeting in the New York City office of the International Monetary Fund at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. The IMF has just laid the groundwork in a recent report on the IMF’s new Central Bank. It warns that there are now three new-generation of Indian companies that would face a severe blow if global financial institutions do not move quickly and responsibly in promoting long term growth and competitiveness. Meanwhile, the NDA government has proposed a set of measures to increase the size of financial infrastructure to a level consistent with the IMF’s criteria. It has come up with two proposed policy items that target large-scale investment, both of which would also be put to a vote. The first is a large-scale, multi-level investment fund for Indian citizens. These could also be used for big-money banks, but their impact on Indian consumers and banks would not be significant. In the end, these two measures will leave a huge hole in the current account deficit. The second, to tackle India’s growing social distress, would not be taken up in the New York meeting, although its first sentence has already become a familiar refrain from politicians and policy-makers. The IMF is likely to follow the same approach. As India was a party to the 1990 Indo-Tasman Pact which empowered it to pursue multilateral trade agreements and with high-profile international observers, the IMF is keen to emphasise that these developments are not limited to the financial sector. Instead, they could also be deployed to address structural and social problems in key sectors beyond the traditional financial sector. If India remains determined to forge ahead in other segments of its development, such as on roads and urban development, and is not taking any steps to increase the development of large-scale retail or industry developments, then the IMF is likely to follow the IMF’s lead. I am confident that the Government of India will not let itself be sucked in to a party dominated by vested interest groups. I am also confident that the Government will not let itself be sucked out of its present political environment. Modi is certainly playing the long game. Perhaps the next Indian Prime Minister will be like Mr Modi, when he gets a good idea on the future of India’s development.
“This is the Indian way, the world on India’s behalf. If Indians were not as concerned then if they were not as concerned then they wouldn’t be on the list.”
That’s the idea behind an Indio-focused strategy where the financial sectors would be allowed to play ‘international’ roles. One of Modi’s most ambitious actions in the next 14 months is to provide economic and diplomatic support to the US, China, Norway, Spain, Britain, and France. As part of the plan, Modi is expected to focus much more