You cannot quarrel with success!
Letter from New Delhi —
You cannot quarrel with success!
‘Facts are sacred, comment is free.’
This saying is ignored by critics of Narendra Modi government while assessing three years of its performance ending on 26 May 2017.
Without comment, here are the salient facts:
- Managed to evacuate
125,000 NRIs from troubled places in different parts of the world. Of these, the government paid for the evacuation of over 80,000 NRIs. - Foreign Direct Investment
2014: $24.2 USD
2017: $56.3 USD
GDP Growth
2014: 6.6%
2017: 7.1%
- Inflation
2014: 11%
2017: 4% - Fiscal Deficit
2013-14: 4.6%
2017: 3.2% - Ease of doing business in India – Ranking by World Bank
2014-15: 142
2016: 130 - New Bank accounts for low income people – 240 million
- Number of Unelectrified Villages
2014: 18,452
2017: 3,937 - Number of new LPG connections
2004-2014: 53 million
2014-2017: 69.5 million - Electronic manufacturing in India
2014: Rs 111,980,000
2017: Rs 1,430 billion - Mobile Banking in India
2013-14: 94.7 million
2017: 722.2 million - Sanitation Coverage
2014: 42%,
2017: 64% - WEFs Travel and Tourism Ranking
2014: 65th
2017: 40th - Optical Fibre Network (Including Rural)
2013-14: 358 Kms,
2017: 2,05,404 Kms - Rural Road Construction
2011-2014: 81,095 Kms,
2014-2017: 1,20,233 Kms - Coal Production
2013-14: 462 Million Tones
2016-17: 554 million Tones - Solar Power Generation
2014: 2,621 MW,
2017: 2,277 MW
Surplus in both – Coal and Renewable energy
- New toilets Construction
2013-14: 4.976 million
2016-17: 20.9 million - Got states on board to introduce the goods and services tax (GST), the biggest tax reform since independence.
- Crackdown on black money leads to a surge in 2016-17 tax receipts, number of return filers
- Zero scam administration is a bumper bonus.
And yet, the critics keep on asking, “Where are the acche din?”
The poll promises of good days or ‘acche din’ by Modi is used without respite in public comments on the economy by critics without taking into account any or only some of the above facts released by the government.
There are plenty of other undisputable facts of progress in the last three years and the list would be too long to be included here.
In addition to economic progress, there are tangible achievements in the political field. The ruling party BJP now forms the government in 70 per cent of the 30-odd states. The most spectacular victory was in Uttar Pradesh where it swept to power after a gap of fifteen years with a thumping majority. And it also extended its footprint in the North East and now eyeing more states in south India. In all opinion polls on the third anniversary of this government, Modi was voted the most popular political leader with over 60 per cent approval ratings.
Successful implementation of United Nations International Yoga Day on 21 June: within a record time of 75 days it was accepted by the United Nations with 177 countries coming forward as co-sponsors of the proposal and none against it.
As the saying goes, ‘You cannot quarrel with success!’
Kul Bushan
Kul Bhushan worked as a newspaper Editor in Nairobi for over three decades and now lives in New Delhi
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