The Hindu Business Line : Don’t blame UPA Government

The Manmohan Singh Government has given us four years of decent governance and kept the country well on the track of economic development. So how could a decision that was trying to at least marginally reduce the adverse impact of hugely subsidising petroleum products prove ‘disastrous’ for the economy, asks RASHEEDA BHAGAT.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, explaining to the nation how the government had no option left but to make this “difficult decision”.

Does the United Progressive Government really deserve the kind of bashing it has got for increasing fuel prices from not only its political rivals but all kinds of groups, particularly the chattering classes?

“If you don’t know how to govern, get out and face the people”, is the terse one-liner from the BJP, which is rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of returning to power in Delhi after a five-year vanvas.

Giving the hike in the prices of petroleum products the ridiculous label of unleashing “economic terror on the people of this country”, the BJP spokesman, Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said: “This action is disastrous for the economy and all the claims made by the Prime Minister so far on the front on inflation has been proved to be a hoax.”

Accusing the government of having run out of all ideas on how to hold the price line, he said, “This decision is the last straw for the UPA Government and the last nail on the coffin of the common man, whose interests it claims to champion.”

When logic takes the backseat

One is not an economic expert but simple economics, as understood by ordinary people, dictates that when the price of crude had pierced the $135 mark, as it had when the petrol hike decision came into effect (later, of course, it touched a dizzy high of $139, with predictions being made that it would clear the $150 mark by the American Independence Day on July 4), it does not make economic sense to heavily subsidise a product that we have to import in such huge quantities at steep prices.

So how could a decision that was trying to at least marginally reduce the adverse impact of hugely subsidising petroleum products prove ‘disastrous’ for the economy? But, then, when politicians grab the opportunity to bash their opponents, logic or sense often takes the backseat as rhetoric and sharp statements are thrown in the direction of eager mediapersons.

But, worse than the BJP’s blistering attack was the Left parties’ criticism of the hike and announcement of a series of bandhs to protest its impact on inflation.

Ironically, not too many senior Congressmen were in the public domain to justify/protect the Cabinet’s decision to impose a hike, that will anyway, not totally, bail out bleeding oil companies such as the IOC, HPCL, BPCL.

Unfortunately, all those entities, led by the Left Parties — which are so proud of such Navratnas of the public sector that they will not even listen to any talk of divesting some stake in these companies — are happy to just stand by and watch the massacre of these oil majors that were once robust and profit-making entities.

‘Difficult decision’

A totally dejected Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, made a couple of public appearances before and after the hike was announced, trying to justify it and explain to the nation how the government had no option left but to make this “difficult decision”.

Sadly, India’s burgeoning educated, upper middle-class sector, that reaped such a windfall from the economic buoyancy in this country during the last four years — well, not only in the last four years, but in almost a decade — could not find its voice.

Or the decency and sense of justice to stand up and admit that, yes, what we are seeing in India today — the crashing equity market, the rising commodity prices, the growing distress among the lower classes — is not a result of this Government’s four-year rule. All this is a reflection and impact of a global meltdown over which no government, certainly not the Indian Government, has any control.

The very same global economy with which we are so proudly integrated, and to which our talented and skilled IT, ITES and manufacturing sectors were so happy to contribute, has suddenly reversed, nosedived, and pulled us down too.

When Indian companies got billions of dollars worth business through outsourcing and other avenues, we attributed it to our expertise, our great talent, the fantastic ability of our corporates to run their businesses profitably.

But, now, when the tide has turned, in one voice, all of us are ready to shout down this government.

All of a sudden, things are not looking as rosy — mind you, they are in no way desperate, because the economy is still projected to grow around 9 per cent, not a mean achievement — the job market is not as buoyant, salary hikes not as frequent or as large, and Indian companies are not promising the kind of robust growth they did barely a couple of years ago. But surely, all this has nothing to do with us. It must be the UPA government.

We as upper and upper middle class Indians will enjoy the comfort of riding to work in our own vehicles; our children will drive to their schools, more often than not, in our own individual cars and not in car pools.

But how dare the government ask us to pay more for the fuel that we burn to send them to school or ourselves to work in the comfort of our own air-conditioned cars?

For God’s sake, look at the public transport system. How on earth can people like us take those dirty, hot and noisy buses?

And, by the way, the smaller cars have become so infra dig; no more Maruti 800s for many of us. The Hondas, Toyotas, Fords, their SUVs and umpteen other gleaming offerings are so appealing and the ride so smooth.

It is, of course, the Government’s duty to see that we get fuel for our swank cars at the same old rates, and we will conveniently close our eyes to international oil prices.

Decent governance

When Dr Manmohan Singh asked the nation for help; asked us to tighten our belts, cut down on consumption of petroleum products, almost all of us, looked at him as though he was the villain who had inflicted this grim situation on us.

Of course, a hike in the price of petroleum products is going to hit ordinary people, including those who don’t own cars. They will have to pay the same for the vegetables transported through vehicles using gas at higher prices as we do. But, then, there is a huge gap in the budgeted amounts the two groups put aside each month.

This will be the most unpopular time to say so; but the truth is that the Manmohan Singh Government has given us four years of decent governance.

Especially so, considering that it is led by a man who knows nothing about the tricks and treacheries of politics within his own party, leave alone the complexities and intricacies of leading a coalition government, which has politicians as astute and seasoned as a Lalu Yadav from Bihar or an M. Karunandhi from Tamil Nadu, capable of extracting the best of bargains to suit their political constituencies.

As though managing such political stalwarts was not enough, he has been constantly weighed down by the Left parties, which in all fairness, have often taken up the cause of the common man. But they have also put several stumbling blocks in his path including any kind of progress on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

Could it have done better?

This writer does not believe the UPA has let down or misgoverned India. In the four years of its rule it has kept the country well on the track of economic development. Let’s accept it: Only if you are a country with a strong and vibrant economy and a talented work force will you be noticed and respected in the comity of nations.

Those who step outside India can swear how the perceptions of India and Indians have changed around the world over the last decade. If, today, your passport is looked at with a decent degree of respect, if the tourism departments of the best countries in the world seek out the Indian traveller and his/her purse, there must be something right that this government has done.

Could it have done better? No doubt, yes. But has it completely messed up things? Certainly not. We have to treat with dollops of salt the statements of those who shed tears for the health of the economy when a massive loan waiver is given to relieve the distress and desperation of the poorest of poor farmers; and profess to be also pained for the “common man” when a small portion of the spiralling oil bill is passed on to the consumers.

Isn’t running with the hare and hunting with the hound an impossibility for the most brilliant of persons?

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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