The Hindu Business Line : PM sets the real pace

The Prime Minister is a person who not only knows where he is going but has the courage to proclaim his convictions and the decisiveness to do what he regards as imperative to take the nation forward to its rightful destiny. He is not a conventional politician obliged to pander to a vote bank. The office he holds was not of his making or seeking, and he accepted it because he saw an opportunity for placing his knowledge and experience at the nation's service. B. S. Raghavan on an asserti ve Prime Minister.

"Speak softly, but carry a big stick!"

— Theodore Roosevelt

NOVEMBER is the high water mark in the greening of Dr Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. Those — and they include some of his colleagues in the Cabinet — who thought he was a patsy are doing a double take. Quietly, but surely, he is coming into his own, setting the pace and acting the leader, not by sufferance but by dint of his merit and mettle. Politicians of whatever hue, stuck in grooves of their own making, are finding that even while observing all the niceties and decencies, he is sure of himself and firm of purpose.

There has been no want of hints on his part of a refreshingly new mind and style at work. Here are a few taken at random: Discouraging the rigmarole of the Ministers trooping to the airport for seeing him off or receiving him; making it clear during his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day that he would rather implement the schemes already promised than make any new announcements; cutting out the second guessing by his secretariat on files sent to him by Ministers and dealing with them directly; summoning the Secretaries to Government for a pep talk and asking them (impliedly over the heads of their Ministers) to bring to his notice whatever matter needed his intercession necessary; conferring with office-bearers of the Congress party to discuss measures for the desired degree of coordination and understanding between the party and the Government; holding frequent consultations with the constituents of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to mesh differing viewpoints; calling all the Ministers and Ministers of State for a review of the work done by each ministry based on a 76-page document containing report cards on the tasks assigned and the progress made; and giving the opportunity of full hearing to the junior Ministers in that meeting, saying that he was in the know of the views of Cabinet Ministers on a regular basis.

Blunt reference

At the review, he asked each of the Ministers to give priority to `reform of Government' by simplifying procedures, taking quick decisions, and ensuring a citizen-friendly, service-oriented and caring Government. He cautioned them not to expect the Finance Minister alone "to act as the arbiter of expenditure, while all other Ministers try to enlarge their share of the budget pie," but to make sure that proposals for expenditure were sound, realistic and justifiable before submitting them.

He also exhorted them to interact "regularly and creatively" with their officers and give them their due place as they were the Government's instruments for delivering the goods. He impressed on them that the best way to enhance the quality of governance was to encourage the brightest and the best within and outside the Government. It is not what precisely he said that is of significance, but the unusual character of the meeting itself and the fact that he made the proceedings public knowledge through official briefing, even at the risk of causing a measure of resentment as has been reported.

Or, take his blunt reference at the conference of the Directors-General of Police to the nexus between politicians, criminals and the police as "an insidious threat to our society and economy": Not stopping with his call to them "to resist such politicisation and criminalization", and take a hard look at the sources of their corruption and causes for their politicisation, he pointedly added, "I urge our political parties also to focus on this issue".

Dr Singh was equally forthright in his address to the Chief Secretaries: He laid down citizens' satisfaction as the sure-fire criterion for judging the quality of governance, and stressed the need for them to implement Government's policies in a time-bound manner so as to guarantee "responsive, accountable, transparent, decentralised, corruption-free and citizen-friendly administration at all levels".

Nurtured as he was in the ideals of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he said, he was committed to strengthening the civil services and protecting the civil servants for their bona fide decisions taken in the discharge of their duties

Thus, whatever the forum, his message is specific and pertinent. His statements, unlike those of his predecessors, are direct and unambiguous, free of waffling, officialese or hedging. Each one of them is meant to set the direction and the pace for himself, the coalition partners and the Government.

NYSE speech

In doing so, he is also letting it be known that his sole watchword is national interest and his prime mission to help India rise to its full potential as a developed country within the shortest span of time. Especially in the matter of taking the country towards greater competitiveness and creating the necessary environment for increased investment of the order of $150 billion to sustain an annual growth rate of 7-8 per cent, Dr Singh has been setting out the policies he is determined to pursue in crisp and clear terms.

The extremely solicitous, if not (in the opinion of some) abject, tenor of his speeches to the captains of US business and industry during his visit to the US in September had surprised many. Heading a ragtag coalition and depending upon the support of the Left parties for its survival, he certainly showed courage in telling the business glitterati gathered in the New York Stock Exchange:

"I salute you and the institutions that you represent for the active role that you are playing in processes of wealth creation and ensuring that the fruits of this development reach out to more and more people...India welcomes foreign direct investment. India welcomes the participation of international financial, institutional investors.

"We are seeking new partnerships with the business communities, with the financial communities of the United States, and today I am here not to preach to you but to learn from you as to what more can we do to realise the vast latent potential of economic cooperation between the business communities of our two countries and what you expect from us as the Government of India, what can we do to create a climate more congenial to the growth of the spirit of adventure and enterprise, risk taking and all that goes with the processes of wealth creation."

That it was not a set of expressions put together on the spur of the moment is evident from his reiteration of self-same sentiments on the occasion of the India-European Union Business Round Table on November 8.

The notable aspect was not what he stated (which was nothing but the familiar litany of liberalisation and globalisation) but the renewed force and conviction he put into his commitments to reduce tariffs to levels obtaining in the ASEAN region by a still further lowering of import duties, to give the topmost priority to tax reforms in the next year's budget, to set up "an independent and credible" petroleum regulatory authority to make it easy for multinational oil companies to invest and operate, and to provide a level playing field and to fulfill all its obligations under the WTO in time and in full measure.

It is worth quoting a few passages from this statement also to bring out the tone of determination marking them: "India in its totality accepts liberalisation and the logic of greater competition from abroad... India's destiny lies in embracing globalisation... The more we can export, the more we will import. We do not want to accumulate reserves for the sake of accumulating reserves... We accept the obligations of the multilateral trading system... India as a civilisation has always respected creators of wealth... .A society that respects those who create wealth is an achieving society."

Here is, then, a person who not only knows where he is going but has the courage to proclaim his convictions and the decisiveness to do what he regards as imperative for taking the nation forward to its rightful destiny. He is not a conventional politician obliged to pander to a vote bank. The office he holds was not of his making or seeking, and he accepted it because he thought it was an opportunity for placing his knowledge and experience at the nation's service.

His professional, intellectual and personal integrity will not permit him to cling to it at the cost of his principles. Left parties prone to ideological knee-jerk reflexes on economic issues, had better learn to get along with him on his terms, rather than constantly poke their noses into his considered recommendations.

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