On performance: Between 2003-08, we did enjoy very good economic growth but it was not linked all that much to policies during the UPA regime. It was much more due to reforms undertaken during earlier periods and an exceptional boom in the global economy. Our private sector responded very well to this economic climate. The UPA’s efforts towards economic reforms—so far as strengthening the future of our development progress—have not been great. The cost is going to be felt in the years ahead.
On reforms: This government stopped privatisation. There have been no major initiatives for sectors like banking and insurance. There was a rollback on issues like pricing of petroleum and energy. There was no forward movement on reforming our anti-employment labour laws. In a whole lot of infrastructure areas, the UPA’s efforts fell short of expectations. Take highways: there was much more progress during the NDA time than during this government’s tenure. Even in telecom, the government has lost a lot of revenue by not auctioning spectrum.
On fiscal woes: The government’s fiscal management was quite good till March 2008. But after that there has been a lot of backtracking with a huge fiscal deficit in 2008-09. In a year of global recession, having a large fiscal deficit is in itself not necessarily a bad thing, but the quality of the deficit leaves a lot to be desired.
On social development: The UPA’s performance has been mixed. In primary education, there has been some forward movement—but higher education remains the most controlled and unreformed sector. Similarly, primary health has not made much progress as most poor people don’t have access to basic healthcare. Take the NREG scheme, which is doing reasonably well in some states but not so in others. Yet, instead of taking it forward step-by-step, the government went ahead and expanded it to the whole country. In the process, a lot of money is being lost through corruption and inefficiency.
