Opinion No more MBA politics

NREGA is,in many ways,an admirable scheme. But it is astonishing to see the number of Congress politicians who measure the success of the economy by getting greater numbers of people into NREGA,whereas,in fact,the need for NREGA should be a reminder of our failure. But to define the horizon of aspiration by NREGA term after term,as an exemplar of the state’s noblesse oblige is alone not going to be sufficient. The Congress’ construction of the poor simply misrecognises many of the complex economic realities even for the poor. For one thing,the kinds of issues that affect the poor include everything from health,education,migration,power,the form of urbanisation. For another,the horizons of expectation are greatly changing. Politicians who distribute bicycles and televisions epitomise these new aspirations far more vividly than the bureaucratese of centrally sponsored schemes.

Congress could be ideologically ambitious,in universalising a basic set of rights. But it often promises a stale bill of goods,one more attuned to yesterday’s problems than tomorrow’s challenges. The Right to Education Bill,ironically,comes at the moment when enrollment is not the primary challenge; quality is. Yet there is a palpable lack of ambition or even debate about what promotes quality. Health insurance for the poor is off to a rocky start,partly because of implementation issues,partly because insurance schemes only for the poor are bound to be weak schemes. The food security bill will end up delivering even less than the current best practice in states. Congress will be left wondering why no one is hugely excited by it.

Fundamentally,when it comes to the poor,the Congress is in a time warp,more reminiscent of the ’70s. It wants to treat the poor as an exclusive category,wards of centrally sponsored schemes,not as members of a universal community of citizens. It is curiously embarrassed about setting ambitious targets. This lack of both ambition and urgency is out of sync with today’s India.

Congress is also stuck in an administrative time warp. Some ministries,like the environment,have awoken after a long slumber. But several ministries,from agriculture to various energy ministries,are subverting whatever dreams Congress might have for the poor. We can debate what the appropriate form of delivering food security should be. But it is absolutely unconscionable that food security be held hostage by the fact that we still cannot get over supply side and production worries. That these worries are so up front and centre is an indictment of the government.

Similarly,energy is another example,where the dream of an integrated energy policy,with a ministry to match,remains elusive. These issues affect the poor,as much as the minutiae of centrally sponsored schemes; but they are also examples of how lethargy in any one ministry undercuts the gains we accrue elsewhere.

The third syndrome is institutional. The paradox of the Congress is that it has a settled leadership structure,but is curiously bereft of leadership. His instincts about giving the party organisational depth are still right,but if there is one lesson Rahul Gandhi needs to draw from Bihar,it is this: in politics people ultimately judge you,not by your intention or personal virtue,but because you have managed to project credibility,or can provide some service,or represent a movement. The difficulty is that at the local level,neither Rahul Gandhi,nor the newly-minted leaders,are finding it easy to project what they stand for.

For all its faults,the JP movement was a better school of leadership than the managerial approach to politics that seems to be seeping into the Congress. That movement,of which Nitish Kumar is a great product,never lost sight of the fact that leaders have to be known for something; we knew their views and passions on every subject from Kashmir to corruption,and they never ran away from a crisis. The Congress did take an admirable risk in the last election by going it alone. But Rahul Gandhi’s reticence (with one exception being the mining issue),leaves a lot of lingering doubts about his worldview. But this is a challenge,not just for him,but also the young leaders,he supposedly wants to inspire.

But the lack of leadership is evidenced by the fact that a moment where India should aim higher is fast turning into a saga of squandered opportunities. No one doubts the personal financial integrity of the prime minister. But he cannot escape responsibility for the fact that every single institution from the CBI to the CVC lies tattered under his watch,and his disengagement with any serious domestic crisis has been disappointing. The stock response of the government is to distance him from everything,as if he were a mere academic,who,when confronted with grave impropriety simply writes a letter and thinks his responsibilities have been discharged.

But even the Congress president’s office has become curiously complacent. For the Congress party’s sake it is imperative that they retrieve lost ground in two vital states: Andhra and Maharashtra. But that they let these states reach crisis point suggests something deeply complacent about political management in the party.

The Congress still has one great asset: the BJP. The BJP is consolidating,but if it had not scored an own goal in Karnataka,the momentum behind it would have been greater. But the writing on the wall for the Congress is clear: it needs to set its house in order quickly on all these fronts: it needs an ambitious story,and administrative energy,a reassertion of leadership,and a realisation that merely trying to hide behind the BJP’s sins is no longer an electoral strategy.

The writer is president,Centre for Policy Research,Delhi

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