The Congress manifesto talks about implementing recommendations of assorted commissions and task forces. There was no dearth of these under UPA-I, that was a different kind of national employment guarantee scheme. If one wishes to convey an impression of doing something without actually doing anything, the best course of action is to set up a commission or task force. Why weren’t recommendations implemented under UPA-I and what is the guarantee they will be implemented under UPA-II? Were these recommendations unacceptable? Were they even scrutinised? Is a collation available of what they said? How much did the country spend on these? Even if one forgets those big bang and high-profile liberalisation measures, there are several things that can be done without deviating from the UPA’s social sector agenda. One doesn’t need a new dose of commissions to figure this out.

Revamp the central sector and Centrally-sponsored schemes and unify devolution to states through the Planning Commission and Finance Commission channels. Change government budgeting and accounting systems. Identify the poor unambiguously and use multi-purpose national identity cards (MNICs) to deliver and subsidise public goods and services. Introduce alternative channels of delivery that allow choice and competition. This was talked about under UPA-I (remember food stamps on pilot basis in selected districts?), but forgotten soon thereafter.

Reform employment exchanges. There are serious problems with vocational education, but those are long-term issues, involving supply-side changes, like permitting non-government delivery of vocational training and introducing an appropriate regulatory mechanism. There is a problem that is more immediate and short-term. Increments to labour force occur in some parts of the country and demand for labour is generated in other parts. This becomes an even more important issue with adverse employment effects of the slowdown. Employment exchanges were meant to perform this matching function, but have failed to do so, especially with the scope for employment in the public sector diminishing. The medium-term training issue can be separated from the short-term matching issue and privatised management of employment exchanges permitted. Effectively, privatisation of matching or placement function will bring economies of scale and lead to a transition from unorganised to organised. Introduce changes in administrative law, a key to any improvements in governance. Introduce reforms in the Police Act, combined with criminal justice reform. None of this is new. This was the agenda of UPA-I and continues to be the agenda of UPA-II. The continuation of such items on the agenda, five years down the line, is thus reminiscent of Ambassador cars, with only bumpers changed.

... contd.