India @ 76 to India @ 80 - Five More Years of Continuity and Stable Governance

It's time for India roundup after a month. Or every fourth post should go on the home country as long as I am in U.S. Coming this in the week of Indian Independence Day is quite a coincidence and relevant to the topic. India celebrated its 76th Independence Day on 15th August, few days back. I attended an event commemorating the same last Sunday in U.S. near my home. As is the case every year, it was celebrated with much enthusiasm and euphoria for the entire day. I just joined for a few hours which gave me something to get involved and be a part of celebrations for the day of India and its independence. I would also like to remember that last year is the 75th year of independence and I elaborately written on the progress India made from its birth to 75 years of journey in the contemporary world. 

Certainly, the nation has made giant strides, rising from the rubble and standing tall in a span of few decades. From a major agrarian nation to catching up in other sectors, from an uneducated nation with 12% literacy rate to over 75% literate citizens, from a poorest nation to 5th largest economy there are huge changes seen in and made by modern India. While this continues, we can also look at the present political leadership which oversaw the rapid strides made in the recent past. Certainly, the NDA government under the able administration of Prime Minister Modi has provided the necessary leadership to steer the nation very competently in the last 10 years. The Independence Day speech given by the PM from the ramparts of red fort is his 10th successive speech and the last one in this tenure. He has set himself apart by way of this simple achievement – to preside over the 10 Independence Day speeches. No modern-day leader has achieved this level of consistency for so long. This itself is a remarkable indicator of the great standing and health of the nation. 

 

Now that we are done with 10 years of NDA rule and approaching the election year, we need to think along the lines of boosting the positive environment and health of the nation by prolonging the present-day rule. Why can’t the present government which did voluminous wonders by ably managing the 1.4 billion population continue for another tenure. To think of it, it provides great stability to the nation and augurs extremely well for its growth engines to continue the momentum scaling new heights sooner than later. When there is a stable government at the helm doing great work, it creates a good atmosphere in the nation to hop on the Vande Bharat express train and reach a great destination. All we require is a leader with the highest approval rating in the world to continue the high intensity work for five more years. The nation will be a huge beneficiary and the common man of the country will rest in peace for five more years. 

 

To be on that journey will be great for the country and the common man need to partner with the powerful to make this happen. For instance, a common man needs to think about the nation, get in the shoes of the person who is in pilot seat and become a driving force in his own capacity. When you work like a PM, the nation doesn’t need someone from the top to dictate things. We can dictate our own direction and destiny in the forceful way possible to each of us. When these self-motivated individuals work in partnership with the leadership, it makes the job easier for those at the helm. This partnership is what is required to take back the nation from its leader, add resourceful forces to steer it collectively and ease the heavy burden on a single person. When this happens, you can look at the brighter prospect of continuity, stability and longevity of a great administration. You can have 15 years of a stable government when Prime Minister is not just a single person responsible for everyone and everything but there are multiple positions to absorb the responsibilities. This setup is very much required for India to get away from the shadow of Prime Minister and stand on the collective legs of 1.4 billion people. For instance, there are over 450 institutions, schemes, stadiums, airports and ports, educational institutions, national sanctuaries and parks, hospitals and medical institutions, chairs and festivals, roads, buildings and places of highest importance which are named after just three Prime Ministers of India – Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. It just indicates Prime Ministers are super-humans and demi-gods in India which should never be the case. Our public life should not be super imposed by the overarching shadows of any single person. Everyone is collectively responsible, equal partners for the public domain and public good and the framework, setup should be as such to ease the heavy burden, tallest responsibilities on one single person. In a way, the time has come for every one of us to share this heavy lifting and lessen the burden of 1.4 billion people on a single person. It would make 10 out of 5 and 15 out of 10.  

 

If 5 years of present government is great for the country, 10 would be a bonus and 15 would leave a lasting impact and complete any unfinished job. On this Independence Day eve, we need to work along the lines which would add strength to the nation and bring many more vibrant reforms. For instance, the demonetization move is a tremendous idea and pulled off with amazing work at unprecedented scale to activate the nation and weed out many corrupt notions like black money etc. Those days are great, to think about it amazing and the nation requires many a similar reforms with hits the bull's eye. The year 2016 is renowned for demonetization and the year 2017 is noted for centralized tax system GST which is pooling lakhs of crores of rupees. What do the years 2023, 2024 stand for when the ground is prepared for these mega reforms. These impending path-breaking modern inroads will set the tone for the next five years in the country. This reform approach has elevated India to 5th biggest economy and the continued journey in similar path will elevate the nation to 3rd position in five years. The nation which is in 10th position in 2014 has reached 5th in the next 10 years and the journey needs to be upward. There is a lot left to be done with little talk which will dictate the trajectory in the coming five years. There is a huge opportunity created to make good of the times and the nation needs to grab it to elevate itself in the next five years. The journey continued with stable government and similar leadership will have a higher chance to enforce the same to happen.