One Year of the Modi Government: A Performance Assessment

May 2015
One Year of the Modi Government:
A Performance Assessment
AICC Research and Coordination Committee
Reference E-book

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
INDEX
1. Ek Saal, Desh Badhaal 1 - 5
2. Narendra Modi’s Anti-farmer Agenda 6 - 13
3. Mismanagement of the Economy 14 - 21
4. Social Sector Programmes on the Chopping Block 22 - 27
5. Ministry of Human Resource Destruction? 28 - 33
6. Enternal Affairs and Defence Mess 34 - 41
7. Conclusion 42 - 46
8. ‘Crass’ Word 47 - 48
1. Introduction 1-5
2.. Mismanagement of the Economy 6-17
3. Narendra Modi’s Anti Farmer Agenda 18-22
4. Social Sector Programmes on the Chopping Board 23-28
5. Ministry of Human Resource Destruction 29-34
6. External Affairs and Defence Mess 35-41
7. Conclusion 42-45

1
INTRODUCTION
The BJP-led NDA government completes one year in
office on May 26, 2015. Many congratulations to the
Prime Minister and his government on this important
milestone. But 365 days of the NDA government have
left the nation thoroughly disappointed and heavily
disillusioned. Narendra Modi came to power rid-
ing on lofty promises and grand declarations. These
promises remain unfulfilled. The NDA government
has only made a mockery of the hopes and aspirations
of the common man.
The highlights of the first year of the Modi govern-
ment have been its reversing stand on key issues like
Goods and Services Tax (GST), Insurance Bill, Land
Border Agreement with Bangladesh (LBA), etc, its
world record at breaking the promises it made during
the election campaign and its tactic to rename and
plagiarize initiatives introduced by the Congress-led
UPA government.
U-TURN SARKAR
The only progress the NDA government can boast of
in its first year have been the fruits of the legacy of the
Congress-led UPA that were stonewalled for years or
rejected outright by the BJP while in opposition. It is
shocking to see the alacrity with which this govern-
ment is reversing its stand on key policies without any
hesitation or explanation. This hypocrisy only makes
one wonder whether India’s progress was stalled be-
cause the BJP was more keen on playing disruptive
politics instead of being a responsible and construc-
tive opposition during the UPA decade. During UPA-
II, a colossal 890 of the 1344 hours of Parliament were
lost, mainly due to disruptions by the BJP.
When the UPA introduced the Insurance Bill, the BJP
refused to support it. On coming to power, the BJP
not only promulgated an ordinance on this issue, the
Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill was being champi-
oned as an important insurance reform instituted by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The same goes for the GST Bill which was on the leg-
islative agenda of the UPA for years. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, when he was Chief Minister of Gu-
jarat, had led the charge of BJP-ruled states in strate-
gically blocking GST. Now the NDA government has
reversed its position and is taking credit for instituting
India’s most important tax reform.

2
The same story continues with the LBA with Ban-
gladesh. When former Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh had finalised the agreement with Prime Min-
ister Sheikh Hasina, the BJP had vehemently opposed
this piece of legislation. Now, Modi sarkar, is thrilled
that the LBA sailed through parliament unanimously,
without a single amendment.
FDI in retail has met the same fate. When in Opposi-
tion, the BJP had vociferously protested against FDI in
retail. In fact, the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha
elections had said that “barring the multi-brand retail
sector, FDI will be allowed in sectors wherever needed
for job and asset creation, infrastructure and acqui-
sition of niche technology and specialised expertise.”
Yet, when the NDA government released its consol-
idated FDI policy, it stuck to the UPA government’s
decision.
The Modi government continued its streak of dizzying
u-turns with its stance on the Nuclear Deal. While in
Opposition, the BJP, along with other opposition par-
ties, tried to bring down the UPA government by ral-
lying against the Nuclear deal calling it anti-national.
Now, PM Modi calls it the ‘centerpiece’ of the India-
US relationship.
MAXIMUM NOISE, MINIMUM GOVERNANCE
The BJP came to power by making lofty promises and
selling unrealistic dreams. It promised a turnaround
of the country. But one year later all we have is a gov-
ernment taking dizzying u-turns and breaking the
promises it had made to the people of India. The NDA
government has displayed blatant opportunism and
irresponsible governance. We have seen how promises
made during elections were mere gimmicks or in the
words of BJP President Amit Shah, ‘chunavi jumlas,’
and not concrete and actionable agenda items. These
broken promises have exposed the doublespeak of the
BJP central leadership and the lack of vision and di-
rection of this government.
MISMANAGEMENT OF THE ECONOMY
During the election campaign, Modi portrayed him-
self as the sole possible saviour of the Indian economy.
But indicators suggest that in just one year, the NDA
government has adversely affected India’s economic
health and crippled major sectors of the economy.
In spite of having the tremendous good fortune of low
crude oil prices, it has ruthlessly cut allocations for
social sector programs. It has also failed to do justice
to the rural economy which serves 70% of our pop-
ulation and has neglected the agrarian sector, which
constitutes 15-17% of the economy.
This government has also revised the fiscal deficit tar-
get upwards from 3.6% of GDP to 3.9% of GDP.
BLACK MONEY PROMISE ONLY A ‘JUMLA’
The biggest U-turn of the Modi sarkar was over its
grand promise to bring back black money within 100
days of assuming power, to publish the names of all
Indians who had illegal bank accounts overseas and to
deposit Rs. 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account out
of the black money that returned to India.
While the UPA Government had signed treaties with
more than 80 countries to facilitate the return of
black money to India, the BJP created a smokescreen
of wrongdoing and hoodwinked the people of In-
dia with the promise of bringing back a supposed 85
lakh crores rupees. Rajnath Singh gave a deadline of
100 days to bring black money back and Modi gave a
“personal commitment” to bring it back “by forming
a task force and amending legislation” and pledging
to “distribute 15 lakhs in every Indian’s bank account”.
However, on coming to power the Finance Minister
said he has no information about black money and
that he could give no time frame for bringing it back.
The NDA government has still not apologised for its
political dishonesty and for misleading the nation.
This shocking admission makes the voter question
how many of the promises made by Modi were just
‘jumlas’.

3
COLD SHOULDER TO THE SOCIAL SECTOR
In contrast, the harsh reality of the last one year has
been sputtering industrial growth, agriculture in dis-
tress and service sectors seeing uneven growth. It is
also evident that the government is trying to hide be-
hind the façade of its revised GDP numbers.
More recently, as a rude “1st anniversary gift” petrol
and diesel prices were hiked yet again by Rs 3.13 and
Rs 2.71. During election rallies, Modi promised 10
crore jobs in 5 years. As per this promise, one would
expect that 2 crore jobs would be created at the end of
his first year. In contrary, the country has seen neg-
ative job growth. The quarter between October and
December 2014 registered a slowdown in job growth
from 1.82 lakhs in April-June 2014 to 1.17 lakhs.
Amidst all the hype and noise of this government’s
grand promises, the cry for help from farmers and ru-
ral workers and the call for reforms from industries
remain neglected.
Instead, what we have seen is a Government work-
ing with the sole agenda of only helping a few of its
friends and funders.
The Modi government came to power on the plank of
‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. But what we have seen over
the past year reaffirms our fears that this government
is keen on catering to the needs of corporates and pri-
vate firms at the cost of the poor.
The NDA government’s budget saw an approximate-
ly Rs. 66,222 crore reduction in allocations for social
sector schemes, thus adversely affecting the welfare of
economically backward and socially disadvantaged
individuals.
The government has slashed social sector spending.
Major cuts can be seen across all sectors: from health,
women and child welfare, to panchayati raj, rural de-
velopment, agriculture. SC and ST Sub Plan, and MN-
REGA.
Ignoring the needs of children belonging to backward
regions, Modi government will no longer provide
funding for major schemes like setting up 6000 model
schools and the Backward Region Grant Fund.
These measures have sought to dilute all the good
work undertaken by the UPA government, when 15
Crore people were pulled out of poverty in a span of
10 years.
MISHANDLING THE HRD MINISTRY
Under the NDA government, the HRD ministry has
been in the news only for the controversies it has gen-
erated. The Smriti Irani-led ministry has spent more
time in igniting fires and fire fighting rather than on
policy matters.
This government has impinged on the autonomy
of institutions, weakened the IITs, focussed on the
Sangh Parivar’s agenda of saffronization of education
and displayed a complete lack of vision.
The Ministry has politically triggered resignations
and has made appointments based solely on the loy-
alty to the Saffron cause. The financial backbone for
education has also been crippled by this government.
The overall education budget is down from Rs 82,771
cr to Rs 69,074 cr.

4
HOLLOW PROMISES, SHALLOW POLICIES
BREAKING PROMISES OF TRANSPARENCY
Another poll promise of the BJP was to deliver trans-
parent governance. But the NDA government has
shown utter disrespect to institutions. An indefinite
delay in appointments to vital constitutional and stat-
utory bodies like the Central Information Commis-
sion, Central Vigilance Commission, Chief Election
Commission by the government shows excessive cen-
tralization of power by the Modi government.
It has also become a norm with this government to
not make appointments to crucial institutional po-
sitions, to dilute acts like the RTI by devious means
and to fiscally emasculate autonomous organizations.
Clearly, the Modi government is doing all this so it
can serve its crony corporate friends at the cost of the
ordinary Indian with impunity.
CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS GALORE, LOOSE TALK ABROAD
During the UPA government, BJP leaders had ac-
cused the then government of “not being effective in
safeguarding” Indian soil from incursions. The record
of the Modi government in this regard has left much
to be desired and has laid bare its incompetence in
safeguarding our borders. There were 562 ceasefire vi-
olations in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, the highest
in eleven years. 2015 has been no different and has
already witnessed 164 ceasefire violations.
Further, when an Indian PM goes abroad, he or she
is beyond partisan politics and speaks for all of India.
In an unprecedented departure from this norm, PM
Modi has regularly used foreign platforms to pursue
divisive domestic political agendas. His recent damag-
ing statements in Korea about Indians being ashamed
of their nationality until he became PM has hurt the
sentiments of every proud Indian and betrays an ex-
traordinary ignorance of India’s history and growth.
Some of the big- ticket schemes announced by the
Modi government have turned out to be nothing
more than empty slogans. PM Modi has pitched his
pet projects - Make in India, Smart Cities, Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan, etc., at every opportune moment
but has very little to show when it comes to concrete
progress.
The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan is nothing more than a
photo opportunity for many ministers and MPs. It
continues to remain a superficial project that does not
address underlying and difficult institutional issues.
With respect to Smart Cities, the Modi government
needs to first define the concept of a smart city before
it embarks on its mission to create 100 smart cities.
The Urban Development Minister, in November 2014,
admitted that it is hard to define smart cities and the
government continues to remain vague in its strategy
to implement this mega project.
The Make in India project has proved to be another
fallacy of the Modi government. While it has gone
ahead with mega shows and event management the-
atrics, the government has taken no concrete steps to
address the challenges of building global competitive-
ness in manufacturing. Further, PM Modi’s unilater-
al Rafale deal with France, has, in one step, quashed
years of negotiations aimed at tying defence purchases
with production in India.
NAME CHANGERS, NOT GAME CHANGERS
One of the prime tactics of the NDA government in
the past year has been to rename and plagiarize ini-
tiatives introduced by earlier governments solely to
take credit. It has spent most of its time on perception
management and media manipulation rather than on
governance.
A variety of schemes like Skill India, Pandit Madan
Mohan Malviya Teachers Training Programme, Atal
Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT), Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rural Electrifica-
tion Programme, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban
mission. Jan Dhan Yojana, Namami Ganga, Varishtha
Pension Bima Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are re-
named versions of schemes introduced earlier by the
UPA government. Even the three recent social securi-
ty schemes announced by the Modi government are
rehashed versions of UPA schemes.

5
*****
CONCLUSION
This document aims to expose the true track record of
the Modi government. It reveals the reality behind the
mask of lies and false promises. It explores the per-
formance of the BJP-led NDA government across key
sectors during its first year of government. Based on
the sector-wise analysis, we find that the Acche Din
promised by the Modi government is only a mirage
that has cheated the citizens and left the country in
jeopardy. What we have seen instead is 365 days rid-
dled with lies, misgovernance and broken promises.
Keeping this in mind, the first year of the BJP-led
NDA government can be best summarized as Ek Saal,
Desh Badhaal.
GOVERNMENT APATHY LEADING TO
CRIPPLING AGRARIAN CRISIS
The BJP during its election campaign focused heavily
on farmers’ issues but has done a complete U-turn by
consistently adopting anti-farmer policies. Farmers
unions are agitating against the anti-farmer policies
adopted by the BJP ever since it came to power.
The BJP manifesto promised to implement the Swa-
minathan Committee’s recommendation that farmers
be given a Minimum Support Price (MSP) that is at
least 50% over the cost of production. So far, the NDA
government has taken no action to honour this prom-
ise. On the contrary instead of increasing MSP by 50%
it has increased it by a meagre Rs 50. There has also
been a 26 per cent increase in farmer suicides over
the past year. Rural wages in India have registered an
average annual growth of 3.8 per cent in November,
2014, the lowest since July 2005.
Most importantly, in looking to cater to the needs of
his crony capitalist friends, the Prime Minister is fo-
cused entirely upon grabbing the Farmer’s most priced
and basic possession - his land. The Narendra Modi
government is seeking to take the ‘heart and soul’ out
of the UPA’s 2013 Land Acquisition Act Amendment
by catering to the interests of corporates over farmers.

6
MISMANAGEMENT OF THE ECONOMY
OVERVIEW
UPA sets India on a solid foundation
During the UPA decade, India witnessed its highest
ever economic growth, an average of 7.6 per cent, de-
spite a global recession. Under the able leadership of
Dr Manmohan Singh, the Congress led government
created a stable and solid economic platform at a time
when the rest of the world was reeling from a crip-
pling financial crisis. Per capita income rose almost
by three-fold from Rs. 24,143 in 2004 to Rs. 68,747 in
2012. Through a variety of initiatives and rights-based
legislation, the UPA created financial inclusion and a
social safety net. As a result, a historic 14 crore people
were lifted out of poverty.
NDA squanders its opportunity
In contrast, over just one year, the NDA government
has adversely affected India’s economic health and
crippled major sectors of the economy. In spite of
having the good fortune of low crude oil prices, it has
ruthlessly cut allocations for social sector programs.
The latest Economic Financial Report published by
the Ministry of Finance shows the dismal state of In-
dian economy under the BJP led NDA government.
It has failed to do justice to the rural economy which
serves 70% of our population and has neglected ag-
riculture, which contributes 15-17% to the economy.
The GVA at basic prices (Gross Value Added is the
value of goods and services produced in an area) for
agriculture has come down to a dismal 1.1% in 2014-
15 against 3.7% in 2013-14. This fall in production has
led to a steep rise in imports and shows that even pro-
grammes that Prime Minister Modi has emphasised,
e.g., Make in India, have not been able to achieve their
goals. Modi’s apathy towards agriculture can be clear-
ly cited as the main reason behind the fall in agricul-
tural production.
Eight infrastructure industries registered a contrac-
tion of 0.1% in March 2015 against a growth of 4% in
March 2014.
“In the last few years, our economy
has not done as badly in reducing
poverty as some people will have us
believe…. It was due to the fast GDP
growth of the five-year period from
2005-2006 to 2011-12 during which
the Dr. Manmohan Singh-led UPA
Government was in office,"
Arvind Subramanian,
Chief Economic Advisor to the
Prime Minister

7
Even the gross fixed capital formation(% of GDP), an
indicator of assets created(roads, railways, buildings,
plants, equipment and the like), has declined from
31.4% in 2012-13 to 28.6% in 2014-15.
This government has also revised the fiscal deficit tar-
get upwards from 3.6% of GDP to 3.9% of GDP. This
is hardly a model of fiscal discipline. Instead of a bal-
anced growth, what we have seen so far is growth on
paper aided by a fall in global crude oil prices. The
harsh reality of the last one year is that industrial
growth is sputtering, agriculture is suffering and ser-
vice sectors are seeing uneven growth.
It is also evident that the government is trying to hide
behind the façade of its revised GDP numbers. The
new GDP numbers are not in-line with the common
growth proxies such as industrial output, bank cred-
it and corporate profits. The new real GDP number
which is now projected at 7.5-8.2% would have been
5.3-5.7% as per the old calculation.
Both the government’s Chief Economic Adviser and
the RBI governor have gone on to suggest that these
numbers are confusing.
Amidst all the hype and noise of this government’s
grand promises, the cry for help from farmers and
rural workers and the call for reforms from indus-
tries remain neglected. Instead, what we have seen is
a Government working with the sole agenda of only
helping a few of its friends and funders. It is indeed a
Suit Boot Ki Sarkar serving crony capitalists instead of
the people of India.
Ek saal gift from Modi- Petrol/diesel price hike
The hike in petrol and diesel prices was the Modi
government’s “first anniversary gift” to the people. In
May, 2015, petrol and diesel prices were hiked twice.
Petrol price on 15th May was hiked by Rs 3.13 a litre
and diesel by Rs 2.71 per litre. This was the second
straight steep increase in rates this month. On 1 May,
petrol price was raised by Rs 3.96 per litre while diesel
had become dearer by Rs 2.37 a litre.
The two unprecedented petrol/diesel price hikes with-
in 15 days have dealt a body blow to the common man
and farmers who are already reeling under high infla-
tionary pressure.
The hikes are unfathomable on all accounts- especially
since the Government and Oil Marketing Companies
will be making a windfall gain amounting to more
than Rs 2,30,000 crores even as the common man is
made to pay.
Prices of food continue to be high
Heartless apathy towards agriculture is evident from
the fact that government procured only 54.4 million
tonnes of grains(rice and wheat) in 2014-15 against
72.2 million tonnes in 2012-13. Stocks in FCI have de-
clined by a whopping 10.6% to 56.5 million tonnes on
May 1, 2015 compared to 63.1 million tonnes on the
same day last year. Agriculture which made a healthy
recovery to 3.7% growth in 2013-14 declined to 1.1%
in 2014-15. Total food grains produced fell to 251 mil-
lion tonnes from 265.6 million tonnes in 2013-14. All
these factors have contributed to a rise in food imports
and thereby increasing the food prices apart from dis-
couraging the farmer to continue agriculture.
The PM had spoken about a “Protein Revolution”
where pulses would become available to every Indi-
an. But pulses are selling at Rs 125/Kg, milk is at Rs
50/litre and prices of fruits and vegetables are sky-
rocketing. The burden is on the common man. The
Government’s frequent increases in diesel prices,
have inevitably led to increase in prices of essential
commodities like fruits and vegetables and pulses.
To add to the woes of the common man, the Govern-
ment came with a shocking announcement of “Kadvi
Goli” (bitter pill) to bring in “acche din”.
COMMON MAN FORGOTTEN

8
Table 3: Production of Major Agricultural Crops (3rd Adv. Est.)
Crops Production (in Million Tonnes)
2012-13
(Final)
2013-14
(Final)
2014-15
(3rd AE)
Total Foodgrains 257.1 265.6 251.1
Rice 105.2 106.7 102.5
Wheat 93.5 95.9 90.8
Total Coarse Cereals 40.0 43.3 40.4
Total Pulses 18.3 19.8 17.4
Total Oilseeds 30.9 32.8 27.4
Sugarcane 341.2 352.1 356.6
Cotton 34.2 35.9 35.3
Table 4 : Procurement in Million Tonnes
Crop 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Rice# 34.2 35.0 34.0 31.8 26.3* --
Wheat@ 22.5 28.3 38.2 25.1 28.0 22.5⃰
Total 56.7 63.4 72.2 56.9 54.4 22.5
# Kharip Marketing Season (October-September), @ Rabi Marketing Season (April-March), * Position as on
08.05.2015
Table 5: Off-Take and Stocks of Food Grains (Million Tonnes)
Off-take Stocks
Crops 2011-12
2012-
13
2013-
14
2014-15
May 1, 2014
May 1,
(Till Feb.) 2015
1. Rice 32.1 32.6 29.2 30.3 20.4 17.0
2. Unmilled Paddy# 12.3 8.0
3. Converted Unmilled
Paddy in terms of Rice
8.2 5.3
4. Wheat 24.3 33.2 30.6 24.6 34.4 34.1
Total (Rice &
Wheat)(1+3+4)
56.4 65.9 59.8 54.9 63.1 56.5
# Since September, 2013, FCI gives separate figures for rice and unmilled paddy lying with FCI & state
agencies in terms of rice.
Table 6: Percentage Change in Index of Industrial Production
Industry Group April-March, 2013-14 April-March, 2014-15 March-2014 March-2015
General index -0.1 2.8 -0.5 2.1
Mining -0.6 1.4 0.5 0.9
Manufacturing -0.8 2.3 -1.3 2.2
Electricity 6.1 8.4 5.4 2.0
Basic goods 2.1 6.9 4.6 2.3
Capital goods -3.6 6.2 -11.5 7.6
Intermediate goods 3.1 1.6 1.3 1.9
Production of foodgrains declined to 251 million tonne (MT) in 2014-15 from 265.6 MT in 2013-14.
Procurement of rice and wheat declined to 54.4 MT from 72.2 MT in 2012-13.
Service tax increase – inflationary and regressive
Increase in service tax will hit the middle class and
lower middle class. The middle class was expecting
dividends on their investment in the BJP which yield-
ed 282 seats. However what they got in return was an
increase in the service tax. Mr. Jaitely hiked service
tax to 14 per cent from the earlier 12 per cent and pro-
posed additional cesses for Swachh Bharat, etc. This
tax hike is a regressive move which hurts the poor
substantially. Further it is bound to create inflationary
pressure.
By removing several exemptions, the Finance Minis-
ter could have rationalised the service tax negative list
as well as broadened the tax base. He has removed a
few exemptions - but has also given many new exemp-
tions.
RURAL ECONOMY AND POPULATION IN DISTRESS
With 800 million Indians living in rural areas, rural
consumption was one of the pillars of growth ac-
counting for 35% of the economy. However, the gov-
ernment’s push towards industrialization is occurring
at the cost of the rural economy. Rural incomes are
declining under the NDA.
Increase in public investment in agriculture has not
taken off although this is a requirement for long-term
development of the sector. Long-term solutions like
agricultural supply chain modernisation have re-
ceived only lip service.
9
TABLES
Table 1: Growth of GVA at Basic Prices by Economic Activity (at 2011-12 Prices) (in per cent)
Sector
Growth Share in GVA
2012-
13
2013-
14
2014-15
(AE)
2012-
13
2013-
14
2014-
15 (AE)
Agriculture, forestry & fishing 1.2 3.7 1.1 17.7 17.2 16.2
Industry 2.4 4.5 5.9 32.3 31.7 31.2
Mining & quarrying -0.2 5.4 2.3 3.0 3.0 2.9
Manufacturing 6.2 5.3 6.8 18.3 18.1 18
Electricity, gas ,water supply & other
utility services
4.0 4.8 9.6 2.4 2.3 2.4
Construction -4.3 2.5 4.5 8.6 8.3 8
Services 8.0 9.1 10.6 50.0 51.1 52.6
Trade, hotels, transport, communication
and services related to broadcasting
9.6 11.1 8.4 18 18.8 18.9
Financial, real estate & professional
services
8.8 7.9 13.7 19.5 19.7 20.9
Public administration, defence and Other
Services
4.7 7.9 9.0 12.5 12.6 12.8
GVA at basic prices 4.9 6.6 7.5 100.0 100.0 100.0
GDP at market prices 5.1 6.9 7.4 --- --- ---
Source: CSO. AE: Advance Estimates.
Table 2: Quarter-wise Growth of GVA at Constant (2011-12) Basic Prices (in per cent)
Sectors 2013-14 2014-15
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
Agriculture, forestry & fishing 2.7 3.6 3.8 4.4 3.5 2.0 -0.4
Industry 4.8 4.0 5.0 4.3 6.1 6.0 3.9
Mining & quarrying 0.8 4.5 4.2 11.5 5.1 2.4 2.9
Manufacturing 7.2 3.8 5.9 4.4 6.3 5.6 4.2
Electricity, gas ,water supply & other utility
services
2.8 6.5 3.9 5.9 10.1 8.7 10.1
Construction 1.5 3.5 3.8 1.2 5.1 7.2 1.7
Services 10.2 10.6 9.1 6.4 8.6 10.1 13.5
Trade, hotels, transport, communication and
services related to broadcasting
10.3 11.9 12.4 9.9 9.4 8.7 7.2
Financial, real estate & professional services 7.7 11.9 5.7 5.5 11.9 13.8 15.9
Public administration, defence and Other
Services
14.4 6.9 9.1 2.4 1.9 6.0 20.0
GVA at basic prices 7.2 7.5 6.6 5.3 7.0 7.8 7.5
Source: CSO.

9
DECLINE IN AGRICULTURE GROWTH
Agriculture growth is estimated at 1.1 per cent in fiscal
year 2014-15, down from 3.7 per cent in the previous
year. Budget allocations to the Ministry of Agriculture
have been reduced from Rs 19,852 crore in the previ-
ous year to Rs 17,004 crore now. Even the RSS-affili-
ated farmers’ body — Bharatiya Kisan Sangh — has
termed the budget as “discouraging for farmers”.
The Economic Survey gives potential solutions but
budget has not followed through. It says, “Agriculture
and food sectors need huge investment in research,
education, extension, irrigation, fertilisers, and lab-
oratories to test soil, water, and commodities, and
warehousing and cold storage. Rationalisation of sub-
sidies and better targeting of subsidies would generate
part of the resources for public investment.’’
The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is credited
with pushing agricultural growth to an average rate of
4.06 per cent during 2009-14. Allocation to RKVY has
been slashed from Rs 9,954 crore (Budget Estimate
2014-15) to Rs 4,500 crore in 2015-16. Allocation to
agriculture research has been revised from Rs 6,144
cr to Rs 4,884 cr for the year 2015-16.
Exports of Wheat, Rice and Corn are likely to see a
decrease of nearly 29% or 135 lakh tons in 2014-15.
Even the area under cultivation is seeing a net reduc-
tion of 33.22 lakh hectares in 2014-15.
With the BJP having put its principal political prom-
ise of MSP 50% above input costs in the dustbin of
false political slogans, agricultural prices have seen
a free fall. Price of Basmati Rice has fallen from
Rs.6000-6500 per quintal in 2013-14 to Rs.3200-3300
per quintal in 2014-15. Prices of Fine Rice varieties
have fallen from Rs.4400-4800 per quintal to Rs.2200-
2400 per quintal. Even Cotton prices have fallen from
Rs.5300-5500 per quintal to Rs.3800-4000, i.e., even
below MSP.
Rice | 102.5 MT
3.9 %
Wheat | 90.8 MT
5.3 %
Cereals | 40.4 MT
6.7 %
Pulses | 17.4 MT
12.6 %
Oil Seeds | 27.4 MT
16.8 %
Pulses| 35.3 MT
1.7 %
Total Foodgrain | 251.1 MT
5.4 %
PROCUREMENT
Rice (Oct-Sept.) | 26.3 MT
17.7 %
Wheat (April- May) | 28.0 MT
11.6 %
*Production of Major Agricultural Crops | Figures of 2014-15 Actuals vs. Figures 2013-14 Final | MT = Million Tonnes
Moreover, instead of a Minimum Support Price of
50% profits over input cost promised in the BJP mani-
festo, the Modi government gave a minus 0.3% change
in Minimum Support Price in October, the 7th lowest
in 38 years.
Why it is important:
Rural demand acted like a cushion in the 2008 crisis
when the urban demand was at an all-time low. With
a staggering 800 million Indians living in rural areas,
rural consumption was one of the pillars of growth
accounting for 35% of the economy. Rural markets
not only form a major part the Indian economy but
the demand would also absorb impacts of unexpect-
ed economic slowdown. The government ruthlessly
cut allocations for social welfare programs and failed
to acknowledge the rural economy which constitutes
80% of our country, population wise.
Growth in rural wage dismal:
The rate of growth in the rural wages has declined to
a paltry 3.8 percent in November 2014, lower than the
annual consumer price inflation of 4.09 per cent for
rural India. This translates into an eroding purchas-
ing power of the rural populace – i.e. declining rural
demand. Weak demand in India’s rural areas has con-
tributed to a slowdown in economic growth in Octo-
ber-December 2014 from 5.3 percent in the previous
quarter.

10
HIKE IN RAIL FREIGHT WILL IMPACT RAILWAYS,
FARMERS AND INDUSTRIES NEGATIVELY
DELAY IN UREA IMPORTS
Urea imports between the months June-October,
2014-2015 did not happen in time for planting for
the rabi season. Only 17.37 tonnes were imported as
against 43.82 tonnes during the UPA rule in the pre-
vious fiscal.
The fertiliser import data for April-December 2014
showed that India’s urea imports were down 4.3%
year-on-year to 6.3 million tonnes. The shortfall was
as high as 35% in April-October 2014.
The imports increased in November and December
Total Consumption
220-225 75-80
tonnes tonnes
Timing is of utmost importance as urea needs to be applied within 50 days of sowing. Due to the delay, by
November, when the imports started, farmers had already planted their wheat, mustard and channa.
The Union Budget claims to encourage manufactur-
ing by reducing the cost of raw materials. Contrary to
this in the Railway Budget, the freight rates for Urea
has increased by 10%, coal by 6.3% and for iron and
steel by 0.8% which will directly affect costs of raw
material.
but this was too late because farmers had already
planted their wheat, mustard or channa.
Apart from displaying a complete negligence towards
a key sector as agriculture by delaying urea imports,
the domestic production of urea was also hampered
because of the government’s unwillingness to contin-
ue subsidising naphtha-based urea production. Fail-
ure of Union Government to pay Rs.30,000 crore of
subsidy amount to domestic Urea manufacturers i.e.
default of 95% of subsidy amount payable leading to
closure of many local Urea units.

11
MODI GOVERNMENT’S ANTI-PEOPLE AGENDA EXPOSED
Social Sector funding slashed
Social Sector funding slashed: Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley’s budget re-affirms this government’s anti-peo-
ple agenda. The NDA budget saw an approximately
Rs. 4.4 lakh crore reduction in the allocations for the
social sector schemes. Jaitley’s budget cuts will result
in a reduction in the flow of central funds to the states
from Rs.3,38,408 crore in 2014-15 to Rs.2,04,784
crore in 2015-16.
Worsening inequalities across states
States get funds from the Centre in the form of tied
and untied grants. In terms of overall shares of central
revenues going to the states (tied and untied grants),
states previously received 63% of overall tax revenues
(of which 32% was untied grants). This year, the states’
total share of revenues has actually fallen to 62% (out
of which 42% is untied grants).
The NDA government is trumpeting that it has de-
volved more funds to the states by passing on 42% un-
tied grants. First, this is a result of the 14th Finance
Commission’s recommendations. Second, by cutting
crucial support for centrally sponsored schemes and
passing the burden onto the states, the increase in un-
tied grants is nullified because states will end up being
forced to allocate resources to crucial programmes
where central funding has been cut.
Central schemes have been unbundled into three cat-
egories in the budget. In Category A are schemes the
Centre continues funding fully. Category B are pro-
grammes that will have state and central funding but
the Centre’s share will go down. Category C schemes
will no longer have central support.
Comparing budget estimates of 2015-16 with those of
2014-15 shows that the fall in central funding to Cat-
egory B and C schemes together is about Rs 66,000
crore. This can be compared with the Rs 64,000 crore
that states gained in net transfers from the Centre, in-
cluding tax devolution. This implies that whatever the
states have to shell out for Category B and C schemes
wipes out what they gain through fund transfer from
the Centre.
The end result will be unequal development and ineq-
uity in crucial human development outcomes across
India’s states, hurting the backward regions the most.
• New 10 per cent congestion surcharge
on base freight rates for port goods in
November, 2014
• Haulage charges raised by 27 per cent in
December 2014
• Transport and logistics costs for firms
have increased, forcing them to pass the
additional costs to customers
Source: Financial Express
Rail freight at 18 month low

12
EMPLOYMENT IN RUINS
The Modi government has diluted the Factories Act
and Apprentices Act. Labour laws have undermined
labour welfare schemes, thereby, making it easier for
companies to fire workers. Trade unions with varied
political affiliations (including the Bharatiya Mazdoor
Sangh) have joined forces to protest against the unilat-
eral steps of the Modi government.
Moreover, wage growth has slowed to a paltry 3.8 %
in November 2014, the lowest growth since July 2005,
which is lower than consumer inflation. Job growth in
8 key sectors, including labour intensive sectors such
as leather and textiles has been tepid.
Overall, since Mr. Modi took over, job growth in these
key sectors- textiles including apparel, leather, metals,
automobiles, gems and jewellery, transport, IT-BPO,
handloom and powerloom- is on a declining trend.
• This is the lowest growth since July 2005- it
proved lower than consumer inflation in the
period
• Job growth in eight key sectors, including labout
intensive sectors such as leather and textiles has
been tepid.
Employment growth slows
(% change in employment Quarter in Quarter)
CORPORATES AND INDUSTRIES LOSING CONFIDENCE
IN MODI MAGIC
The NDA’s abrupt push to shift (or rather switch) the
economy to industry and exports-based economy will
only prove disastrous in the long term with the early
indicators already setting in. Eight core infrastructure
Credit slowdown in all sectors except beverages,
tobacco and construction
February 2015:
• Non-food bank credit – 5.3 per cent drop
• Industry more- 6 per cent drop
• Services sectors- 10.1 per cent drop
• Banking system’s lending to non-bank lenders-
7.6 per cent drop
Credit growth at 18 month low

13
Steel
4.4 %
Cement
4.2 %
Refinery Products
1.3 %
*ProductionGrowth–March2015vs.March2014
India Inc seems to be losing its confidence in the Modi
government. The investment community is clearly not
satisfied with progress of the government. The pace of
project clearance is no longer the only issue bothering
India Inc.
Jim Rogers, a major foreign investor, said “I still own
Indian shares, and I wonder if I should continue
holding, because, after a year of no action, you be-
gin to wonder if anything is going to happen.” Simi-
larly, Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC Bank said,
“Nothing has changed on the ground” in terms of ease
of doing business.
Captains of industry are now highlighting two new
concerns: the recent notices from the taxmen and the
seemingly unchecked Hindutva agenda of right wing
groups. This is sending out a wrong signal to inves-
tors at a time when the government is chasing funds,
growth and development.
Table 7: Production Growth (Per Cent) in Core Infrastructure-Supportive Industries (Year-On-Year)
Industry Group April-March,
2013-14
April-March,
2014-15
March-2014 March-2015
Coal 1.3 8.2 0.6 6.0
Crude oil -0.2 -0.9 -1.6 1.7
Natural Gas -13.0 -5.2 -9.3 -1.5
Refinery Products 1.5 0.4 3.4 -1.3
Fertilizers 1.5 -0.1 -6.1 5.2
Steel 11.5 0.5 11.8 -4.4
Cement 3.1 5.6 0.4 -4.2
Overall growth 4.2 3.5 4.0 -0.1
Table 8: Money Stock: Components and Sources
(Rupees Billion)
tem Outstanding as on Variation over (%)
2015 Financial Year so
far
Year-on-Year
March 31 May 1 2014-
15
2015-
16
2014 2015
M3 105,756.8 108,474.7 2.0 2.6 13.6 11.7
Components
Currency with the Public 13,869.9 14,310.2 3.8 3.2 9.6 10.6
Demand Deposits with Banks 8,963.5 9,287.6 3.0 3.6 14.2 11.0
Time Deposits with Banks 82,777.5 84,753.6 1.6 2.4 14.2 11.9
‘Other’ Deposits with Reserve Bank 145.9 123.4 2.6 –15.4 –4.1 512.1
Sources
Net Bank Credit to Government 30,151.2 31,542.1 0.4 4.6 9.7 3.2
Reserve Bank 3,734.1 4,298.3
Other Banks 26,417.1 27,243.8 3.1 3.1 11.9 12.7
Bank Credit to Commercial Sector 70,558.0 71,621.5 0.9 1.5 13.2 10.2
Reserve Bank 148.5 60.6
Other Banks 70,409.6 71,560.9 0.9 1.6 13.1 10.2
Net Foreign Exchange Assets of
Banking Sector
22,021.1 23,002.3 2.6 4.5 20.6 16.5
Government's Currency Liabilities
to the Public
194.4 194.4 0.8 – 12.8 11.3
Banking Sector's Net Non-
Monetary Liabilities
17,168.0 17,885.6 –3.8 4.2 12.7 –2.8
Net Non-Monetary Liabilities of
RBI
7,941.6 8,600.7 1.5 8.3 23.8 0.4
Table 7: Production Growth (Per Cent) in Core Infrastructure-Supportive Industries (Year-On-Year)
Industry Group April-March,
2013-14
April-March,
2014-15
March-2014 March-2015
Coal 1.3 8.2 0.6 6.0
Crude oil -0.2 -0.9 -1.6 1.7
Natural Gas -13.0 -5.2 -9.3 -1.5
Refinery Products 1.5 0.4 3.4 -1.3
Fertilizers 1.5 -0.1 -6.1 5.2
Steel 11.5 0.5 11.8 -4.4
Cement 3.1 5.6 0.4 -4.2
Overall growth 4.2 3.5 4.0 -0.1
Table 8: Money Stock: Components and Sources
(Rupees Billion)
tem Outstanding as on Variation over (%)
2015 Financial Year so
far
Year-on-Year
March 31 May 1 2014-
15
2015-
16
2014 2015
M3 105,756.8 108,474.7 2.0 2.6 13.6 11.7
Components
Currency with the Public 13,869.9 14,310.2 3.8 3.2 9.6 10.6
Demand Deposits with Banks 8,963.5 9,287.6 3.0 3.6 14.2 11.0
Time Deposits with Banks 82,777.5 84,753.6 1.6 2.4 14.2 11.9
‘Other’ Deposits with Reserve Bank 145.9 123.4 2.6 –15.4 –4.1 512.1
Sources
Net Bank Credit to Government 30,151.2 31,542.1 0.4 4.6 9.7 3.2
Reserve Bank 3,734.1 4,298.3
Other Banks 26,417.1 27,243.8 3.1 3.1 11.9 12.7
Bank Credit to Commercial Sector 70,558.0 71,621.5 0.9 1.5 13.2 10.2
Reserve Bank 148.5 60.6
Other Banks 70,409.6 71,560.9 0.9 1.6 13.1 10.2
Net Foreign Exchange Assets of
Banking Sector
22,021.1 23,002.3 2.6 4.5 20.6 16.5
Government's Currency Liabilities
to the Public
194.4 194.4 0.8 – 12.8 11.3
Banking Sector's Net Non-
Monetary Liabilities
17,168.0 17,885.6 –3.8 4.2 12.7 –2.8
Net Non-Monetary Liabilities of
RBI
7,941.6 8,600.7 1.5 8.3 23.8 0.4
industries registered a contraction of 0.1% in March
2015 compared to 4% growth in March 2014. This
‘negative growth’ is due to a fall in production of natu-
ral gas, refinery products, steel and cement.

14
Core sector at 10- year low
Core infra production (% Year on Year)
Infra sector forms 38 per cent of overall industrial pro-
duction
March 2015:
• Steel production down by 4.4 per cent
• Cement output reduced by 4.2 per cent
• Refinery products down by 1.3 per cent
• Natural Gas down by 1.5 per cent
• Raw materials-to-sales ratio- Lowest in 2 years
40 % for March 2015 quarter
• Cement- No growth in December quarter; bet profit slips to 26 per cent
• Engineering companies- One full quarter of flat sales
• Lowest in 5 years- 8 core industrial sector growth at 3.5 per cent in FY 2015
(coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery, fertiliser, electricity, steel)
• Index of Industrial Production grew in March at 2.1 per cent against 4.9 per
cent in February.
Reason: Across-the-board slowdown in production
• Meager growth- Industrial production grew by a meager 1.7 per cent in De-
cember quarter from the previous year.
• Lowest Minimum Support Price in 38 years- October, 2014
• Food grain production fell by 3.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 256.7 million
tonnes
• Major oilseed production to dip by 7.4 per cent to 30.4 million tonnes
• Exports fell by 11.19 per cent in January 2015 from the previous year.
Decrease in outbound shipments
Cotton Yarn by 9.15 percent Pharmaceuticals by 0.16 per cent
Chemicals by 10.52 per cent Jewellery by 3.73 per cent

15
• In May 2015, overseas investors reduced exposure to Indian capital markets withdrawing
Rs. 12,000 crore
• Result: Steep fall in Sensex, Nifty, thereby, hurting small investor
Sensex surrenders gain FII Inflows slow down
Equity and debt ($bn)
EMPTY SLOGANS
Smart City

Before even the Modi government embarks on its
mission to create 100 smart cities, it needs to first de-
fine the concept of a smart city.
The Urban Development Minister, in November,
2014, admitted that it is hard to define smart cities
and the government continues to remain vague in its
strategy to implement this mega project.
At present, it is unclear what the government’s goals
are beyond building a hundred new smart cities.
What are the smart cities intended to achieve? Who
are they intended for, and who will plan, build and
govern them? After one year of announcing the proj-
ect, why is there no clarity on implementation? Why
didn’t the project warrant a mention in Jaitley’s bud-
get? The Modi government needs to answer these per-
tinent questions immediately.
SPOOKING THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTOR
The Income Tax Department, under Finance Minis-
ter Arun Jaitley, has been indulging in tremendous
dithering and inconsistencies on issues related to ret-
rospective application of Minimum Alternative Tax
on Foreign Institutional Investors. This confusion is
spooking investors, affecting markets negatively and
causing a fall in the value of the Indian Rupee.
As a result, overseas investors have pulled out over Rs.
12,000 crore from India so far this month. This has
resulted in steep falls and significant volatility in the
Sensex and Nifty, hurting the small investor.
When India needs more investments and was being
seen as an attractive destination, the NDA govern-
ment’s tax terrorism has startled investors and hurt
India’s prospects. At the same time, the inconsisten-
cy, wavering and confusion on this matter sends very
poor signals about Mr. Jaitley’s control over his tax
department.
Make in India gone wrong
The Modi government has pitched the ‘Make in In-
dia’ initiative at every opportune moment. However,
despite the mega shows and event management, the
government seems to have taken no steps to address
the challenges of building global competitiveness in
manufacturing demands, restructuring of inverted tax
structure, levelling the high cost of power, resolving
the logistics nightmare and dismantling permission
raj. Thus, its ‘Make in India’ initiative remains nothing
more than a slogan.

16
Slow recovery from recession
Slow growth in other economies
Fall in crude oil prices
Import substitution traffic barriers
Higher consumer costs
MSMEs neglected
No ‘ease of doing business’
Excise duty hikes
Inability to curb imports
Desperate welfare spending cuts
This is evident from the fact that Merchandise exports
have declined by a whopping 14% in April 2015 over
April 2014. Manufacturing GVA growth has been
constantly decreasing from 6.3% in Q1 to 5.6% in Q2
and 4.2% in Q3 of 2014-15 with construction also fall-
ing sharply from 7.2 in Q2 to 1.7% in Q3.
The backbone of infrastrucrual and industrial devel-
opment is steel and the production of steel serves as a
good indicator to reflect on the same. While the gov-
ernment pushes to ‘Make in India’ on-stage across the
globe, the poor policy framework and unfavourable
domestic climate is evident from the steel production
in the country which has declined by 4.4% in March
2015(yoy).
Steel production is affected by cheap imports and raw
material issues from the past one year. The govern-
ment has taken no action to fix these issues which has
resulted in imports of steel being doubled over the
past six months.
Electricity is a major input for the industries – but the
electricity generation registered a contraction of 1.2%
in April 2015 to 86.2 billion units from 87.2 billion
units in April 2014.
Exports contracted to $23.88 billion in January 2015
as against $26.89 billion Year on Year
Commodities hit:
• Tea, coffee, rice, tobacco, rubber and spices also
recorded a negative growth
• Cotton yarn, Pharma, Chemicals and Jewelery
sector perform poorly
Exports refuse to rise
(% Year on Year)
Another retrograde measure which shows this gov-
ernment’s lack of understanding of economic issues
and its poor coordination with its own other policies
has been the proposed 1% inter-state tax in the GST
bill. This tax on inter-state commerce runs against the
spirit of the GST stands for and may well deal a heavy
blow to the Make in India programme.
Are we still ‘Making in India’?
A recent example of the failure of Make in India pro-
gramme is the way the NDA government dealt with
the Rafale Jet deal. The NDA government ruined on-
going negotiations by presenting France with an or-
der for 36 Rafale fighters. This is in spite of Indian ne-
gotiators making it clear to Dassault that it must lower

17
prices and increase indigenisation to win the Jet deal
tender. This reflects poor strategy on the part of the
current government as India has now given a harm-
ful signal to the world – if they ignore India’s demand
long enough and stand firm in their negotiations, In-
dia will ultimately bend and cede to their terms and
conditions. This deal will additionally mean that Hin-
dustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will not be building
108 of the 126 fighters.
Additionally, each of the 36 Rafales now requested
would alone cost $150-180 million dollars along with
its basic armaments and payload. Paid out over seven
years, that would add Rs 4,000-6,000 crore annually
to the IAF capital budget, which already accounts for
a third of all modernisation funds (Rs 31,818 crore
out of Rs 94,583 crore in 2015-16). With this already a
stretch, where is the scope for another $18-20-billion
contract for 126 more Rafales?
12
Item/Week Ended 2014 2015
May 2 May 1
Cash Reserve Ratio 4.00 4.00
Statutory Liquidity Ratio 23.00 21.50
Policy Repo Rate 8.00 7.50
Reverse Repo Rate 7.00 6.50
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate 9.00 8.50
Bank Rate 9.00 8.50
Base Rate 10.00/10.25 9.75/10.25
Term Deposit Rate >1 Year 8.00/9.25 8.00/8.75
Savings Deposit Rate 4.00 4.00
Call Money Rate (Weighted Average) 8.58 7.53
Table 11: Exports and Imports (in US$ million)
Item 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 April (P) % Change in April
20152014 2015
Exports 300401 314416 310534 25634 22055 -14.0
Imports 490737 450214 447548 35720 33047 -7.5
Oil imports 164041 164770 138262 12978 7443 -42.6
Non-Oil
imports
326696 285443 309287 22742 25604 12.6
Trade
Balance
-190336 -135798 -137014 -10086 -10992 9.0
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, P: Provisional.
Jan Dhan Yojna has failed to take off!
Prime Minister Modi’s has hailed his government’s
success in pursuing financial inclusion through the
Jan Dhan Yojana. However, the reality on the ground
is far from the rosy picture being painted on paper.
Only 8,000 account holders i.e. 0.0000000025% of the
total beneficiaries have availed of the overdraft (OD)
facility under the Jan Dhan Yojana. So far, the over-
draft facility has been sanctioned in only 40,000 ac-
counts of a total 16 crore accounts, with only 8,000
availing of it. The average size of credit availed has
stood at Rs 2,500, just half of the promised Rs 5,000.
Similarly, only 108 people i.e. 0.0000000069% of the
total beneficiaries have availed of the accidental in-
surance cover, while another 152 i.e. 0.0000000079%
have taken the life insurance cover provided by the
scheme.
Moreover, according to official data, 68.7 million ac-
counts were opened under the scheme till October 31,
of which 52.1 million had zero balance. As the num-
bers clearly suggest, the goal of ensuring financial in-
clusion is far from complete and instead of boasting
about his government’s efforts and the pre-mature
success of the scheme, the government must focus on
correcting several operational issues being faced by
banks and account holders.

18
NARENDRA MODI’S ANTI FARMER AGENDA
In the mid-1960s, on the eve of the Green Revolution,
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri proudly pro-
claimed: “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.” In just 50 years, the
BJP-led NDA government has cruelly cast aside the
second half of this inspiring slogan. To paraphrase the
BJP MP from Akola, the NDA government’s motto is
“Die Kisan.”
The utter insensitivity of this Government is reflected
in the statement of its Ministers and MPs. Union Min-
ister Nitin Gadkari asked farmers not to be dependent
on God or the Government. Instead of expressing
empathy for their plight and showing compassion,
Haryana Agriculture Minister O.P. Dhankar went to
the extent of condemning farmers committing suicide
as cowards.
BJP MP from Akola, Sanjay Dhotre said: “Let these
farmers fend for themselves. If crops fail, they will
figure out what to do. And if they die, let them die.”
Eknath Khadse, Maharashtra’s Revenue Minister
made even more shocking remarks. He said, “If the
farmers have money to pay their mobile bills, then
why they do not have money to pay their electricity
bills?” All these statements clearly articulate the NDA
government’s anti-farmer, anti-people agenda.
The Modi Sarkar is also determined to take the ‘heart
and soul’ out of the UPA’s 2013 Land Acquisition Act
Amendment by catering to the interests of corpo-
rates over farmers. The Prime Minister is leading the
charge to take away the farmer’s most basic posses-
sion – land – with the sole aim of giving it to his crony
capitalist friends. This Suit Boot ki Sarkar fails to un-
derstand that land is a matter of identity for us Indi-
ans- its where we are born, where we grow up, where
we belong. This Government is treating our identity
and our most prized possession as a commodity for
profiteering.
Prime Minister Modi, in his Mann Ki Baat aimed at
farmers, stated that even when he travels abroad, he is
thinking about India’s farmers and tribals. To which, a
farmer countered with his earthy wisdom, “even when
is in foreign countries he is thinking about how to take
away the land of farmers and tribals.”
The BJP during its election campaign focused heavi-
ly on farmers’ issues but has done a complete U-turn
by consistently adopting anti-farmer policies. The BJP
manifesto promised to implement the Swaminathan
Committee’s recommendation that farmers be given
a Minimum Support Price (MSP) that is at least 50%
over the cost of production. So far, the NDA govern-
ment has taken no action to honour this promise. On
the contrary, instead of increasing MSP by 50% they
increased it by a mere Rs 50.
INTRODUCTION
“…but how will we agree if the
necks of farmers are to be cut
for the gardens of a few indus-
trialists to bloom with their
blood? Farmers have only their
land. Do not commit the sin of
squeezing the throat of farm-
ers.”
- Uddhav Thackeray in a state-
ment carried by Saamna

19
Under the UPA, a new era of rural prosperity had set
in. MNREGA, rural road and infrastructure initia-
tives and rising crop prices had seen rural wages start
to go up from 2007, reaching its peak with a 20 per
cent increase in 2011. The BJP government is working
hard to reverse these gains. Rural wages in India grew
only 3.8 per cent in November, 2014, the lowest since
July 2005. The decline in rural wages was a matter of
rejoicing among the BJP’s cronies in corporate India,
who callously saw this as a way to reduce food price
inflation as farmers would now demand fewer food
items! Such is the fate of farmers and our rural broth-
ers and sisters under the Modi Sarkar.
A STEP MOTHERLY TREATMENT TO MGNREGA
The Modi government is unable to cope with the suc-
cess of MNREGA in providing a social safety net to
needy rural families. It is playing politics with this
path breaking programme.
On the one hand PM Modi calls MNREGA a monu-
ment to Congress' failure and Union Minister Gad-
kari slams it in an internal note.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Jaitley allocates
Rs. 34,699 crores for the scheme and the Rural De-
velopment Ministry lists MNREGA under 'success
stories' in its list of achievements under flagship pro-
grammes on the completion of the NDA government’s
one year in office.
The Finance Minister makes a grand announcement
that he would add another Rs 5000 crore for MN-
REGA if there is tax buoyancy. This is not so much a
promise but a possibility based on other possibilities.
The Finance Minister also ensured that funds allo-
cated to MNREGA was not allowed to be spent fully.
Expenditure was effectively capped at Rs.33,000 crore,
even though the law explicitly states that this is a de-
mand-driven programme for which funds must be
provided.
Further, the Union government currently owes state
around Rs.6,000 crores in unmet claims for money
they have already spent.
With such a backlog and no significant increase in
MNREGA budget allocation, it clear that the NDA is
slowly trying to kill this successful, lifeline employ-
ment programme by starving it of funds.
Several reports suggest that the dilution of MGNRE-
GA might have contributed to increasing suicides in
Vidarbha. In 2014-15, the average number of work-
days provided per household under MNREGA was
only 52.94 days, as against the guaranteed 100 days.
The Modi government is unable to cope with the suc-
cess of MNREGA in providing a social safety net to
needy rural families. It is playing politics with this
path breaking programme.
On the one hand PM Modi calls MNREGA a monu-
ment to Congress’ failure and Union Minister Gad-
kari slams it in an internal note.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Jaitley allocates
Rs. 34,699 crores for the scheme and the Rural De-
velopment Ministry lists MNREGA under ‘success
stories’ in its list of achievements under flagship pro-
grammes on the completion of the NDA government’s
one year in office.
The Finance Minister makes a grand announcement
that he would add another Rs 5000 crore for MN-
REGA if there is tax buoyancy. This is not so much a
promise but a possibility based on other possibilities.
The Finance Minister also ensured that funds allo-
cated to MNREGA was not allowed to be spent fully.
Expenditure was effectively capped at Rs.33,000 crore,
even though the law explicitly states that this is a de-
mand-driven programme for which funds must be
provided.
Further, the Union government currently owes state
around Rs.6,000 crores in unmet claims for money
they have already spent.
With such a backlog and no significant increase in
MNREGA budget allocation, it clear that the NDA is
slowly trying to kill this successful, lifeline employ-

20
2014 southwest monsoon between June and
September was 12 per cent below normal
overall. In Maratwada, the rains were 42 %
deficient.
Small farmers owning less than
2 hectares are bearing the worst
brunt. They buy more food than
they grow or sell, fetch low-
er-than-market prices and are sui-
cide prone because of debt traps.
Opting private loans this Kharif pushed farmers into deep
financial crisis- hostile weather conditions forced them to
buy inputs more than once. Financial institutions refused to
give loans because of unclear earlier dues.
With these deaths, the number of farmer
suicides in the cotton belt, facing water
scarcity and agrarian crisis has gone up to
1,022 till December 2014.
Maximum deaths reported of farm-
ers cultivating cotton and soya bean
crops- greatest cause for concern.
Over 5 million hectares of crop de-
stroyed in the drought.
Out of 39,134 villages in Maharashtra,
19,069 villages have faced massive crop
losses. Situation will worsen as water
dries up further. The Centre has ap-
proved Rs 653 crore to the State govern-
ment to tackle the situation.
Agrarian crisis in Vidharbha and Marathwada is
causing an average of 4 distressed farners to kill
themselves daily, breaking all past records. 120 farm-
ers committed suicide in November 2014 alone.
ment programme by starving it of funds.
Several reports suggest that the dilution of MGNRE-
GA might have contributed to increasing suicides in
Vidarbha. In 2014-15, the average number of work-
days provided per household under MNREGA was
only 52.94 days, as against the guaranteed 100 days.
Worse, in five districts of Vidarbha — Chandrapur
(41.34), Wardha (45.52), Gadchiroli (47.63), Buld-
hana (49.71) and Bhandara (50.39) — the number
of workdays is below even the state average, while it
is only marginally higher in the other six Vidharbha
districts of Akola (55.92), Gondia (56.42), Yavatmal
(57.78), Washim (59.94), Nagpur (71.74) and Amra-
vati (75.78).
DISMAL MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE
To cap inflation and state borrowing, the government
has limited rises in farm support prices to below the
inflation rate. With large cuts in social sector spend-
ing (particularly MNREGA and National Food Secu-
rity Act) the government has already deprived the ru-
ral population of disposable income, thereby bringing
down the rural demand.
The primary purpose of Minimum Support Price is
to provide farmers an assurance of a sure shot min-
imum income which encourages them to reinvest in
agriculture.
Already bearing the brunt of freak weather, farmers
are also being forced to sell their crop below MSP rate.
In spite of bad weather hampering farmers yield,
the central government has asked the Haryana gov-
ernment to cut the MSP by Rs. 14.5 per quintal for
rain-damaged wheat.

21
FARMER’S SUICIDE AND GOVERNMENT’S APATHY
26 percent increase in farmers’ suicide in 2014 over
the previous year:
The already alarming situation in the agrarian sector
could get worse if the government bulldozes its way to
pass its land bill which has done away with the social
impact assessment clause among other clauses pro-
vided in the UPA II’s land Act. The government’s au-
tocratic push is totally pointless and unjustified since
the projects stalled due to land-related issues amount
to a mere 8 per cent of all stalled projects, according to
the finance ministry.
Narendra Modi government is seeking to take the
‘heart and soul’ out of the UPA’s 2013 Land Acqui-
sition Act Amendment by catering to the interests
of corporates over farmers. The BJP, while callously
pushing through the land acquisition ordinances, ar-
gues that the farmer suicides should not be linked to
this policy U-turn.
Source: The Times of India
INCREASE IN COMPENSATION: A SHAM!
Unseasonal rains and hailstorms damaged about 9.4
million hectares of crops such as wheat, or 15.5 per-
cent of the winter crop area.
On April 8th, P.M Modi had announced an increase
in the quantum of compensation to farmers hit by
unseasonal rains by 50%, asked banks to restructure
farm loans in rain-affected states, lowered the eligi-
bility for getting compensation for crop damage due
to natural calamity from 50% of crop area to 33% for
those who lost standing crops on over 120 lakh hect-
ares of land across 14 states due to unseasonal rain
and hailstorms.
However, the Modi government continues to bury
its real intentions under minute details making them
hard to find or sidelining them in official verbiage. The
assistance announced by this government will only be
for the first disaster in a financial year.
“In case the state faces another severe disaster during
the same year, no adjustment will be made while re-

22
FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and
Public Distribution has revealed that the government
is facing a fund shortage. There is a shortfall of Rs.
81,000 crores of subsidy payable by the Food Minis-
try to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other
government agencies that procure crops. This is be-
cause of gross under allocation by the government to
the ministry, which is facing a Rs. 26429 crore cut in
the Budget Estimates 2015-16.
FCI will not be in a position to procure grains and pay
farmers, thus adding to their misery
The Food Security Act may not get implemented
properly as the BJP-led central government seems to
be trying to thwart the purpose and intent of the Na-
tional Food Security Act, 2013 by reducing the num-
ber of eligible beneficiaries from 67 to 40 percent.
This recommendation (of reducing number of eligible
beneficiaries) was made by the Shanta Kumar com-
mittee constituted to examine the Food Security Act.
It is left to be seen if the government implements this
recommendation. Moreover, the implementation has
been deferred yet again for the n’th time in the past
one year. Crores of Indians are bound to starve and go
hungry, thanks to an uncaring Modi Sarkar.
*****
leasing National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) assis-
tance,” the official circular says.
Relief for damaged crops has been restricted to a max-
imum of two hectares or five acres. This will automat-
ically deny 50% of farmers the benefit of compensa-
tion.
Agricultural Ministry is estimating the crop damaged
area as 80 lakh hectares (197.60 lakh acres). Hence,
eligible area for crop compensation has been effective-
ly reduced, even as per government assessment, from
181 lakh hectares (447.07 lakh acres) to 80 lakh hect-
ares (197.60 lakh acres) i.e. a reduction of 101 lakh
hectares (249.47 lakh acres).

23
SOCIAL SECTOR PROGRAMMES
ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
INTRODUCTION
Governments have a fundamental duty to ensure the
welfare of citizens. Governments invest in educating
their citizens. Governments make sure that citizens
are provided good health care. Governments also
have a special duty toward those citizens who are dis-
advantaged or vulnerable.
Unfortunately for India’s citizens, the BJP-led NDA
government does not believe in these fundamental
responsibilities. The true intentions of a government
are clearly reflected in how it allocates funds in its
budgets. After the Union Budget presentation on 28th
February, 2015, one thing stands clear. In the view
of this government, there are corporates, there are
income-taxpayers, and there are others. Corporates
will get a relief of Rs 20,000 crore every year over four
years beginning 2016-17.
In the fourth and last year, the relief will be Rs 80,000
crore. Income-tax payers will get the benefit of high-
er deductions and hence lower tax liability. And the
“others” will pay higher excise duty and higher service
tax. While the corporates will exhale a sigh of relief,
the “others” will continue to suffer under the tyranny
of Modi Sarkar.
The first full year-budget of the NDA government has
slashed funds for social sector schemes by a whopping
Rs. 66,222 crore.
Major cuts can be seen across all sectors- health, wom-
en and child welfare, education, panchayati raj, rural
development, agriculture, drinking water and sani-
tation etc. Moreover, ignoring the needs of children
belonging to backward regions the Modi government
will no longer provide funding for major schemes like
setting up 6000 model schools and the Backward Re-
gion Grant Fund.
Crucial, high-impact programmes inherited from the
UPA have been cut drastically, without a care for who
will be hurt and how badly. The phrase “women and
children first” has acquired a new meaning in the con-
text of the NDA’s budget cuts – they have been the
first to be targeted among India’s various vulnerable
groups.
“Budget cuts might re-
sult in a situation where
the focus is lost on crit-
ical programmes related
to malnutrition of chil-
dren, protection of chil-
dren and supplementary
nutrition for pregnant
and lactating mothers,”
Maneka Gandhi,
Women and Child
Development Minister

24
WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST
News stories report that Maneka Gandhi, the NDA
government’s own Minister for Women and Child
Welfare, has written twice to Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley about ‘the slashing of the welfare allocations.
In her April letter, Gandhi stated that her ministry
addressed the needs of two critical constituencies -
women and children.
“These are important from social and political point
of view. The (budget) reduction has sent wrong sig-
nals,” she stated, pointing out a shortfall of Rs 10,900
crore for the Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) that caters to the nutritional needs of nearly
10 crore women and children. Overall, Gandhi men-
tioned an additional requirement of over Rs 13,000
crore for her ministry.
She said [budget cuts] might “result in a situation
where the focus is lost on critical programmes relat-
ed to malnutrition of children, protection of children
and supplementary nutrition for pregnant and lactat-
ing mothers.”
Funds for the Women and Child Development Min-
istry have been slashed to Rs 10,382 crore from last
year’s allocation of Rs 21,193 crore, out of which the
ministry managed to spend Rs 18,588 crore. Budget
cuts will cripple plans such as the Rs 900 crore Na-
tional Nutrition Mission and the proposal to hike the
honorarium paid to anganwadi workers.
After the Nirbhaya tragedy, the UPA government had
moved to create 660 one-stop crisis centres for wom-
en across the country. The NDA government has not
spared this crucial initiative too. The number of wom-
en’s crisis centres is to be limited to just 36. Clearly
this demonstrates the sheer callousness of this gov-
ernment toward the most vulnerable.
HEALTHCARE ON DEATHBED
At a time when epidemics like swine flu are affecting
the nation, the total allocation for initiatives under
‘Public Health’ is Rs. 1,769 crore as against Rs.1,929
crore in 2014-15. Under the UPA, in 2013-14, the al-
location was Rs. 2,375 crore.
The Central Plan allocation for NHM has also been
scrapped since the 2014-15 budget. The State and UT
Plan allocations for NHM in the year 2015-16 stands
at Rs. 18,295 crore as against Rs. 24,490 crore in 2014-
15. During the UPA government in 2013-14, the total
allocation (under Central Plan expenditure) was Rs.
18,880 crore.
In contrast, during the UPA regime, expenditure on
health and family welfare had gone up from 8,200
crore in 2004-05 to 33,200 crore in 2013-14 at an aver-
age of 31% each year. The budget allocation for health
increased by 42%from 2009 to 2013-14.The allocation
for the National Rural Health Mission increased by
34% during UPA-II.
OVERALL DROP IN ALLOCATION TO SOCIAL SECTOR MINISTRIES
MINISTRY/ DEPARTMENT/ PLAN 2014-15 (in cr) 2015-16 (in cr)
Panchayati Raj Rs 3,400.69 Rs 94.75
Agriculture Rs 19,852 Rs 17,004
Women and Child Development Rs 18, 588.39 Rs 10,382.40
Drinking Water and Sanitation Rs 12,107 Rs 6,243.87
Water Resources Rs 6,009 Rs 4232
Schedule Caste Sub Plan Rs 43,208 Rs 30,000
Tribal Sub Plan Rs 26,714 Rs 19,000
Land Resources Debt Rs 3,759 Rs 1,637
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Rs 12,100 Rs 6,236
Mid Day Meal Scheme Rs 11,770 Rs 9,236

25
THE ANTI- DALIT AND ANTI- TRIBAL FACE
OF THE MODI GOVERNMENT
There has been a major reduction in funds and a dis-
crepancy in utilization of funds in important schemes
like Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes
Sub-plan, Post matric scholarship scheme for SC stu-
dents and Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme
for SC students.
The Scheduled Caste Sub Plan which is aimed at giv-
ing thrust to the economic development of Scheduled
Castes living below poverty line got just Rs 30,000
crore, while the 2014-15 budget had allocated Rs
43,208 crore to it. The Tribal Sub Plan got Rs 19,000
crore compared to Rs 26,714 crore earlier.
The Modi government drastically reduced allocation
by 50% to Rs. 1599 crore against an actual expenditure
of Rs. 2711 crore in 2011-12 (Rs. 2153 crore in FY14)
for the Post Matric Scholarships for SC students. This
scholarship enables Scheduled Caste students to ob-
tain post-matric and higher education resulting in
their overall educational and economic development.
The scheme presently covers over 30 lakh Scheduled
Caste students.
Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme for SC stu-
dents also met a similar fate. The scheme caters to the
requirements of Scheduled Caste students to pursue
research degrees in universities, research and scien-
tific institutions. Against the budgetary allocation of
Rs. 200 crore in 2014-15, revised estimates were dras-
tically cut down to Rs. 150 crore in 2014-15 under the
scheme.
The Tribal Affairs Ministry was allowed to spend only
around two-thirds of the budget allocation, where the
budget was cut down by more than Rs 600 cr.
Not surprising that the only Ordinance issued by pre-
vious UPA government that was allowed to be lapsed
and not re-promulgated by current NDA government
was the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Pre-
vention of Atrocities) Amendment Ordinance, 2014.
The ordinance relates to enforcing accountability on
public servants who “wilfully neglect” duties on mat-
ters relating to atrocities against Scheduled Castes and
Tribes.
EDUCATION IS LAST PRIORITY
There is a 22.14% reduction in allocation for Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) over last year. The allocation
does not justify the government’s increased focus on
enhancing quality of education to address the poor
learning levels of students.
The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA),
the flagship programme for secondary education has
29% lower allocation as compared to previous year.
There has also been a significant decrease of 48% in
allocation for the Rashtriya Uchcha Shiksha Abhiyan
(RUSA).
The government reduced funds for higher education
to the tune of Rs 3,900 crore in its revised budget esti-
mates for the financial year 2014-15.
After having refused to disburse the funds for the final
phase of construction of new IIT campuses, the gov-
ernment has reduced the Rs 2,500 crore originally al-
located to the 16 IITs for the year 2014-15, to Rs 2,337
crore, initiating a cut of Rs 163 crore.

26
PANCHAYATI RAJ RECEIVES A PITTANCE
Panchayati Raj and its institutions are the last mile
connectivity of our democracy. Budget of Panchaya-
ti Raj institutions has been reduced by Rs.3,306 crore
i.e. by 98.6%. Modi government’s allocation to Pan-
chayati Raj Institutions is a trifle pittance of Rs. 94.75
crore.
The Modi government is also strategically and sys-
tematically killing MGNREGA by not releasing funds
to the states. For year 2014-15, Government of India
has not released over Rs.6,000 crore to the States. This
has resulted in a failure of states to take up new proj-
ects and provide employment in the current year.
BACKWARD REGIONS GRANT FUND AND
MODEL SCHOOLS CUT OUT
The Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) was con-
stituted to address not only regional imbalance in
identified backward districts but also to ensure direct
development in naxal affected areas. Modi Govern-
ment has shut down the scheme and consequently de-
nied the yearly allocation of Rs. 5,900 crore.
The central government will also no longer support
the state governments in building 6000 model schools.
The model school scheme was launched in 2008 and
envisaged setting up a model school in every block of
the country as benchmark of excellence for providing
quality education to talented school going children.
AGRICULTURE SECTOR GETS A RAW DEAL
Agriculture contributes 17% of GDP, engaging 49%
of India’s workforce. But the Modi government has
gone about mercilessly slashing funds for this crucial
sector.
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna’ has seen a reduction
in funds to the extent of Rs.7,426.50 crore. ‘Animal
Husbandry and Dairy Vikas’ has seen a reduction in
funds to the extent of Rs.685 crore. ‘Pradhan Mantri
Krishi Sinchai Yojna’ has seen a reduction in funds
to the extent of Rs.8,156.22 crore. Funds for ‘National
Livelihood Mission’ have been reduced by Rs.1,632.50
crore.
Not surprisingly, agricultural growth has gone down
from 4.7% in 2013-14 to 1.1% in 2014-15 under BJP
government (Economic Survey 2015). Area under
cultivation has gone down by 33.22 lakh hectares in
2014-15 and total grain output is likely to go down
from 2650 lakh metric ton in 2013-14 to under 2500
lakh metric ton in 2014-15.
GOVERNMENT PREVENTING DEPARTMENTS
FROM SPENDING FUNDS ALLOCATED
Even more insidious than the drastic budget cuts for
the social sector is the NDA government’s track re-
cord of preventing departments from actually spend-
ing the money allocated to them.
Capital spending by the health ministry fell to half its
budgeted level. Expenditure of the rural development
ministry—home to the some of the most important
social sector schemes, including the MGNREGA,
rural drinking water mission, rural roads, etc.—was
around 17% lower than the budget allocation.
The tribal affairs ministry was allowed to spend only
around two-thirds of the budget allocation, while wa-
ter resources also spent less by around 30%.
The worst off were the women and child ministry and
the ministry of housing and urban poverty allevia-
tion, which were allowed to spend only 55% and 45%
of their outlays respectively.

27
HIDING BEHIND THE 14TH
FINANCE COMMISSION :
WITH A KNIFE!
The Finance Minister has loudly proclaimed that his
government is a champion of cooperative federalism.
The 14th Finance Commission’s recommended that
the centre pass on 42% of central government reve-
nues to states as untied grants (an increase from 32%
earlier).
The NDA government has accepted this recommen-
dation and is trumpeting it as an example of its com-
mitment to cooperative federalism. The reality is that
the central government is simultaneously cutting
support for a number of centrally-sponsored schemes
and passing on the burden to the states.
States get funds from the Centre in the form of untied
and tied grants. In terms of overall shares of central
revenues going to the states (tied and untied grants),
previously states received a total of 63% (out of which
32% was untied grants). This year, the states’ total
share of revenues has actually fallen to 62% (out of
which 42% is untied grants). This means that there is
no additional money going to the states overall.
Using the excuse of an extra 10% of untied grants go-
ing to the states, the NDA government has drastical-
ly cut social sector spending, arguing that states will
make up the shortfall out of their untied grants.
Essentially, by cutting funding for centrally-sponsored
schemes, the NDA government is tying the hands of
state governments and forcing them to allocate their
untied grants to those crucial areas that the central
government has abandoned.
Because of state governments’ diverse priorities and
capacities, the end result will be lower social sector
allocations across the country, hurting the poor the
hardest and ensuring that developmental outcomes
will be uneven and inequitable.
The central government’s fundamental responsibili-
ty to ensure a minimum level of basic welfare stands
abandoned by the NDA.
BRGF: World Bank Evaluation
In 2009, the World Bank conducted an independent evaluation of the Backward Re-
gions Grant Funds programme in 16 districts in 8 States.
Key findings:
• Meaningful investments are made by the com-
munities in projects chosen in a decentralized
participatory manner.
• BRGF funds are the single most important source
of discretionary funds available to the Panchayats
Key Suggestion:
• Outlays should be enhanced in order to be more
effective.

28
Comparing budget estimates of 2015-16
with those of 2014-15 shows: Fall in central
funding to Category B and C schemes
together is about Rs 66,000 crore.
Compare this with how much states gained
in net transfers from the Centre, including
tax devolution- a little under Rs 64,000 cr i.e
15 % of Centre’s gross tax revenues.
This implies that whatever the states have
to shell out for Category B and C schemes
wipes out what they gain through funds
transfer from the Centre.
Centre bound to support schemes man-
dated by legal obligations, cess evaluations.
But, this list does not include schemes re-
lated to children and women i.e. ICDS or
schemes for protection and prevention of
violence against of women
Given these trends it is clear that social sec-
tor burden is accorded to the States on the
pretext of higher tax devolution.
There is a clear decline (35-40%) in the so-
cial sector expenditures as share of GDP
and total expenditure of the Union Govern-
ment. States would alone need to restruc-
ture their priorities.
Greater degree of autonomy does not nec-
essarily mean an increased spending ca-
pacity for the States.
For eg. a prosperous state like Karnataka
may carry foreward all schemes. However,
Arunachal Pradesh or Chhattisgarh will
not have the same state capacity to contin-
ue these schemes.
Thus the Union government’s argument
for reducing total expenditure as a result
of increased devolution to states remains
unconvincing.
The reduced expenditures also throw light
on the priority accorded to the social sec-
tor commitments of the Union Govern-
ment.
Recommendations of the 14th Finance
Commission includes Revenue expendi-
ture to be borne by the States.
This announcement may be interpreted as
a slow phase out of the schemes from the
ambit of the Union government as capital
expenditure on most of the listed pro-
grammes are minuscule and have a larger
revenue component- which then would be
borne by states.
Thus if resources of the state do not
increase commensurately there is an
increased possibility of important pro-
grammes suffering due to lack of resourc-
es. This might also be burdened with the
pressure on the states to bring down the
revenue deficit to zero
*****
2. State capacity not uniform 4. Excuse to abandon social sector
1. More funds to States- A myth 3. Centre neglects key priority schemes
SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN
ONLY A PHOTO-OP
On October 2, 2014 Prime Minister launched Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan with great fanfare and publicity. How-
ever, the Modi Government has reduced funds for this
crucial ministry by Rs.9,025 crore. Moreover, it con-
tinues to remain a superficial project that does not ad-
dress underlying and difficult institutional issues.

29
MINISTRYOFHUMANRESOURCEDESTRUCTION?
Considering India’s potential to encash an extraor-
dinary demographic dividend, the Human Resource
Development (HRD) Ministry is one of our most cru-
cial ministries. It holds the key to India’s progress and
the empowerment of our youth. Keeping this in mind,
the UPA government introduced path-breaking legis-
lations like the Right to Education (RTE) Act which
made education the right of every child in the coun-
try. The UPA ushered in progressive policies like the
Mid Day Meal Scheme and the Rashtriya Uchchatar
Shiksha Abhiyan and gave the HRD Ministry the im-
portance it deserves.
However, under the NDA government, the HRD min-
istry has been in the news only for the controversies it
has generated. The Smriti Irani-led ministry has been
become renowned for igniting fires and fire-fighting
rather than for policy matters.
From arbitrarily replacing German with Sanskrit
as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas to the
University Grants Commission (UGC) clampdown
on Delhi University’s Four Year Undergraduate Pro-
gramme (FYUP); from UGC asking Indian Institutes
of Technology (IITs) to align their courses with the
ones it recognises to the row over the resignation of
the IIT Delhi director; from the ministry’s directive
to educational institutions to organise activities and
events on December 25 to mark “Good Governance
Day” to appointing RSS sympathisers to key posts;
this government has massively mishandled a most
crucial ministry.
This government has impinged on the autonomy of
academic institutions, weakened the IITs, focussed
on the Sangh Parivar’s agenda of saffronization of ed-
ucation and displayed a complete lack of vision. The
Ministry has politically triggered resignations and has
made appointments based solely on the loyalty to the
Saffron cause.
The financial backbone for education has also been
crippled by this government. The overall education
budget is down from Rs 82,771 cr to Rs 69,074 cr.
Whereas under the UPA, the Plan allocation went
up by 18% in 2012-13 and by 8% in 2013-14, the
BJP Government has reduced the Plan allocation for
2015-16 by 25%. All major schemes like Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Rashtriya Madhya-
mik Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha
Abhiyan have seen savage cuts. In all, the NDA gov-
ernment has not taken any steps to strengthen the ed-
ucation sector or carry out the required institutional
reforms to improve access to quality education.
INTRODUCTION
“There are good bureaucrats, not so good
bureaucrats, good political leaders. There
are not so good political leaders. So the
important thing is the system. After all,
these are all public funded institutions and
I think we should respect it”
- Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of the Board of
Governors of the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Bombay

30
IMPINGING ON THE AUTONOMY OF INSTITUTIONS
Indian Institute of Technology vs Human Resource Department Ministry
Ministry bans student group critical of Modi
government
Recently a students’ group in IIT Madras was banned
because they were critical of Prime Minister Modi
and the BJP government’s policies.
Minister Irani emphatically denied any role in the ban
and went on to say that “IIT Madras is an autonomous
institution which takes its own steps.” However, this
ban comes exactly a week after IIT Madras received a
letter from the HRD Ministry.
This shows that this government’s first instinct is to
muzzle dissent and curb freedom. The BJP-led NDA
government’s autocratic methods are an unsettling
trend in a democracy.
Anil Kakodkar quits from IIT-B board
Renowned nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar, Chair-
man of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT), Bombay, put in his papers ahead
of a crucial meeting of a search-cum-selection com-
mittee, chaired by Minister Smriti Irani.
The Minister misled the nation on this issue. She ac-
cused the opposition of peddling false and incomplete
stories on the basis of media speculation and asserted
that Anil Kakodkar had not resigned. The truth is that
Kakodkar did resign but she did not accept the resig-
nation. She requested him to serve out the rest of his
term which he agreed to do.
He goes on to suggest on the issue of selection for an
IIT director, “This is too casual a process for such an
important activity and I can’t be a party to this. The
point is you can’t be deciding that choice of IIT director
or three IIT directors among 36 in a six or seven hour
process. If you set aside everything and then you decide
like that, then you are running a lottery.”
The resignation of a distinguished professional like
Mr Kakodkar is reflective of the Minister’s overbear-
ing working style and complete disregard towards
nurturing intellectual excellence.
Shevgaonkar’s resignation - BJP politicking
IIT Delhi Director Shevgaonkar’s resignation, nearly
two years ahead of the end of his tenure, was trig-
gered by the HRD Ministry’s interference in the af-
fairs of India’s outstanding institutions like the IITs.
Reports suggest that the resignation is linked to a
HRD Ministry probe into IIT Delhi’s initiatives in
Mauritius which came about as a result of a Mem-
orandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by India’s
HRD minister with Mauritius during the UPA peri-
od. IIT-Delhi shot back at the ministry denying alle-
gations that International Institute of Technology Re-
search Academy, (IITRA) Mauritius, is its extension
campus.
When Anil Kakodkar was asked if Shevgaonkar was
willing to change his mind, Kakodkar said, “The ques-
tion is, I think, all of us have some minimum self-re-
spect and in his case it was severely hurt.”
Minister contradicts her statement on setting up of
IITRA in Mauritius
While replying to a discussion on the demands of
grants of her Ministry on April 27, the Minister said
that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Act was
violated to open up a technical institute at the inter-
national level in Mauritius with the “Indian taxpay-
ers’ money” during the UPA regime in 2013.
Same day in reply to an unstarred question in Rajya
Sabha, she stated that IIT-Delhi did not incur “any
expenditure” either on the setting up of the campus
of the IITRA in Mauritius or starting academic pro-
grammes at the institute.

31
Violating the autonomy of the UGC
Four year undergraduate programme (FYUP)
UGC issued a directive to Delhi University (DU) to
withdraw with immediate effect the FYUP within
days of it asking for a “review” of the FYUP, and just
over a month after the NDA took power at the Centre.
The BJP manifesto had promised to scrap FYUP, and
ABVP, the party’s student wing, had been protesting
against the programme. The Centre’s assertion that it
was not trying to interfere in the affairs of the autono-
mous DU is hardly believable.
The very decision of the UGC to ask DU to scrap the
FYUP on the ground that it violates the 10+2+3 for-
mat suggests political expediency rather than appli-
cation of mind. Clearly FYUP adds an extra year and
thereby enhances the quality, quantity and employ-
ability of education, rather than worsen it.
Smriti Irani interfering: UGC Member
M. M. Ansari, a member of the UGC has slammed
HRD Minister Smriti Irani for her “excessive inter-
ference” in the functioning of the commission and
for taking “arbitrary and abrupt” decisions, while de-
pending entirely on a “well-planted bureaucracy” and
the RSS for running the ministry. This member seems
to have said out loud what is on the minds of many
bureaucrats, academicians and administrators.
It is indeed shocking how this government is so com-
fortable misleading people to gain political mileage.
This issue of the NDA government interfering with
the affairs of independent institutions escalated to
such an extent that a few Rajya Sabha MPs, includ-
ing Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, cutting across par-
ty lines wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee asking
him to step in and look into the matter.
HRD ministry interfering with institutes’ MOUs
The HRD Ministry has proposed that while signing
any MoU for collaboration with foreign universities,
Indian institutions must refer to the Ministry of Ex-
ternal Affairs’ advisory in context of “national inter-
est”, as well as keep the MHRD “informed”. Is this the
minimum governance the PM promised?
Moreover, this is completely contrary to Acts govern-
ing higher educational institutions like IITs, central
universities and NITs which give them the power to
enter into academic collaborations with other educa-
tional institutions, including foreign ones. In August
2004, the UPA government had withdrawn previous
guidelines noting it was an “unnecessary interference
on the autonomy of institutions”.
Politically triggered resignations
HRD Ministry moves against Dinesh Singh
The HRD ministry faced embarrassment with Pres-
ident Pranab Mukherjee not accepting its report on
Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh. The
President is said to be unconvinced about the charges
levelled against Dinesh Singh and has sought further
clarifications. This clearly shows how the government
was reprimanded by the President for trying to level
false charges against incumbent academic leaders to
open up posts where Sangh Parivar loyalists can be
parked.
Resignation of National Council for Education Re-
search & Training (NCERT) Director Parvin Sin-
clair

32
SAFFRONIZATION OF EDUCATION
Politically coloured appointments
With regard to appointments, Minister Irani needs to
be told that the argument is not about persons from
varied political affiliations being appointed. The argu-
ment is about grossly under-qualified Sangh Parivar
loyalists being made heads of premier institutions like
the National Book Trust, Banaras Hindu University,
Indian Council of Historical Research, IIAS- Shimla,
Aligarh Muslim University Court, Visvesvaraya Na-
tional Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur and
awarding the highly prestigious National Research
Professorship to three under-qualified RSS sympa-
thizers.
A strong signal emanates from the manner in which
Parvin Sinclair, Director of the NCERT was ousted two
years before her term ended. This development came
at a time when the NCERT is in the midst of review-
ing its widely used school curriculum, also known as
the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005.
The framework itself was the product of a long, broad-
ly consultative process of “de-saffronisation”, which
led to widely acclaimed, secular-liberal and pedagog-
ically superior school textbooks. Sinclair’s resignation
means this process could start afresh.
Reports say that when Sinclair refused to toe Minis-
ter Irani’s line on the NCF and other issues, she was
reportedly charged with financial irregularities, not
allowed to defend herself fully, and asked to resign.
It is chilling to think about the extent this government
is willing to go in order to ensure that its mission of
saffronization of the education system is fulfilled.

33
"The HRD ministry and the government
at large have taken the right steps to-
wards the nationalisation of the educa-
tion system in India that has long been
hijacked by the progenies of Marx and
Macaulay who resent all that is Indian,
from Swami Vivekananda to the Gita. So
far as educational system is concerned,
we want to saffronise all of India. Saf-
fron is made of red and yellow, signifying
strength and sanctity.”
-Dinanath Batra
Christmas becomes Good Governance Day: This
move by the government clearly violated the secular
spirit of the Constitution. Moreover, Cabinet Minis-
ters misled both Houses when they claimed that no
official directive to schools had been issued.
Communal polarisation on campus: The BJP’s plans
to celebrate the birth anniversary of Jat King Raja
Mahendra Pratap on the Aligarh Muslim University
(AMU) campus was described by students as an at-
tempt by BJP leaders to "polarise" society.
The Vice Chancellor of AMU even wrote to HRD
Minister Irani warning of potential "communal con-
flagration" because of this issue.
Separate canteens for vegetarian students at IITs:
Soon after taking office, the HRD Minister promised
an overhaul in higher education. But the minister
seems to have lost perspective and has mixed up her
priorities for reform.
The minister asked the IITs to have separate canteens
for its vegetarian students on the request of an RSS
worker who believes that non-vegetarian food cre-
ates tamas (dark thoughts) in students. The Ministry
wrote to the institutions at the behest of this request
in spite of no such demand coming from the students
themselves.
Sanskrit above all other languages: The HRD Min-
istry issued a diktat to Kendriya Vidyalayas to stop
teaching German as the third language and teach San-
skrit instead. This decision taken in the middle of a
school year affected about 70,000 students across 500
schools in the country.
Along with being insensitive to the students and
teachers, the government is quoting policy frame-
works selectively to further its ideological agenda and
saffronize our education system.
HRD Ministry approves creation of Bharatiya Shiksha
Niti Ayog (BSNA). Advocated by RSS-affiliated Shik-
sha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas to “Indianize” the educa-
tion system, the proposed BSNA is likely to be headed
by the controversial teacher-turned-activist Dinanath
Batra.

34
LACK OF VISION
Weaker financial backbone for education
The NDA government is justifying the budget cuts
by saying overall resources being transferred to the
states has increased as a result of increased devolution
as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission.
However, a deeper examination reveals that increased
devolution does not necessarily imply an increased
spending capacity for the states. Thus the Union gov-
ernment’s argument for reducing total expenditure as
a result of increased devolution to states remains un-
convincing.
There is a 22.14% reduction in allocation for Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) over last year. The allocation
does not justify the government’s increased focus on
enhancing quality of education to address the poor
learning levels of students.
The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA),
the flagship programme for secondary education has
29% lower allocation as compared to previous year.
There has also been a significant decrease of 48% in
allocation for the Rashtriya Uchcha Shiksha Abhiyan
(RUSA). It is expected to be offset by the greater share
from the State Government. Allocation for technical
education has been reduced by 2%.
Moreover, under the Modi government, the centre
will no longer support the state governments in build-
ing 6000 model schools. This scheme was delinked
from Central support and the onus has now fallen on
already cash- strapped states.
The government allocated 1000 crore for setting up 5
new IITs and said it was adequate because the bud-
get for the initial year of a new institute is primarily
meant for preparation and process-oriented activities
that ensure the start of an institute from a temporary
campus. If so, why did the government earlier in Jan-
uary 2015 reduce funds for higher education in its re-
vised budget estimates for the financial year 2014-15?
The government reduced funds for higher education
to the tune of Rs 3,900 crore in its revised budget es-
timates for the financial year 2014-15. This revision
hit the eight new IITs that were scheduled to move to
their permanent campuses this academic year.
*****

35
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE MESS
In the last twelve months Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has visited 19 countries. Practically the only
time the PM has been in the country was when he was
campaigning for his party in state elections. Perhaps
PM Modi feels the need to get away from domestic
issues, e.g., the agrarian crisis affecting our farmers.
Beyond the rockstar events, photo-ops, and selfies,
what has India gained from our PM’s globe trotting?
Is jet lag getting to him, given how his oratorical skills
are decaying and he regularly uses language unbe-
coming of the office he occupies? Why does the for-
eign policy of this suit boot sarkar require industrial-
ist Gautam Adani to be the PM’s constant companion
on overseas trips?
OVERVIEW
MODI’S FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE
May Elected Prime Minister
June Bhutan Trip
July Brazil Trip
August Nepal Trip
Japan Trip
September USA Trip
October Maharashtra Elections
Haryana Elections
November Myanmar Trip
Australia Trip
Fiji Trip
Nepal Trip
December Jharkhand Elections
Jammu & Kashmir Elections
January
February
Delhi Elections
March Seychelles Trip
Mauritius Trip
Sri Lanka Trip
Singapore Trip
April France Trip
Germany Trip
Canada Trip
May China Trip
Mongolia Trip
South Korea Trip
“There should be steadier think-
ing, steadier guage. It is not a
good idea that in the fascination
for out of box ideas to ignore the
institutional memory embedded
in the Ministry of External Affairs
and outside.”
- Arun Shourie on Modi gov-
ernment sending “contradictory
signals” on Pakistan.

36
ALL TALK, NO RESULTS IN GERMANY?
Not a single agreement/pact was signed during PM
Modi's bilateral visit to Germany, Europe's biggest fi-
nancial power. The only concrete deliverable was the
decision to set up a dedicated mechanism in the Gov-
ernment of India to promote Indo-German trade and
investments, a privilege that the Modi government
has thus far given only to Japan and the USA.
Modi's sole objective was to 'push' initiatives in an in-
tangible manner through speeches, public appearanc-
es and meetings with High Networth Individuals.
At the Indo-German Business Summit at the Han-
nover Fair, Modi repeated his subtle jibes at the UPA
asking top businessmen and industrialists not to go
by "old perceptions" and that he would make "correc-
tions wherever required" to make India a global man-
ufacturing hub.
DIRTY POLITICS ON FOREIGN SOIL!
The Prime Minister of India indulged in word-play of
a distasteful kind on April 17, 2015 while addressing
an 8000-member NRI crowd at the Ricoh Coliseum at
Toronto, Canada. Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen
Harper, was also present.
PM Modi, while stressing India's necessity to equip its
young force with the necessary skills, said India was
earlier known as "Scam India" but he now dreams to
make his country "Skill India."
Such language certainly does not behove a PM repre-
senting the country on the global stage. On April 28,
2015, there was an uproar in the Rajya Sabha by most
opposition parties who condemned the remark and
asked for an explanation from the government.
This streak of making irresponsible statements seems
to have become habitual for PM Modi. His recent
damaging statements on foreign soil about Indians
being ashamed of their nationality until he became
PM has hurt the sentiments of every proud Indian.
THE ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ THAT ISN’T
PM Modi’s sudden announcement that India would
buy 36 Rafale jets from the French government in a
fly-away condition contradicts his own ‘Make in In-
dia’ slogan. This in spite of Indian negotiators making
it clear to Dassault that it must lower prices and in-
crease indigenization to win the Jet deal tender.
Without directly commenting on the future of the
longstanding original tender negotiations for 126 Ra-
fale fighter jets, Defence Minister Parrikar used an an-
ecdote: “one car cannot run on two roads.” This likely
indicates the end of road for the tender route and all
the negotiation efforts of our diplomats and previous
governments.
The shift reflects poor strategy on the part of the NDA
government as India has now given a harmful signal to
the world: If they ignore India’s demand long enough
and stand firm in their negotiations, India will ulti-
mately bend and accede to their terms and conditions.
As per the original contract, 18 aircraft were to be
bought off-the-shelf from Dassault while 108 were to
be manufactured in India under transfer of technolo-
gy (ToT) to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Lim-
ited (HAL). HAL’s plans have now gone for a toss.
BETRAYED

One Year of the Modi Government: A Performance Assessment

One Year of the Modi Government: A Performance Assessment

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