Ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power, the cabal of Mainstream media and Opposition parties led by Congress backed by the Anti-Modi lobby has consistently tried to paint everything done in India black. Every achievement has been run down. Every initiative undertaken ridiculed. It is time to take stock at what has been done. Before we go on with the achievements, it is important to see what the experts from the world have been saying about Modi and his government. Here is a sample. How the Global Experts Evaluate Modi The legendary Marketing professor and expert - Philip Kotler talking about Modi in November, 2014 while speaking to corporate leaders, marketing professionals and faculty and students of MBA schools said that he was high on Modi and PM Modi felt like breath of fresh air. In March 2015, Christine Lagarde discussed how after the Modi government came the inflation had come down to around 5% while revised gross domestic product (GDP) data was pointing to a growth at 7.4% and will help India better even China. She had advocated further reforms for greater growth, which unfortunately have been blocked by the Congress. In May 2015, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim found the policies and work of Indian PM Narendra Modi visionary.

1. 12 Amazing Accomplishments of Modi Government by 2016
BY
DESH KAPOOR
Ever since the Narendra Modi government cameto power, the cabal ofMainstreammedia and Opposition
parties led by Congress backed by the Anti-Modi lobby has consistently tried to painteverything
done in India black. Every achievement has been run down. Every initiative undertaken
ridiculed. It is time to take stock at what has been done.
Before we go on with the achievements,it is important to see what the experts from the world
have been saying about Modi and his government. Here is a sample.
How the Global Experts Evaluate Modi
The legendary Marketing professor and expert - Philip Kotler talking about Modi in November,2014
while speaking to corporateleaders, marketing professionals and faculty and students ofMBA schools
said that he was high on Modi and PM Modi felt like breath offresh air.
In March 2015, Christine Lagarde discussed how after the Modi government camethe inflation had
come down to around 5%while revised gross domestic product (GDP) data was pointing to a growth at
7 .4%and will help India better even China. She had advocatedfurtherreforms for greatergrowth, which
unfortunately have been blocked by the Congress.
In May 2015,World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim found the policies and work ofIndian PM
Narendra Modi visionary.
What has Modi Government Accomplished?
Let us go through the list ofaccomplishments that Modi Government has notched up in the 2 years that it
has been in power. It is importantto understandthe speed, the efficiencyand the earnestness with which
these schemes havebeen envisaged and then executed. I also challenge youto go to the official sites and
check out the latest - often real time - Dashboards ofthe progress, with relevant KPIs and metrics for each
project and program. I haveworked most ofmy life in Business Intelligenceand Analytics implementing
large programs to get the metrics createdin Dashboards. To do this kind of work even in the best ofUS
multinationals within that short a time - sometimes becauseofdata and sometimes because systems
capturing data "don't talk" - will be considered quite an achievement for even the best
consulting team in US!! That this has been done in Indian Government departments with the
resourcesthat we pejoratively call "Babus" - is nothing short ofabsolute miracle! To understand and
assess any work, we need to look into its context and background and then you will realizewhat has been
done in real terms!
1. Minimum Government - Maximum Governance
The main aim of the government is not to be there and run up the bills on the money ofthe tax payers -
but to govern! And the best governanceis when there is minimal governmentbut efficientin its work.
And that is a major metric by which any government should be evaluated. How many Ministers are used
and what output they give for theireffort?
Let us look at this metric. Modi government has 65 Ministers compared to Dr. Manmohan Singh's 2nd
Ministry with 80. That's 20% less. The work obviously has been more - which we shall see later. But here
is a visual ofthe Minimum government and Maximum governance.
This has the obvious cost savings.
The difference of25 ministers wouldimmediately relieve at least 375 governmentofficials, employed as
personal staffofthese ministers.
The estimated amount ofmoney saved by each minister would be around Rs one crore every year and thus
25 ministers would save Rs 25 crore every year compounding to Rs125 crore in five years. The breakdown
of the annual Rs one crore saving would be more than Rs 65 lakh withdrawn as salary of15 employees, Rs
six lakh allowances minister gets from the government underdifferent clauses. And around Rs 25 lakhs he
would get as part of the salaries and other benefits. Rest ofthe amount for his miscellaneous expenses.
Now this is the direct benefit. There are otherbenefits ofhaving a "lean, mean and flexible"bunch of
ministers who make decisions! The real metric / KPI is how much work or output can a group of
ministers accomplish? And that is where PM Modi's cabinet scores very high!
2. Dissolving Committees and Planning Commission
Charles Kettering onceaccurately observed - “Ifyou want to kill any idea in the world, get a
committeeworking on it.”

2. In UPAs time there were 9 empowered groups ofministers (EGoMs) and 21 groups ofministers (GoMs) in
operation to take decisions on various matters before being presentedto the Cabinet. Do you see the
redundancy? Do you see the culture ofshirking the work and inadequacy ofthe ministers to not make
decisions on their own oreven in groups?
Well, one big thing that Modi did was to abolish all this redundancy! He also abolished the Planning
Commission - which was a vestige from the Sovietera which still was being dragged on - well, because "it
was the way we did work all the time". It was adding nothing much to the real development. As anyone
with any experiencein corporateEnterprise Performance Management areawill tell you budgets are the
legacy ofa past when rationing was key. The flexibility and the focus on states was obvious.
E-Samiksha: is a portal where the action items for every ministry is monitored. It is a real tim e,on-
line system for m onitoring of follow-up action on the decisions taken during the
presentations m ade by different Ministries/Departments to the Prim e Minister. The follow-
up actions are updated by the ministry with the action item and it is accessed by PMO/Cabinet
Secretary/Ministries and the GovernmentDepartments. Now, that is responsiveness!
3.Foreign T rips =FDI Bonanza
I know someone personally who interacts with the Financ eministry bureaucrats and the wordis that
there is a lot ofFDI waiting to enter India but has been held back due to stalling ofreforms by the
opposition. And, this is despite the fact that India - per The Financial Times - has emerged as the biggest
grosser ofFDI in first halfof 2015!
"A ranking ofthe top destinations for green field investment (measured by estimated capital expenditure)
in the first half of 2015 shows India at number one,having attracted roughly $3 billion more than China
and $4 billion more than the US," the FT report said.
For context, India was ranked #15 in 2013, #9 in 2014and #1 in 2015. The trend is clear.
The world economy has been low in the past year orso. And in that atmosphere, where China and other
emerging economies aresuffering, India has been getting more. It could have been much higherhad it
not been for stalled Parliament.
source: tradingeconomics.com
Initiatives like "Make in India"have pushed the FDI up. The "Make in India"initiative, for example,
increased FDI inflow in India by 48% as per April 2015 figures.
Infrastructure Initiatives
Infrastructure is the key to development. IfIndia has to develop, its infrastructure has to be enhanced
and improved. Here are some excellentinitiatives for that:
4.‘Setu Bharatam’Program
This program will make all national highways railway level crossing freeby 2019. A total of208 rail-over
bridges and rail-underbridges will be built at a cost ofRs 20,800 crores in this program. Besides 1,500
decade-old bridges will be reconstructed and revamped for Rs. 30,000 crore.
In the latest Budget 2016-17, Rs. 19,000 crorehave been earmarked under the Pradham Mantri Gram
Sadak Y ojana (PMGSY ), to connectall villages with roads .
5.Research on Cutting-Edge Science
Scientific fundamental research is probably the most important backbonefor a great future ofIndia. It is
imperative that we build infrastructurefor fundamental physics and other science research in India. This
will help us build even great human infrastructure with local scientists getting to work at cutting-edge
areas!
Gravitational Wave Research: In February 2016, the Union Cabinet gave approval for LIGO-India
project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) which will be piloted by
Department ofAtomic Energy and Department ofScience and Technology (DST). This will be a state-of-
the-art gravitational wave observatory in India in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratory in the U.S. run
by Caltech and MIT. An eight kilometre long beam tubeat ultra-high vacuumon a levelled terrain will be
constructed so that fundamental research on this cutting edge technology can happen.
Restarting Cold Fusion Research: In 1994,due to fuzzy and dishonest "scientific"pressure - the
research on Cold Fusion technology was abandoned in India. This answer explains how and why the
whole debate and mis-direction happened. Now the Modi Governmentis starting the work on Cold
fusion. The decision was made by a "high-level group"including two former chairmen ofthe Department
of Atomic Energy (DAE):Anil Kakodkar and Srikumar Banerjee.

3. Promises that were never kept - Being taken care of
For decades now, Indian public has been promised so many things which were never given. "Garibi
Hatao" (and its variations) has been a great slogan only given to fool the public in every election. Even
after 65 years,India didn't have electricity in all the villages, proper roads, an efficient railways, closing on
the disagreements with neighboring countries and even giving the Defense personnel their due. And that
is where this government has done things which even afterso many decades had only been promised but
never undertaken or closed. So let's take a stock.
6.One Rank One Pension (OROP)
Just two years after the Indian forces had won India one of the most spectacular victories in
its history - the 1971 Indo-Pak war - and right after the star Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw
retired, Indira Gandhi's government reduced armed forces pensions by 20-40 percent,
while increasing civilian pension by 20 percent, without any consultation with armed forces
headquarters. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how OROP issue was started! So, when Rahul
Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi or other Congress leaders argue about how Modi government hasn't
done enough on OROP, it is important to lay out the genesis of the whole issue in front of
them point blank. The discrimination of the Armed Forces versus the rest of the
government servants is the brain-child of the Congress itself!!
On March 14, 2016, that decision - where Indira Gandhi stabbed the Armed Forces in their
back after the great 1971 war - imposed by Congress in 1973 was finally corrected and the
pensioners received revised pension. Over Rs 1465 crores were paid to the Armed Services
personnel!
The government on Monday released revised pensionary benefits under One Rank One
Pension (OROP) to over two lakh beneficiaries drawing service or disability pension. The
amount along with first instalment of arrears had been released and credited by the Defence
Ministry to the accounts of pensioners on March 1, 2016.
Could this have not done earlier? Of course it could have been done. But how do you
expect the fox to raise the hens it is placed to look after while it feeds on them?!
7.Electrification ofthe Entire Nation - Rural and Urban Centers
The Modi Government has a target ofbringing electricity to 18,452villages by May 2018. It seems the
way the progress is happening,it will be completed by March 2017 - over an yearahead ofschedule!
India's electricity distribution is in a complete becauseofthe distribution and how the distribution
companies work. Specifically the financials around the whole process. To tackle these issues, the Modi
Government, spearheaded by the Minister ofPower Piyush Goyal - introduced the Ujwal DISCOM
Assurance Yojana (UDAY). It is a financial turnaround and revival package for
electricity distribution companies ofIndia (DISCOMs).
UDAY has four components:(i) improving operational efficiencies ofdiscoms,(ii) reduction ofcost of
power, (iii) reduction in interest cost ofdiscoms and (iv) enforcing financial discipline on discoms
through alignmentwith state finances.
The turnaround will be done with the State Governments taking over 75 percent ofthe Discoms' debt as of
September 30 2015. Afterthis the State Government will pay back lenders by selling bonds.Discoms, on
the other hand, are expected to issuebonds for the remaining 25 percentoftheir debt.
Andhra Pradesh was the first state to join the UDAY scheme. By now 11 states have joined forces with the
Central Government to get the Discoms back on track. They are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Rajasthan,Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Uttarakhand. Interestingly, the state wherethe AAP ChiefMinister won on promising tackling the
Discom mismanagement has given ths UDAY scheme a pass - leaving the Delhi-ites in the lurch!
8.Real Estate Bill Passed
Real estate sector is largely unorganized. Buyers are at the whims and fancies ofthe developers - and
some developers charge through the roofand keep changing the price goal post while the construction is
on. The new real Estate bill will help set up state-level Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs) which
will regulate transactions related to both residential and commercial projects
Some good provisions -
The bill mandates that builders to keep aside70 per cent ofthe money received from buyers in a separate
account. This amount can only be usedfor the project that the money has been paid to the builder.

4. Anyone who has dealt with the developers knows that thesecompanies keep taking money from one
project to another project and play merry go round with the moneys. The result is that the dates of
possession slip and penalties / charges keep changing for the buyers. The builders used to be nonchalant
about the delays in the project becauseit didn't hurt them much at all. They were paying only 2-3%
interest in case ofdefault / delays. On the other hand, buyers had to give out 15-18%interestfor their
defaults. The bill mandates builders to shell out an equal payment ofinterest for delayed possessions as
compared to the interest it chargesbuyers on account ofdelayed payments. Now both have a level playing
field. Also the time for builder to be accountable for structural defects is 5 years from the existing 2
years.Another tactic that the builders usedto fool the buyers was that they promised one set ofbuilt area
in the beginning but would deliver something else. Now that will be stopped. The bill disallows sale ofa
property on the basis of‘super area’ which includes both flat area and common area. Violation ofthis
norm can lead to a three-yearterm for the developer.Builders keep changing the original plan as it suits
them for increasing profits. That will no longer be allowed. This new bill makes it compulsory for
developers or builders to muster the consent oftwo-thirds ofthe buyers to bring about any changes to the
original plan.Forbuilders,it provides them the assurance ofbetter paymentby the buyers. The bill also
imposes penalty on allottee for not paying dues on time. And the builder will have the opportunity to
approach the regulator in case there is any issue with the buyer.
It is said that this bill will bring the home prices down as well.
9.Rejig of Air Defense System to save Rs 49,300 crores
Sometimes looking at things afresh and making sure that we have what we need,gives us a whole new way
to save. And, that is exactly what the Minister ofDefense Manohar Parrikardid. He got the 15 year old
plan reviewed and it resulted in a savings ofalmost 50,000 crores INR. Here are some ofthe points on
this.
The recently concluded review,which involved a technical study by the air force and an eva luation ofall
availableair defencesystems in the world, has resulted in a consensus decision to cut down on purchase
plans of shorter rangemissiles, senior officials have told ET. Air defencestrategy hinges around three
layers - a short range system that protects high value installations upto 25 km, a medium range system
that covers an area ofaround 40 km and a long range system for threats coming from further.Sources told
ET that the revaluation conducted by the air forceconcluded that with the S400 acquisition, the long term
acquisition plan for over 100 each Medium and Short range systems have been cut down."The study found
that we will require a much much lesser number ofthe shorter range systems. Minister Parrikar
convinced the air force that according to its layered defenceplan, the long range system (S400) would
make the larger number ofMR SAM and SR SAM redundant, "The S 400 is expectedto cost $ 6.1 billion
for five systems - the most expensiveair defencesystem ever boughtby India. But, on a per square km
covered basis, ifis the cheapest ofknown systems available globally.
Common sense steps to make sure programs and actions aren't just useful but also cost effectiveare
important. And this government has ministers who can use a bit ofcommon sense.
10. Operation Smile: Saving Missing Kids
Missing kids - due to so many factors - end up in hellish situations. Most commonly either into
prostitution or into bonded labor. Minister ofHome, Rajnath Singh started a program that rescuedkids
who had gone missing and reuniting them with their families. As ofSeptember 2015, over 19,000
children had been rescued!
Nineteen thousand boys and girls rescued by a special initiativeofthe Union home ministry have similar
stories:From being pushed into prostitution and bondedlaborto ill-treatment by parents. Codenamed
'Operation Smile,' the drive pioneered by homeminister Rajnath Singh has seen different state police and
women and child departments step up efforts to rescue missing children, with Haryana and Maharash tra
taking the lead.
That's 19,000 reasons to feel good about a government that has compassion and empathy with the poor
and disadvantaged.
11.Progressive Programs for Overall Development ofIndia
These are some ofthe top programs started by the Modi Government:
Digital India,Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Y ojana,Swachh Bharat,Make in India,Saansad Adarsh Gram
Y ojana,Atal Pension Yojana,Pradhan Mantri Awas Y ojana,Jeevan Jyoti Bima Y ojana (PMJJBY ),Suraksha
Bima Y ojana,Krishi Sinchai Yojana,Kaushal Vikas Yojana,MUDRA Bank Y ojana,Sukanya Samriddhi

5. Y ojana,DigiLockerScheme,Ebasta Scheme,LPGSubsidy Pahal Scheme and Ujwala yojana Modi’s Sagar
Mala,Smart City Y ojana,School Nursery Yojana,Nayi Manzil Y ojana,Gold Monetization Scheme
Let us talk about some ofthese programs.
Digital India: It is a program launched on July 1, 2015 by Narendra Modi to "ensure that Government
services are made availableto citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by
increasing Internet connectivity or by making the country digitallyempowered in the field of
technology". It has three main components - (i) The creation ofdigital infrastructure (ii) Delivering
services digitally and (iii) Digital literacy. It will be done via creating high-speed internet networks
for connecting rural areas. Check out this slidesetfor more details on the program - Digital India
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: launched on 28th August 2014, the Jan Dhan yojana is
a National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely Banking Savings
& Deposit Accounts,Remittance, Credit, Insurance,Pension in an affordable manner. On the opening day
itself, 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened! What does the schemegiveits beneficiaries?
Five main things:
Account holders will be providedzero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to
accidental insurance cover of?1 lakh (US$1,500) (to be given by 'HDFC Ergo').Those who open accounts
by 26 January 2015 overand abovethe Rs1 lakh (US$1,500) accidentclaim will also be given life
insurance cover ofRs 30,000 (US$450) (to be given by LIC).AfterSix months ofopening ofthe bank
account, holders can avail Rs 5,000 (US$74) overdraft from the bank.With the introduction ofnew
technology introduced by National Payments Corporation ofIndia (NPCI), a person can transfer funds,
check balance through a normal phone which was earlierlimited only to smart phones so far.Mobile
banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) for which all
banks and mobile companies have cometogether.
Here are the latest statistics:
Pradhan mantri Jan Dhan Y ojana Progress Report
Swachh Bharat: It is a national campaign by the Government ofIndia, covering 4,041 statutory cities
and towns, to clean the streets, roads and infrastructureofthe country. It was launched by India's PM
Narendra Modi on Oct 2, 2014. Y ou can follow the statistics and progress state-wise at the official site of
Swachh Bharat Mission. Y ou can download the reports in Excel formatas well. Here is one such report
which details Physical Progress Reported by States - Swachh Bharat Report. Based on the official site, the
statistics ofwhat the citizens ofthe country have contributed are pretty staggering. They couldbe much
better given the huge population, but they are amazing still.
Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojna: On March 10, 2016,the Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Y ojna was launched.
Under the scheme, Rs 8000 will be spent to giveLPGconnections to the rural poor. Afterthe appeal from
the governmentand the 'GiveItUp'campaign, over80 lakh people havealready given up their LPG
subsidy voluntarily. Peoplewith income ofover Rs 10 lakh income were requested to give up the subsidy.
In the new budget for 2015-16, Minister ofFinance Arun Jaitley earmarked Rs 2000 crores.
"Women of India have faced the curseofsmoke during the process ofcooking.According to experts,
having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour. The time has come to remedy
this situation,"he said said in his Budget speech.
He had stated that the government has decided to embark on a massivemission to provide LPG
connections in names ofwomen members ofpoor households.
"I have set aside a sum of Rs 2,000 crore in this year's Budget to meet the initial cost ofproviding these
LPG connections. This will benefit about1 crore50 lakh households below the poverty line in 2016 -17,"he
had said.
This will help the rural poor - specially women - to have a better quality oflife.
12.T he New Generation Reforms for Railways by Suresh Prabhu
Author's Note: Due to oversight,I had missed writing on the Railway Minister, Suresh prabhu's
accomplishments. The commentsfrom the readers mademe realize it and I am rectifying it now. Thanks
for the great feedback!
Suresh Prabhu is another stellarminister. Here are some ofhis most amazing achievementas Railways
minister.

6. Smart Management: One ofthe best leadership things that Suresh Prabhu did was to change the way
tenders were decided upon. Now, all tenders ofnon-central natureor dealing with one zone, the General
Manager will be the main accepting authority. For tenders above Rs 500 crores, the authority will be a
member ofthe Railway Board. Minister has been taken outofthe whole equation itself.
Financing from Life Insurance Corporation: In a very interesting decision, Suresh Prabhu signed
an Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with the Life InsuranceCorporation, railways will get a
financing ofRs1.5 lakh crore over a period offive years to finance infrastructureworks.
Launched e-catering service: Via the Indian Railways Catering &Tourism Corporation (IRCTC),
Indian railwaysis now offering an e-catering service. While in the train, a traveler can placean order for a
meal just by making a phone call or sending an SMS. Here is the e-catering website.
Security via Helplines: There are two helpline numbers now in Indian railways. "138"for medical
emergency, cleanliness, food &catering, coach maintenance, linen etc. ‘182’ for any untowardor abuse
issues. These will be printed on the railway tickets so they are handy.
Smart services: Many smartservices have been introduced to help the passengers. Go-India Smart
Cardhas been launched on two sectors:New Delhi to Mumbai and New Delhi to Howrah, where the card
allows the passengers to pay for reserved and unreserved seats. This will reduce the transaction time and
also help reduce the corruption ofthe Ticket Checker("TT" in local parlance). Anotherinitiative is the
new e-Ticketing system which can now book 3.5 times more tickets perminute (which means 7200 tickets
a minute) and helps take care of200,000 enquiries. For enhancedsecurity ofwomen, there is aMobile
Security app for women. It will be implemented in a phased manner throughout the railway sectors.
Yatri T icket Sewa Kendra (YT SK) Scheme: Under this scheme, agents ofIndian railways will
operate terminals at multiple locations in major towns and cities to issue reserved and unreserved tickets.
R.O. Drinking Water at Stations: RO drinking water will be provided at selection stations now - these
are Madurai, Gadag, Tirupati, Guwahati Dwarka, H.Nizammudin, Patna & Bhopal.
There are many great initiatives that Suresh Prabhu has undertaken and it will take a completepost -
which I will write in near future.
Railways at T witter Speed
Not just the Foreign affairs, but even the Indian Railways runs at Twitter speednow. For example, here is
an important tweet for the benefit ofthe public.
He highlights positive news and accomplishments. For example, now passengers can ratethe Indian
Railways and its work.
How about a live band at the railway station? Here Madgaon gets one.
Some other interesting information on the amazing work that Suresh Prabhu is doing.
Ok, so this makes the list go to 13. So be it. Please keep sending in more and more feedback!
13.Breath-taking work by External Affairs Ministry
Indian ministries could hardly even work at snail's pace earlier. It was almost as ifnothing worked. Now,
the External Affairs ministry works even based on a tweet! A simple request or appeal to the minister
Smt. Sushma Swaraj leads to action aroundthe world. The entire machinery is activated and the people
who are Indian citizens are taken care ofimmediately! This minister works are Twitter's pace. This tweet
says it all