Did PM Modi really sell India?

PM Modi’s pathbreaking victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha election left opposition in a phase where Modi’s charismatic personality among the masses is invincible, and there is no place for opposition to replace him in the near future. Therefore, this desperation of losing ground has pressed the panic button in opposition parties and in some media community. 

Therefore, the strategy adopted by major opposition parties and few media people is to create a fake narrative and stories to malign the image of PM Modi in the eyes of millions of people. Social media platforms are flooded with messages without any evidence to convey their frustration against PM Modi. Sometimes the language is so awful against him or his mother; it feels like people have lost their balance and forgotten the values elders have taught. The best part of PM Modi’s personality and his working style is that he never gets perturbed by whatever allegations or abuses hurled at him. His focus is only to work for the welfare of every Indian with the slogan, “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas”.

Everyone clearly knows that all the problems created over the years cannot be solved in one go; few have been solved; lingering will be solved in stages in coming years. Issues such as petroleum production and its prices, international issues, farmer’s issues, health and education, are going on at high speed, however, this will take time to fully incorporate, as we are the second-largest country in the world and democracy is used for selfish political gains and obstructions are created for the government in parliament to pass important bills. Few NGOs are playing in the hands of foreign organisations that do not want to see India as a developed country. The latest allegation on PM Modi is that he sold India. Let us look at some facts to know the truth.

During a budget speech on Feb 2021, FM Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned the “Asset Monetization” plan. Going ahead with the budget announcement, the Modi government announced asset monetisation in the next four years’ worth of six lakh crores. It was not the first time asset monetisation is being done; it was done during Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh government, so this outcry about the current government’s monetisation is just a reflection of subservience against PM Modi. If political leaders have really believed in the nation's development, they would not have opposed a policy supporting the economic growth of a country, job creation, and additional revenue for the government to develop the infrastructure length and breadth of a country.

What does “Assent Monetization” mean?

The government is transferring revenue rights to the private sector for a specified period for a sum of upfront money, revenue share and commitment to invest in an asset. It doesn’t mean ownership is transferred to private players; ownership still lies with the government. 

The purpose behind this initiative is to utilise the already built infrastructure (brownfield projects) to generate revenue upfront; otherwise, it could take several years to generate the same amount from the project/asset. 

Greenfield project is a tough task for any entrepreneur considering the huge investment, time, efforts and risk. The brownfield project De-risk the private player as the government has already created the asset. The increase in investment will lead to create more jobs, better revenue statistics to government, infrastructure development, overall economic growth, effective utilisation of government assets such as power sector, roads, railways, natural gas and petroleum pipeline, fibre network and so on. 15 railway stations, 25 airports, 160 coal mining projects, 31 projects in 9 major ports, 210 lakh MT of warehousing assets, two national stadiums and two regional centres, will be up for monetisation. Redevelopment of ITDC hotels will generate around Rs 15000 crore.

The question is on what ground opposition is creating narrative when the ownership is going to be with the government, and it is going to add revenue for furtherance. It clearly points out that the only agenda is to malign the image of PM so that he loses the election in 2024. Therefore, the priority is not our country and its people but a person who has gained power with the blessings of people democratically and working hard to bring positive socio-economic change and building a strong nation. One more worry: he is not allowing unethical practices and corruption by those who enjoyed power and money at the behest of taxpayer money.
Regarding the privatisation of some government PSUs, we really need to change the outlook towards our country and its growth compared to developed nations.

Is it not our duty to improve the efficiency of our government enterprises, ministries, various departments all over India? The inefficiency and corrupt practices of many government enterprises and offices indeed derailed and affected our economy largely. Have we ever thought about why government assets are mostly in losses even after the government is pumping a huge amount of money and resources to build and run? The government-run machinery is politically influenced, the greed of few people steered to use resources adversely, products and money to gratify personal agenda and make money out of it. Most of the government employees have an attitude that they have no responsibility and accountability towards society and government. Therefore, this attitude makes them unproductive, ineffective and many follow corrupt practices. This comfortable, money-making job and securing the retired life with pension attracts many Indians to look for a government job, and hence numerous people are differing with the idea of “privatisation”.

How will privatisation help the government and people at large?

• The burden of carrying huge losses will end, and revenue earned will be used for infrastructure development.

• The sick units’ ones owned by private players, the efficiency, quality, and performance will improve, securing thousands of jobs and creating new job opportunities.

• The corrupt practices will stop.

• The growth engine will further add value in terms of taxes to governments

• Living standards will improve

• People/customers will get the best services at cheaper rates.

• The cycle of completing each task effectively and in time will help people and businesses to act fast, adding to their efficiency, quality, and delivery.

Every Indian needs to contemplate “Nation first” than any person even if he/she is Prime Minister of our country. If a policy, a law or a decision is going to add value to our society and country economically, socially, we must unite and support rather than making it a political point.