Common Minimum Programme

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle July 2004)

The age of individuals is over. The era of single-party rule is gone. Even the coalition-wary Congress is no more so. Never before did we believe so much in teamwork, whether it is business or politics. Job interviews do not focus any more merely on how capable you are, but on how capable you are of working in a team.

This changed scenario has brought about another shift. No matter how good a decision you make, it won’t work. It first needs to be agreed upon by your partners as well. Hence the need for a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The outgoing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had understood its importance. And the new incumbent, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the Congress-led coalition supported by the Left parties, has continued the tradition.

Like all manifestos, the CMP of the Left-supported UPA is a well-intentioned paper. Let me bring to you some of its salient features. After the preamble—most preambles hardly make any sense and this one is no different in that respect—it rightly focuses on employment, priority #1. It says, “The UPA Government will immediately enact a National Employment Guarantee Act.” It is not employment for all, but employment for each family. One able-bodied person in every household will be guaranteed 100 days of employment in a year.

And “in the interim, a massive food-for-work programme will be started.” That is important, food for work. Food for mind is as important as food for body. And the former can be had only through work or employment. The trouble for most of the Indians is our mindset. We think we can be happy if we don’t have work to do. But we are mistaken. Such freedom from work is not leisure. That is a burden. Leisure is the free time that you get after work.

Another important promise is that “the rural cooperative credit system will be nursed back to health.” It is only well-known how our villagers get trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. And the governments end up either neglecting them or giving them vote-winning sops. Both are detrimental. If you want to help a poor man, don’t give him fish; teach him how to fish. And bearing in mind today’s economy, give him hook, line and sinker. Also, insure the pond in which he fishes. The CMP says: “Immediate steps will be taken to ease the burden of debt and high interest rates on farm loans. Crop and livestock insurance schemes will be made more effective.”

Now, if you have to teach him how to fish, the government must focus on education. Hearteningly, the UPA pledges “to raise public spending in education to at least 6 per cent of the GDP.” If the CBSE results this year are any indicator, the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas have shown great promise. Given the proper direction, other government schools may follow suit.

The CMP further says “at least half this amount” will be spent on primary and secondary schools. Now, this is less than what is their due. They need a fairer share. Too much spending on higher education does not make much sense. Do we really need to produce three million graduates every year? Isn’t it a sheer waste of money? It would be much better to have a sound secondary education than doing a half-baked, or maybe quarter-baked, Master of Science (MSc).

Before education, however, comes health. You cannot educate a sick child. And the private hospitals charge exorbitant fees. Given such a scenario, it is a welcome move that “the UPA Government will raise public spending on health to at least 2-3% of the GDP over the next five years, with focus on primary healthcare.” Besides, “a national scheme for health insurance for poor families will be introduced.”
These are just glimpses of a well-meaning paper. But the proof of the pudding lies in its taste. Will the host Manmohan Singh be able to serve them to us? The problem is: there are too many cooks.