28 Nov, 2013
Asia Times Online: A ‘Modi’-fication’ of Indian politics
There is a new aspect to Modi – his ability to tell tall tales. The Pinocchio side to Modi is slowly revealing itself both in the case of his economic policies and also the yarns that he has been spinning. The web of deceit spans the current to the past ie from Gujarat’s socio-economic health to India’s history.
For a state given as a glowing example of good governance, economic growth and openness to industry a recent Comptroller and Auditor General report stating that one out of every three children in Gujarat is underweight leaves one wondering what lies beneath good governance and economic growth. Even Gujarat’s Women and Development Minister has stated that at least 600,000 children in 14 districts are malnourished, while data for the remaining districts were “not available”.
Christophe Jaffrelot, professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s India Institute, London, recently wrote in an article titled “No Model State” that Gujarat’s progress is because of the freebies handed to industry at the cost of the state exchequer. It adds the state’s progress is fueled by huge debt which has grown from 45 billion rupees (US$8.39 billion) in 2002 to 1.3 trillion rupees today.
Read the rest: Asia Times Online: A ‘Modi’-fication’ of Indian politics.
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