NaMo's Gujarat: Can we learn from it?

Prof E Bijoykumar Singh *

BJP Party's Prime Ministerial candidate arrives at Imphal on 08 Feb 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

Though how one interprets the success or otherwise of Narendra Damodardas Modi aka NaMo's recent visit to Manipur beginning his campaign in the north east depends on one's party affiliation, it is important to understand what Gujarat model of development actually means and where NaMo fits in. NaMo became CM of Gujarat in October 2001 and he is now in his fourth term as a CM. NaMo has come a long way from working in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Transport Corporation to being a prime ministerial candidate for the BJP.

In three opinion polls conducted by news agencies and magazines, Narendra Modi was declared the preferred choice for the post as Prime Minister in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. According to British economist Jim O'Neill, author of the BRIC report, Modi is "good on economics", one of the things that "India desperately needs in a leader". In August 2013, financial analyst Chris Wood, wrote in his weekly Greed & Fear that "the Indian stock market's greatest hope is the emergence of Gujarat Chief Minister NarendraModi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate."

To understand the challenge of NaMO, one needs to know his Gujarat and its development during his time. By most accounts Gujarat has been a frontrunner in governance and development despite the low grade in Rajan Committee report. During late 2011 and early 2012, NaMo undertook a series of fasts as part of a Sadbhavna Mission (Goodwill Mission), meant to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat. NaMo announced that he believed that his fast would "further strengthen Gujarat's environment of peace, unity and harmony

NaMo's government has worked to brand Gujarat as a state of dynamic development and economic growth and prosperity, using the slogan "Vibrant Gujarat". While Gujarat's share in India's population is 4.99%, its share in the country's GDP for the year 2011-12 ( at 2004-5 prices) is 7.61%. Real gross state domestic product at factor cost in 2011-12 increased by 8.5%. Gujarat's per capita income for 2011-12 at current prices was Rs 89,668 as against India's per capita income of Rs 61,564. During 2002-12, the Modi era to be more precise, the average annual growth rate of GSDP was 10.24%.

The growth rate declined from 10.97% during X th Five year plan to 9.51% during the XI plan despite the global melt down. During the last 4 years the state government has brought down the fiscal deficit from 3.54% of GSDP to 2.57% in 2013-14(BE). Gujarat pioneered the concept of urban: to provide urban like amenities in larger villages while still retaining the rural soul in these places. In contrast Pura aims at providing urban infrastructure in rural areas. Gujarat has 28 women police stations and 4 women cells. It intends to station women constables and head constables in every police station in the state.

During the XII plan Gujarat's development vision will be guided by continued emphasis on human development and inclusive growth. Other objectives are increased livelihood opportunities, empowerment of youth and women, improved quality of life especially of the poor, good governance and citizen centric services, improved effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in programmes directly aimed at the poor, meeting the challenges of urbanisation especially in terms of infrastructure, services and governance, decentralised planning and focused attention on balanced regional development. Gujarat has been in the limelight as it is showcased as NaMo's capability. His confidence and aggressive politicking style are based on his performance in Gujarat.

Successive BJP governments which have been ruling the state since 1995 supported NGOs and communities in the creation of infrastructure projects for conservation of groundwater. By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been constructed, of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check dams remained empty during the pre monsoon season, they helped recharge theacquifers. So successful was this strategy that 60 of the 112 tehsils which were found to have over–exploited the groundwater table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater level by 2010 and Gujarat had managed to increase its groundwater levels at a time when they were falling in all other Indian states.

Gujarat became the largest producer of genetically-modified Bt cotton in India. The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land raised the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007.For the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded a compound annual growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states. While NaMo should not be given full credit for the extremely good performance, he should be given credit for sustaining a process.

The system of supplying power to rural areas has been changed radically and has had a greater impact on agriculture than the irrigation works. While states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu provided free electricity to farms, and most other states provided subsidised power, the Gujarat government between 2003–2006 adopted a different policy stance while reacting to concerns that such measures result in waste of the power supplied and of groundwater itself.

With the Jyoti gram Yojanascheme, based on ideas developed by the International Water Management Institute, agricultural power supplies were rewired to separate them from other rural supplies and then the electricity used by farms was rationed to fit with scheduled demand for irrigation. The farmers objected to this at first but came to realise that they were receiving a supply that suffered less from interruption, was of a more consistent voltage and was available when they most needed it for irrigation purposes. In short the quality of power improved on many counts.

Recently it was also in the limelight as part of the Sen-Bhagwati debate. In July 2013, Sen criticized NaMo's governance record and said he did not approve of it. Under his administration, Gujarat's record in education and healthcare is pretty bad. However, economists Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya state that Gujarat's social indicator improved from a much lower baseline than other Indian states.

They point to Gujarat's superior performance in raising literacy rates when compared to other states in India and the rapid improvement of health indicators in Gujarat as evidence that "its progress has not been poor by any means" Bhagwati argues that for a country like India, growth is absolutely vital for raising living standards and it is the state's responsibility to create conditions for growth. He is all praise for the Gujarati entrepreneurial culture, where the accumulated wealth is used for social good, drawing from Vaishnava and Jain traditions.

The Gujarat model emphasises on investment in physical infrastructure to create a conducive environment for business; investment in social development takes secondary importance. Sen counters that though growth is important, it is only a means to an end, that being a substantial reduction in poverty and enhancing the capabilities of the vast majority of the nation. If we want to sustain whatever growth we may be having , Gujarat should have been studied much earlier. We should rise above political differences to ensure that beneficiaries get their dues. The colour of the cat matters little as long as it catches mice.