A K Bhattacharya: Thinking big and setting targets

NEW DELHI DIARY

Even after Sam Pitroda joined the Government in the 1980s, as one of Rajiv Gandhi's key advisors, and raised visions of a communication revolution in the country, few people""within the government and outside""believed that any real change could actually take place as promised. The wait for getting a telephone connection those days often would be as long as three to ten years, depending on the area or state where you wanted the phone to be installed. Teleprinter machines were the primary mode used by offices for long-distance communication""within the country and abroad. Facsimile machines to transmit documents had just arrived and only a few offices would boast of them. Mobile phones, e-mails or video conferencing were not even within the realm of one's imagination.

In less than 15 years, the communications scene has changed in the country so dramatically that it is almost impossible to convince a teenager today the immense difficulties one used to face earlier while trying to connect with people across different centres. Sam Pitroda was not responsible for all the technological innovations that happened or for the new communication services that were launched in the last decade and a half. Policy-induced competition and technological breakthroughs forced telecom expansion in this country, much beyond even Mr Pitroda's expectations. But credit must go to him for being among the first in India to have thought big on the communications front. He was the person who first recognised the need for rapid expansion of the telecommunications sector and how this would promote economic growth and empowerment of the people.

Indeed, an ideal yardstick to measure how a government has performed in a year is this ability of the leadership of the day to look ahead, spot emerging trends and set ambitious goals. As 2006 draws to a close, it will be interesting to look back and see if the Manmohan Singh government in the last 30 months has come up with any bold ideas.

The first on this list, without doubt, will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's growth vision. In a year everyone was betting on a growth rate of 7.5-8 per cent, Dr Singh as chairman of the Planning Commission managed to convince all his colleagues in the government to accept the goal of achieving 9 per cent annual growth in the Eleventh Plan, starting from April 2007. Initially, there were few takers. The Tenth Plan did see acceleration in the growth rate in the last three years, but in spite of that it will miss the target. So, a strong lobby within the government was in favour of setting a more realistic growth target.

Ultimately, Dr Singh prevailed upon his colleagues to agree to a higher growth target of 9 per cent. Will this target be achieved? No one can say now. But should Dr Singh have set such a target? The answer is an unqualified yes. It is important for the government to think big and raise visions of higher growth. A prime minister plays an important role pushing the country into believing that higher growth is possible. When McKinsey presented a report on India and argued that 10 per cent annual growth was possible, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was then the prime minister, was reported to have expressed his bewilderment over such high growth prospects. In sharp contrast, Manmohan Singh has taken the initiative himself and raised the growth target.

The second such idea pertained to infrastructure investment. In his speech delivered at the New York Stock Exchange, Manmohan Singh stated that India's infrastructure investment requirement was estimated at $150 billion. Now this figure seems to have been accepted by everyone in the government. Once again, a massive investment target was put out. Initially, there were doubts on the feasibility of attracting such huge investments. But going by the manner in which new projects in roads, airports and power projects are being lined up, the $150 billion investment target no longer looks unfeasible. In fact, the announcement of this target has placed the government infrastructure ambitions in perspective and this has helped channel investments into the infrastructure sector from both the private and state-owned sectors.

The short point is that it is important for government leaders to think big and set ambitious targets. It is also important to stay firmly rooted to reality when it comes to taking steps to achieve those targets. Eventually, the government may not achieve 9 per cent growth or mobilise $150 billion for infrastructure investment. But by setting these goals, the government is forcing everyone in the system to think big. If Sourav Ganguly had not set himself the ambitious target of returning to the Indian cricket team and not taken corrective steps in his batting style and technique, could he have ever made the kind of comeback he did at Johannesburg last week?

akb@business-standard.com