What about the substance of what Mr Vajpayee said? As it happens, he didnt score very well here either. The economic programme that he spelt out mostly reiterated some of the points contained in the BJPs election manifesto (which itself took its cue from a paper presented by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch to an RSS camp last August). True, inaugural speeches by prime ministers are meant only to indicate the broad directions of state policy and cannot, for that reason, be brimming with facts, figures and other detail. Nevertheless, it is generally a good idea to find out if something makes sense or not. By this token, Mr Vajpayees programme is mostly vague; where it is precise, it is impractical and confusing.
For instance, it is hard not to question the stated policy objective of doubling food production over the next 10 years. The resources required for this are so enormous that, as a wag has suggested, there is only one way of achieving it: halve the production of everything else! The BJP-led alliance, in its common agenda, has talked of devoting 60 per cent of all investment to agriculture, rural development and irrigation. This would mean a trebling from the current level of about 20 per cent, which would leave virtually nothing for other activities (which collectively would now get 40 per cent of the total, instead of 80 per cent). But this is clearly impossible, because you need industries that will feed inputs to the farms and process the output; you need power for pumps; and transport linkages to market the output. The proposed investment pattern therefore makes no sense at all. Clearly, someone needs to do his homework properly before putting an idea into the prime ministers speech. Mr Vajpayee also said
that his government would empower the states to clear up to Rs 1,500 crore worth of foreign direct investment in key areas. This doesnt make much sense either. What if a state claims that it has observed central directives regarding environmental standards or the Central Electricity Authoritys guidelines, while the latter disagree? If a foreign investment proposal involves external commercial debt, wont the finance ministry come into the picture? Who will monitor the observance of central stipulations? If it is a central body, what operative meaning does the Prime Ministers announcement have?
In other words, when a Prime Minister makes a speech, someone must take the trouble of dotting the is and crossing the ts. Failure to do so merely makes him look casual, if not worse. It also fosters the impression that the government doesnt have a very clear idea of what it is doing. By not going that extra mile, Mr Vajpayee has wasted an important opportunity.