T N Ninan: Better than the rest

WEEKEND RUMINATIONS

This newspaper has been pretty critical of Manmohan Singh for many "sins" of omission and commission""a truly disappointing record on economic reforms, accepting bad ideas foisted on him by his party leadership and by the Left, letting his government take decisions that he couldn't possibly be in agreement with, not doing anything while some of his ministers run amok, and so on. But to give what often looks like an ineffectual Prime Minister his due, Dr Singh's government may yet come to be viewed as one of the best this country has had. Consider the following:

Economic growth will probably average 8.5 per cent during the five years, way ahead of any other government's record. Inflation seems likely to end up being lower than in any other five-year period. Savings and investment rates are at a peak, the dollars are flowing in, the corporate sector is in the pink, the stock market has soared, and tax revenues are buoyant. In short, the economy is on song, as we all know. But that is only part of the story.

For Dr Singh has scored some breakthroughs on the diplomatic front as well. If the Indo-US nuclear deal is found to be generally acceptable (it cannot be perfect, because compromises have been made), it will be the most significant international agreement that a Prime Minister has signed after the 1971 defence treaty that Indira Gandhi signed with the Soviet Union""significant not just because of the immediate subject of the agreement but also for the signals on international alignments. On top of that, there is the clear easing of tensions with Pakistan, a succession of confidence-building measures, Islamabad's shift from long-held positions (a plebiscite, for instance), and some discussion of possible end-solutions-based on Dr Singh's clever formulation that the two countries should work to make borders irrelevant.

Domestically, there is communal peace and the absence of caste-based tension""and no high-voltage disasters. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had to live down his mishandling of the Gujarat riots, Narasimha Rao had the Babri Masjid and scandals like the pay-offs to MPs for winning a confidence vote, and of course Rajiv Gandhi had Bofors. Dr Singh has so far escaped such tragedies and scandals, though he has no shortage of ministerial colleagues who are up to no good""including one or two who have had a clean record.

Over and above all this, there is the comfortable style of a Prime Minister with the best possible academic credentials, scrupulous financial honesty and abundant humility, who conducts himself well in any setting and who is beavering away at what needs to get done""no escapades in fast cars like Rajiv, none of the dodgy company that Narasimha Rao kept (remember Chandraswami?), nor the light work schedule preferred by Mr Vajpayee.

In short, there is peace and greater prosperity at home, and friendlier ties with important countries that have been either distant or hostile, achieved by a leader with whom the country can feel at ease. It is possible to argue that the government in these last three years has also done the groundwork for significant improvement in the physical infrastructure, increased outlays massively in key areas, and started the long journey towards providing social security.

Admittedly, this is a selectively favourable listing and the critics will have their comebacks: How much credit can Dr Singh take for the good economic performance? Isn't he standing tall on many issues because he stands on the shoulders of his predecessors? What about the appointment of ministers facing criminal charges, the undeniable diminishing of the office of Prime Minister, the unchecked growth of the Naxalite menace, the failure to improve governance standards, the continuing farmer suicides ... I suppose the Prime Minister's defence would be that running the government in India is a messy business, involving unpalatable compromises, and that change is unavoidably slow on issues like governance. Whether one buys that defence or not, when one considers the alternatives that are likely to present themselves after the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, Dr Singh looks like a very good man to have in the hot seat.