India's New Autobahn:Kashmir to Kanyakumari

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>bjp-l (AT) ofbjp (DOT) org >vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com >[bJP News]: A

nation on the march: who says the BJP-led government has been a tremendous

>Wed, 4 Dec 2002 08:23:47 -0800 > >A nation on the march: who says the

BJP-led government has been a tremendous >failure? > >By M V Kamath >21 Nov,

2002 > >Something extraordinary is quietly happening in our country and it is

>proving that both the Left and the Right are wrong, writes a distinguished

>economist in a local national newspaper. Gurcharan Das is not a blind

>follower of the BJP or an ardent supporter of the NDA government, but in the

>end one has to be fair and give credit where credit is due. And Gurcharan >Das

apparently has no qualms in doing so. But what is it that has called for >his

admiration? Here are the facts: India's biggest infrastructure project >is

under way with around 28,000 engineers and 5.6 lakh workers engaged

>practically round the clock to complete 14,180 kms of world class highways

>costing Rs. 54,000 crore. > >The last time anyone accomplished such a grand

dream was 500 years ago when >Sher Shah Suri built the 1,925 km Grand Trunk

Road and that to this day >continues to be one of India's wonders. Sure, the

British during their less >than 100 years of rule built some first class roads

but it is under the >guidance of the NDA government that something of the

magnitude befitting a >great nation is being attempted. Of the contemplated

14,180 kms more than >2,000 kms have already been fully laid down and 5,300 km

are currently under >construction. They are joining

Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai with six lanes >and, as Gurcharan Das so

poetically declared, ``linking Kashmir with >Kanyakumari and Silchar with

Saurashtra in two high-speed corridors''. > >The work is being one with such

speed that four metros will be six-laned a >year ahead of schedule, by December

2003 and the North-South, East-West >corridors will be completed two years ahead

of time, by 2007. If Prime >Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will be remembered for

anything, it will be >for his going one better than Sher Shah and for competing

with US President >Franklin D. Roosevelt who initiated the building of over

34,000 kms of world >class roads in the United States between 1944 and 1956.

Roosevelt's vision >was full implemented by his successor, President Truman but

both, one >suspects, took their cue from Hitler who transformed Germany's

economy in >the 1930s by ordering the construction of autobahns, at one time

the finest >of their kind in the world. > >The highways that Vajpayee has

initiated and which a retired military >officer (who is also an efficient

Minister) is implementing have been made >possible by a road cess that is

partially meeting the costs but has just as >importantly enabled long-term

private capital flows such as National Highway >Bonds and funds from the World

and and Asian Development Bank. > >According to the World Bank estimates, once

the highways are completed and >are fully under operation, they will save the

nation Rs. 8,000 crores a year >which is no mean achievement. Significantly,

the highway project is >consuming 3 million tonnes of cement and 2.5 lakh

tonnes of steel a year, >thus contributing not only to the revival of these two

ailing industries but >substantially giving employment to lakhs of people. No

Congress government >in the past fifty years has come close to attempting

something like this. >Even as reckless charges are being made of corruption in

high circles, the >government has appointed international consultants such as

MeriTec of New >Zealand to make sure that contractors don't cut corners and use

third rate >material in the construction. > >The consultants are keeping a

skinned eye on every inch of road while the >government itself deserves to be

congratulated for exempting important >equipment from customs duty, and

enabling high-technology equipment such as >extra heavy vibratory rollers to

become quickly operational. This is what is >called efficient administration.

Also not known to many is the magnificent >13-coach Vigyan Rail that is being

planned by the H.R.D. Ministry under the >leadership of Dr Murli Manohar Joshi

to take science to the masses. This >train, fully equipped with the best

scientific information technology and >manned by trained `communicators' in

several languages, will be set rolling >by the end of 2003 in a massive effort

to take science to the ordinary >people. That would be another feather in the

NDA cap. > >That these achievements have not been sufficiently brought to the

notice of >the public can in part be attributed to the NDA's unfamiliarity with

Public >Relations, and in part, too, to the sense of weariness that has come

over >BJP party workers. They have been under such consistent and vicious

attack >by the media for so long that the tendency has been all too often to

forget >Kargil and remember the Ahmedabad riots. > >Against this background the

good work done as, for instance, by the Ministry >of Power, gets to be pushed

into oblivion. The impeccable performance by >POWERGRID since its inception is

an excellent illustra-tion. Presently it is >operating and maintain-ing Extra

High Voltage transmission net-work of over >40,000 circuit kms spread across

the country with an availability >consistently exceeding 98% and is at par with

international standards. > >The organisation has given utmost priority to

project management and many of >its projects have been completed ahead of

schedule, which is a feat in >itself. It has also excelled in financial

management and its turnover and >profits have increased manifold, but whoever

has heard of it? > >The Media gets its pleasure in highlighting Narendra Modi's

`gaurav yatra' >since it does not take much effort to write about it when it

takes some >legwork to discover that the Power Ministry is establishing a

>state-of-the-art fibre optic network of about 14,000 kms to be completed in >a

year's time at an estimated cost of about $ 225 million covering over 56

>cities, including all metros and even the remotest places of North Eastern

>States. POWERGRID has also capitalised upon the inherent infrastructure

>advantages and has diversified into telecom sector arena to enhance value of

>its core business. > >It surely took great courage for the Vajpayee Government

to allow nuclear >tests to be carried out almost soon after coming to power. The

risk was >great, but had to be faced and the NDA government faced it. The tests

had >been deferred by earlier Congress government over and over again, because

of >US opposition. Delhi had been warned in sufficiently strong terms of

adverse >reaction. > >It was told, for example, that there could be a run on

the rupee, that there >might be a flight of capital and even worse, that there

might be stoppage of >foreign aid. Expectedly, for more than a year western

powers and their >allies kept India on tenterhooks. But Delhi went about its

work placidly. >All dire predictions turned out to be misplaced. On the

contrary India has a >comfortable foreign exchange reserve of over $ 62

billion. And was it under >a Congress govern-ment that India had to pawn its

gold in order to survive? > >It has been argued that as a result of India's

daring Pakistan too felt >compelled to carry its own tests but what is

forgotten is that this has >enabled the world to judge what Pakistan has been

doing clandestinely with >the support of China. Pakistan has been exposed.

Which is just as well. > >Significantly, after hitting a plateau, Indo-US

economic relations are on >the upswing. And the Indo-US Economic Forum has been

activated. A number of >top economy-related visits by American leaders have been

scheduled. The >stress is now on ensuring more frequent interactions between the

two sides >at different levels. > >What is relevant to remember is that the

Vajpayee Government has dared to >move into areas which once were considered

out of bounds. Thus, in regard to >Disinvestment, not only have several Public

Sector units already been >disposed of but the goal of raising Rs. 78,000 crore

by 2007 has been set >and is in the process of implementation. Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI) is >up. At the recent India-ASEAN meet in Delhi Vajpayee

reiterated his >government's commitment to public sector sell-offs and economic

growth >saying: ``Our reforms process continues to target high growth with

balanced >and equitable development. > >Our ambitious GDP growth of 8 per cent

exhorts us to stay on the path. There >can be no looking back''. As `Business

Today' noted, it turns out that is >not mere talk. Unknown to most, Vajpayee

has ordered a few trusted >bureaucrats to draw up a new, detailed roadmap for

India's economic future. >According to reports, some 14 different groups of

Ministers (GoMs) are >burning the proverbial midnight oil to put together a

blueprint for the next >phase of reforms. Already Finance Ministry adviser

Vijay Kelkar's >consultative paper on Direct and Indirect Taxes has started to

make waves. >Among other things he has suggested lowering of corporate tax to

30 per cent >from the current 36.75 per cent, scrapping of the Minimum

Alternative Tax >and lowering tax on foreign companies from the 35 per cent. It

will be a >surprise if this doesn't end up in substantially increased FDI.

Fearful of >the success of the Vajpayee Government, poor Sonia Gandhi has been

forced to >make the ridiculous charge that the BJP-led government has been a

>``comprehensive failure''. > >The truth is that it has been a tremendous

success with the inflation rate >kept well below 3 per cent or several months

in one continuous stretch, >which is a record of sorts. And who but a BJP-led

government would have >dared to hold completely free and fair elections in

Jammu & Kashmir and >allow a popularly elected government come to power? > >One

has only to wait for a few months for the new government to show >positive

results. One can easily give the government two cheers. The third >cheer can

wait. It takes time for well-sown seeds to grow into plants and >give the

fruits of endeavour. But certainly, the BJP-led government has much >to be

proud of, and little reason to be despondent or apologetic

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