Former Secretary-General of Rajya Sabha Dr. Yogendra Narain Exclusive Interview on 4 Years of Modi Government!

Recently Modi Government completed its 4 years in office and there were all kind of reactions from different sections of society. While many rated this government’s performance as exemplary, there are also fair numbers of critics who raise many questions.

In our attempt to bring forward some expert views on performance of Modi Government’s rule, we spoke to Retd. IAS Dr. Yogendra Narain. Dr. Yogendra Narain, B.Sc., M.A. M. Phil and Ph.D. has served as the Founder-Chairman of the Greater NOIDA Industrial Development Authority and of the National Highway Authority of India. Dr. Narain also served as a Secretary-General for Rajya Sabha – the Upper House of the Parliament of India. He retired from the Indian Administrative Services after serving for over 42 years. He has worked in various capacities in the administration in the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Government of India. He served as the Principal Secretary to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh; as Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport, Government of India; Chief Secretary of Government of Uttar Pradesh and Defence Secretary to the Government of India. Dr. Narain holds degrees B.Sc., M.A. (Political Science), Diploma in Development Economics, M. Phil and Ph.D.

In a brief interview with Ten News editor Ashish Kedia, Dr. Yogendra Narain brought forward his expert views on various policies and issues concerning the four year tenure of Modi government.

Ten News: how do you see these four years of Modi Government? What according to you has been their biggest achievement and what has been one area where you think they have failed?
Dr. Yogendra Narain : I think Mr. Modi has infused an enthusiasm, a hope and a dream in public. The best thing is that he touches the feeling and aspiration of the common man as he has also come from a common background. That’s why the policies that he is forming be it Ujjawala Scheme or revolutionary reform in education etc. are very public centric. Despite being a newcomer to central government, his experience of being a 12 year CM has helped him a lot. It is the first time when we are having a PM that has been at the helm of state government for so long. Hence he understands the problems and issues that a state government faces. He has tried to bring about a cooperative federalism because for 12 years he was speaking on State issues and how central government policies affected the state and the changes that states wanted. I think this understanding and coordination is also one of the reasons why BJP is ruling in 21 states.
As of Demonetization, he must have been advised by economists about the advantage of such measure. In this vast country it was expected that such big step will lead to some inconvenience but even then whenever I spoke to common citizens they were fully supportive of it.

Also Modi is a good communicator hence he was able to convince people. There were minor glitches, bank employees have to face heat in certain conditions but overall it left a good impact.
Second important reform was GST. It has brought economic unity in the country. Even though taxes are in four slabs, I hope it eventually goes down to 2-3 or 1 slab as in most countries. I am appreciative of his actions.

There are certain promises which he is yet to implement like employment promises. However he adopted a different strategy through Mudra and Start-Up India schemes. He wants people to start their own industry and employ more people. So this freely loaning strategy to small and medium traders has really expanded business. It has also helped us to increase our taxpayer’s base. So I complement his government for these steps. The executive machinery is also responsible for large part of promises remaining incomplete. Our foreign reserve is growing by leaps and bounds.

Ten News: Much has been talked about intolerance, polarization etc. How would you rate Modi governments’ performance in handling issues related to communalism?
Dr. Yogendra Narain : There is no denying the fact that a number of incidents have popped up whether it be Dalit vs. the Upper Class or Hindu vs. Muslim. However the number of communal riots has gone down. Also I believe Mr. Modi has spoken and condemned even singular incidents. If he would have kept quiet or let it go, I would have said he should have spoken. I think at the lower end where there are party workers, some of them are full of feeling of divisiveness. Mr. Modi at the top and all the senior party leaders have been condemning these incidents and serious actions have been taken in such cases. As a policy Mr. Modi has never promoted divisiveness. Even if we talk about Gujarat, the Muslim factions over there praise Modi for several things and the state has become a thriving economy.

Ten News : What one particular Ministry according to you needs more attention of the government?
Dr. Yogendra Narain : The ministry that I would suggest to emphasize is education. Right now despite massive funds being given to different institutes, policy of education remains a massive area of concern. We cannot have 100 people sitting in one class. Then there is artificial shortage of teachers as well as a tendency to send proxies by actual teachers. Now teachers are being paid as per the 7th pay scale but still the dedication to teach is missing. I believe that now that teachers are being paid adequate salaries, they should also perform accordingly.

Ten News : Last parliament session was a complete washout. You have seen the functioning of this house from up and close and have been extensively involved in its affairs. So how do see these historic washout and what majors would you suggest for ensuring smooth functioning of parliament?
Dr. Yogendra Narain : The complete washout is never there as laws have been passed. The working of parliament is mainly constituted in parliamentary committees. When I was Secretary General then also Congress didn’t attend Rajya Sabha against a ruling by the then VP.
I believe more efforts shall be made to have an amicable environment of functioning. I also realize that in this session of parliament the regional issues came into prominence. I think these issues overtook functioning of parliament. Now state parties are getting dominated. Every day there would be some demand of special status, funds to states etc. and all these combined contributed to non-functioning of parliament.
In my opinion the major national parties have to get-together to ensure that parliament functions effectively.