PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2012 ID-53917
.
The Modi 'Development' Myth.
· · · · · · f h 1 ·ms made on beha If ofGujarat under .
0.
Given the sustained medta blttzkneg m hts favour, let us exam me some t e cat . . has not b een .1n any .
· ' rf nee on all crttena Modi. But as we sift the facts from the hype, we can see that GuJarat s pe erma . d I h d' I d II th.
· , l'b 1d velopment mo e as tsp aye a e way better: than that of other states and moreover, GuJarat s neo 1 era e.
~~ . ' b f It· the rest of the country. distressing effects on people's ltves and the economy that have een e m .
· · · tstripped by Maharashtra, Haryana, Take the count of economic growth rate: GuJarat m the past ftve years was ou ..
· · · 2 11 G · t ranked 6th among maJOr states and .
Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Odisha. In terms of per cap1ta mcome, m 0 , uJara ' .
.
has higher per capita debt than UP or Bihar. 1 .
And, Gujarat's social indicators too tell the same sorry story that has marked the neoliber.aI modeI in the rest of ndia..
.
4 5 .
Jobless growth has been the norm -NSSO data shows growth in employment for the penod 1993-94 to 200 -0 was .
.
· d t zero In 2011 GuJarat ranked 11th 1n the .
0.
2.69 percentage per annum, whereas for 2004-05 to 2009-1 1t came own o · ' .
Human Development Index. .
When it comes to crucial indicators like education and health, Gujarat has witnessed a decline in ranking to 9'" and .
10th positions respectively in a group of 19 major states. Education, health and nutrition indicators are di sma I, especially .
for women and children. In the Global Hunger index, Gujarat is part of the bottom 5 states on lndoa, and globally, .
performs worse even than countnes I ike H a ito. 80% of chiI d re n bel ow 4 years and 60% of pregn~nt women are an a emi c .
in Gujarat (a virtual anaemia epidemic that Modi laughs off as a case of 'beauty conscious gorls starvmg themselves!). .
.
In social sector spending as a proportion of public expenditure, Gujarat ranks a lowly 19th among India's 21 major .
states. Atul Sood, in a recent collection of essays, PovertyAmidst Prosperity: Essays on the Trajectory ofDevelopment .
in Gujarat, notesthat Gujarat "witnessed not merely jobless growth but also the lowest share of wage income in total .
income, one of the highest use of contract workers in organized manufacturing and rising trends of casualisation of .
.
workforce. 11 .
What about corruption and corporate plunder? A CAG audit reveals that Modi's Goverr"~ment has done in Gujarat .
what Manmohan Singh's did atthe Centre: extend undue benefits to corporations at huge costs to the public exchequer .
and loss of livelihoods. The 2010-11CAG report tabled in Gujarat assembly on 30 March 2012, has estimated bungling .
of more than Rs16,000 crore in 2010-11. It had also pointed out irregularities of Rs26,672 crore in the Modi .
government in the last nine years. To take just one example, the CAG has observed that the Gujarat State Petroleum .
.
Corporation, supposed to be Modi's special pride and joy, has suffered huge financial losses due to cost overrun at KG basin block where production has not commenced even after spending over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) The CAG has observed that GSPC, with its consortium, submitted a bid for acquiring the KG block "without properly assessing related technical and financial issues." Consequently, while in 2005, Modi had announced that GSPC's KG basin block contained gas reserves over 20 TCF and production would begin within two years; but now the DGH (director general, hydro carbons) has certified that the KG basin block does not have more than 2 TCF gas reserves. Besides irregularities and cost overrun at KG basin project, the auditor has also noted that GSPC has suffered financial losses in gas trading activities on account of undue favours extended to Modi's most favoured industrial house, the Adani group. The CAG report notes, "Dunng 2006-09, GSPC sold gas to Adani group at a pnce which was much lower than its purchase price. This incurred loss of Rs 70.5 crore (Rs 705 million)." No wonder Modi tried his best to block the appointment of a Lokayukta in Gujarat for a very long time. Particularly when he was facing allegations of massive corruption and .
irregularities in at least 17 scams! .
So, the 'Modi model' is no different in its economic essentials than the Manmohan model. Why, then, is Gujarat a .
preferred destination for the corporations? When faced with peasants' protest in West Bengal or workers' protests in .
Haryana, why do corporations threaten to take their business to Gujarat instead? .
.
What the corporations hope is that Modi can successfully overcome the obstacles to higher economic 'growth' ( itself a code word for faster circulation of capital and higher returns on investments), by "managing" democracy as he has done in Gujarat through a combination of communal terror and sops to some sections. They hope this model will ~e able to avert the ~ind of popular mass protests that the Manmohan Singh regime has witnessed, given growing publ1c anger at the sordtd story of the nexus of corporations and politics that led to a haemorrhaging of the country's resour~es ~nd assets. It is, in ~aments of crisis that cap!talism seeks a fascist resolution, exemplified by an authontanan leader and a hard state. And so the corporations hope that Modi's 'Hindutva hero' image combined with the /governance superman' image crafted by the notorious international PR agency APCO and corporate media will suffice to get him to power and to diffuse the political crisis of a State beleaguered by people's protes~ .
movements. .
Modi 'magic' lies precisely in the mix of pro-corporate policies, authoritarian governance, and 'consent' manufactured .
on a communal plank. Hatred and violence against minorities is a key ingredient of the (conse t' M d. h h' .
.
r h' . . . n 0 I asac teved ... · ,,.. rH·n-corporate, represstve governance model. In GuJarat, a senes of fake encounters were scripted to build up .
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2012 ID-53917
.
The Modi 'Development' Myth.
· · · · · · f h 1 ·ms made on beha If ofGujarat under .
0.
Given the sustained medta blttzkneg m hts favour, let us exam me some t e cat . . has not b een .1n any .
· ' rf nee on all crttena Modi. But as we sift the facts from the hype, we can see that GuJarat s pe erma . d I h d' I d II th.
· , l'b 1d velopment mo e as tsp aye a e way better: than that of other states and moreover, GuJarat s neo 1 era e.
~~ . ' b f It· the rest of the country. distressing effects on people's ltves and the economy that have een e m .
· · · tstripped by Maharashtra, Haryana, Take the count of economic growth rate: GuJarat m the past ftve years was ou ..
· · · 2 11 G · t ranked 6th among maJOr states and .
Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Odisha. In terms of per cap1ta mcome, m 0 , uJara ' .
.
has higher per capita debt than UP or Bihar. 1 .
And, Gujarat's social indicators too tell the same sorry story that has marked the neoliber.aI modeI in the rest of ndia..
.
4 5 .
Jobless growth has been the norm -NSSO data shows growth in employment for the penod 1993-94 to 200 -0 was .
.
· d t zero In 2011 GuJarat ranked 11th 1n the .
0.
2.69 percentage per annum, whereas for 2004-05 to 2009-1 1t came own o · ' .
Human Development Index. .
When it comes to crucial indicators like education and health, Gujarat has witnessed a decline in ranking to 9'" and .
10th positions respectively in a group of 19 major states. Education, health and nutrition indicators are di sma I, especially .
for women and children. In the Global Hunger index, Gujarat is part of the bottom 5 states on lndoa, and globally, .
performs worse even than countnes I ike H a ito. 80% of chiI d re n bel ow 4 years and 60% of pregn~nt women are an a emi c .
in Gujarat (a virtual anaemia epidemic that Modi laughs off as a case of 'beauty conscious gorls starvmg themselves!). .
.
In social sector spending as a proportion of public expenditure, Gujarat ranks a lowly 19th among India's 21 major .
states. Atul Sood, in a recent collection of essays, PovertyAmidst Prosperity: Essays on the Trajectory ofDevelopment .
in Gujarat, notesthat Gujarat "witnessed not merely jobless growth but also the lowest share of wage income in total .
income, one of the highest use of contract workers in organized manufacturing and rising trends of casualisation of .
.
workforce. 11 .
What about corruption and corporate plunder? A CAG audit reveals that Modi's Goverr"~ment has done in Gujarat .
what Manmohan Singh's did atthe Centre: extend undue benefits to corporations at huge costs to the public exchequer .
and loss of livelihoods. The 2010-11CAG report tabled in Gujarat assembly on 30 March 2012, has estimated bungling .
of more than Rs16,000 crore in 2010-11. It had also pointed out irregularities of Rs26,672 crore in the Modi .
government in the last nine years. To take just one example, the CAG has observed that the Gujarat State Petroleum .
.
Corporation, supposed to be Modi's special pride and joy, has suffered huge financial losses due to cost overrun at KG basin block where production has not commenced even after spending over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) The CAG has observed that GSPC, with its consortium, submitted a bid for acquiring the KG block "without properly assessing related technical and financial issues." Consequently, while in 2005, Modi had announced that GSPC's KG basin block contained gas reserves over 20 TCF and production would begin within two years; but now the DGH (director general, hydro carbons) has certified that the KG basin block does not have more than 2 TCF gas reserves. Besides irregularities and cost overrun at KG basin project, the auditor has also noted that GSPC has suffered financial losses in gas trading activities on account of undue favours extended to Modi's most favoured industrial house, the Adani group. The CAG report notes, "Dunng 2006-09, GSPC sold gas to Adani group at a pnce which was much lower than its purchase price. This incurred loss of Rs 70.5 crore (Rs 705 million)." No wonder Modi tried his best to block the appointment of a Lokayukta in Gujarat for a very long time. Particularly when he was facing allegations of massive corruption and .
irregularities in at least 17 scams! .
So, the 'Modi model' is no different in its economic essentials than the Manmohan model. Why, then, is Gujarat a .
preferred destination for the corporations? When faced with peasants' protest in West Bengal or workers' protests in .
Haryana, why do corporations threaten to take their business to Gujarat instead? .
.
What the corporations hope is that Modi can successfully overcome the obstacles to higher economic 'growth' ( itself a code word for faster circulation of capital and higher returns on investments), by "managing" democracy as he has done in Gujarat through a combination of communal terror and sops to some sections. They hope this model will ~e able to avert the ~ind of popular mass protests that the Manmohan Singh regime has witnessed, given growing publ1c anger at the sordtd story of the nexus of corporations and politics that led to a haemorrhaging of the country's resour~es ~nd assets. It is, in ~aments of crisis that cap!talism seeks a fascist resolution, exemplified by an authontanan leader and a hard state. And so the corporations hope that Modi's 'Hindutva hero' image combined with the /governance superman' image crafted by the notorious international PR agency APCO and corporate media will suffice to get him to power and to diffuse the political crisis of a State beleaguered by people's protes~ .
movements. .
Modi 'magic' lies precisely in the mix of pro-corporate policies, authoritarian governance, and 'consent' manufactured .
on a communal plank. Hatred and violence against minorities is a key ingredient of the (conse t' M d. h h' .
.
r h' . . . n 0 I asac teved ... · ,,.. rH·n-corporate, represstve governance model. In GuJarat, a senes of fake encounters were scripted to build up .
.
.