PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2013 ID-54717
.
The Modi 'Development' Myth .
Gr1en the sustained media blltzkneg in his favour, let us examine some ofthe claims made on behalfof Gujarat under .
Modi. But as we sift the facts from the hype, we can see that Gujarat's performance on all criteria has not been in any .
way better than that of other states, and moreover, Gujarat's neoliberal development model has displayed all the .
di5tressing effects on people's lives and the economy that have been felt in the rest of the country. .
Take the count of economic growth rate: Gujarat in the past five years was outstripped by Maharashtra, Haryana, .
Chh;Jltisgarh, Bihar and Odisha. In terms of per capita income, in 2011, Gujarat ranked 6th among major states, and hJS h1gher per capita debt than UP or Bihar. .
And, Gujarat's social indicators too tell the same sorry story that has marked the neoliberal model in the rest of India. .
~~)bless crowth has been the norm-NSSO data shows growth in employment for the period 1993-94 to 2004-05 was .
2.b9 purcentage per annum, whereas for 2004-05 to 2009-10 it came down to zero. In 2011, Gujarat ranked 1Phin the HlH1'1JI1 Development Index. .
Wlmn 1t comes to crucial indicators like education and health, Gujarat has witnessed a decline in ranking to 9th and .
lOt" positions respectively in agroup of19 major states. Education, health and nutrition indicators are dismal, especially .
for women and children. In the Global Hunger index, Gujarat is part of the bottom 5 states in India, and globally, .
pt:!rforms worse even than countries like Haiti. 80% of children below 4 years and 600/o ofpregnant women are anaemic in GuJJrat (a virtual anaemia epidemic that Modi laughs offas a case of 'beauty conscious girls' starving 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, Poverty Amidst Prosperity: Essays on the Trajectory ofDevelopment .
in Gujarot, notes that 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. " .
What about corruption and corporate plunder? A CAG audit reveals that Modi's Government has done in Gujarat .
what Manmohan Singh's did at the Centre: extend undue benefits to corporations at huge coststo 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 l-tas 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, h;,dro 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, nouring 2006-09, GSPC sold gas to Adani group at a price 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 threuten to take their business to Gujarat instead? .
\r\lhat the corporations hope is that Modi can successfully overcome the obstacles to higher economic 'growth' ( ·tseli J code word for faster circuiJt1on of CJpltJI 1Jnd h13hcr returns on investments), by " managing" democracy as he has done in GujarJtthrounh n comblntJtion ofcommunal terror and sops to some sections. They hope this model wtll be able to .lV~rt the kind ol popular mu:.1. prole~lbth\H th~ M.:mmohJn Singh regime has witnessed, given growing pubIic anucr l1t lhr! sordid ~wry or tfH' nexu:; ol torpor.tlion~ ..ntd politic.s lhJt led to ~ haemorrhaging of the c;ountry's .
resources ~1nd ·l'>!» l~h It 1--. f11 tnOint~lll 'i of crhl~ th,Jt CJplt~tllsm seeks o fascist resolution, exemplified by an authoritorian lcJdrt nnd ,, 'h:trd' :.L1tn And .o the-corpot.ttions. hope thJt Modi's 'Hindutva hero' image combined with the 'govcrn:m(c; .·~upc.rmnn' iuHntu tH ;_aftrd hy tho llOtortou\ mtcm~tionJI PR Jgency APCO and corporate media, .
will suffice.' to get hitn to pow"r [nHI to dillu(.c 1J1e fHIIIth,._d u i'h ot ..15t.ltc beleaguered by people's protest movement::,. .
Mod 'm:1gic' lit~~ prc'owly Ill theml~ orPt'O UOipomt.oI)OIIi.'IIJt~, !JIIthill'itudan t:ovcnmncc, and 'consent' manufactured on J rot1111HIIl,.11 pi.Htl< lldtl, :il mrtl viol1i" , .
i1l\lllrtt.ltilltlutlt1Wt I. ,, 1'''\r It lr\ll~d~~~~~ t o f the 1con~(.'nt ' Modi has achieved .
h ,..-: nt.t)<:OIIlDfJin, l'-'l)tt-' '1~livn IIJVPHI.Hil '' liHttltll IIi t.ultll tll, d ;,L~II'~"-u l folk\.' ''lllClUrll01~ w~re scnpted to build up 2 .
.
.
Modi's imag .
encounters .
together by .
the social~ .
derides sec~ .
language .
('ham IJdcmJ .
name ('Ja .
done with .
towards t .
The prevaili .
On the one .
with the Hi .
Modi hasp .
This is a .
been India .
always a fig .
the RSS' m .
fanning up .
· On the heel failures beh Hindus and contempt fo .
Clearly Mo .
and progre .
'Secular' .
I .
In response .
communalis .
For Congre. formations, and 'comm .
politics doe .
.
of ensuring .
non-BJP rul .
betrayal oft .
or the liber .
Manmohan to his Gover Rajiv Gandh killing isn't communal 9 .
.
.
Should .
science teac .
(killed by Ar .
The 'normal .
media disco .
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - All Organisations - 2013 ID-54717
.
The Modi 'Development' Myth .
Gr1en the sustained media blltzkneg in his favour, let us examine some ofthe claims made on behalfof Gujarat under .
Modi. But as we sift the facts from the hype, we can see that Gujarat's performance on all criteria has not been in any .
way better than that of other states, and moreover, Gujarat's neoliberal development model has displayed all the .
di5tressing effects on people's lives and the economy that have been felt in the rest of the country. .
Take the count of economic growth rate: Gujarat in the past five years was outstripped by Maharashtra, Haryana, .
Chh;Jltisgarh, Bihar and Odisha. In terms of per capita income, in 2011, Gujarat ranked 6th among major states, and hJS h1gher per capita debt than UP or Bihar. .
And, Gujarat's social indicators too tell the same sorry story that has marked the neoliberal model in the rest of India. .
~~)bless crowth has been the norm-NSSO data shows growth in employment for the period 1993-94 to 2004-05 was .
2.b9 purcentage per annum, whereas for 2004-05 to 2009-10 it came down to zero. In 2011, Gujarat ranked 1Phin the HlH1'1JI1 Development Index. .
Wlmn 1t comes to crucial indicators like education and health, Gujarat has witnessed a decline in ranking to 9th and .
lOt" positions respectively in agroup of19 major states. Education, health and nutrition indicators are dismal, especially .
for women and children. In the Global Hunger index, Gujarat is part of the bottom 5 states in India, and globally, .
pt:!rforms worse even than countries like Haiti. 80% of children below 4 years and 600/o ofpregnant women are anaemic in GuJJrat (a virtual anaemia epidemic that Modi laughs offas a case of 'beauty conscious girls' starving 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, Poverty Amidst Prosperity: Essays on the Trajectory ofDevelopment .
in Gujarot, notes that 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. " .
What about corruption and corporate plunder? A CAG audit reveals that Modi's Government has done in Gujarat .
what Manmohan Singh's did at the Centre: extend undue benefits to corporations at huge coststo 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 l-tas 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, h;,dro 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, nouring 2006-09, GSPC sold gas to Adani group at a price 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 threuten to take their business to Gujarat instead? .
\r\lhat the corporations hope is that Modi can successfully overcome the obstacles to higher economic 'growth' ( ·tseli J code word for faster circuiJt1on of CJpltJI 1Jnd h13hcr returns on investments), by " managing" democracy as he has done in GujarJtthrounh n comblntJtion ofcommunal terror and sops to some sections. They hope this model wtll be able to .lV~rt the kind ol popular mu:.1. prole~lbth\H th~ M.:mmohJn Singh regime has witnessed, given growing pubIic anucr l1t lhr! sordid ~wry or tfH' nexu:; ol torpor.tlion~ ..ntd politic.s lhJt led to ~ haemorrhaging of the c;ountry's .
resources ~1nd ·l'>!» l~h It 1--. f11 tnOint~lll 'i of crhl~ th,Jt CJplt~tllsm seeks o fascist resolution, exemplified by an authoritorian lcJdrt nnd ,, 'h:trd' :.L1tn And .o the-corpot.ttions. hope thJt Modi's 'Hindutva hero' image combined with the 'govcrn:m(c; .·~upc.rmnn' iuHntu tH ;_aftrd hy tho llOtortou\ mtcm~tionJI PR Jgency APCO and corporate media, .
will suffice.' to get hitn to pow"r [nHI to dillu(.c 1J1e fHIIIth,._d u i'h ot ..15t.ltc beleaguered by people's protest movement::,. .
Mod 'm:1gic' lit~~ prc'owly Ill theml~ orPt'O UOipomt.oI)OIIi.'IIJt~, !JIIthill'itudan t:ovcnmncc, and 'consent' manufactured on J rot1111HIIl,.11 pi.Htl< lldtl, :il mrtl viol1i" , .
i1l\lllrtt.ltilltlutlt1Wt I. ,, 1'''\r It lr\ll~d~~~~~ t o f the 1con~(.'nt ' Modi has achieved .
h ,..-: nt.t)<:OIIlDfJin, l'-'l)tt-' '1~livn IIJVPHI.Hil '' liHttltll IIi t.ultll tll, d ;,L~II'~"-u l folk\.' ''lllClUrll01~ w~re scnpted to build up 2 .
.
.
Modi's imag .
encounters .
together by .
the social~ .
derides sec~ .
language .
('ham IJdcmJ .
name ('Ja .
done with .
towards t .
The prevaili .
On the one .
with the Hi .
Modi hasp .
This is a .
been India .
always a fig .
the RSS' m .
fanning up .
· On the heel failures beh Hindus and contempt fo .
Clearly Mo .
and progre .
'Secular' .
I .
In response .
communalis .
For Congre. formations, and 'comm .
politics doe .
.
of ensuring .
non-BJP rul .
betrayal oft .
or the liber .
Manmohan to his Gover Rajiv Gandh killing isn't communal 9 .
.
.
Should .
science teac .
(killed by Ar .
The 'normal .
media disco .
.
.