Some food for thought
"You have to look for teachers. If you want to be a
mechanic, go hang out with mechanics."
—Robert Kiyosaki (American Author, 1947)
Word for the day
Funemployed (adj)
Without a paid job but enjoying the free time, e.g., Ask one
of your funemployed friends to come along with you.
Heads or Tails
If I were a first time voter, and I am asked to choose a
national party to vote for, exclusively on the basis of its manifesto, I will
be left with absolutely no choice but to toss a coin — BJP if it comes Head,
and Congress if it is Tail.
The recently released manifestos of both the parties sound so
similar that it is almost impossible to choose one over another. After spending
6hours, trying to decipher substantial differences in agenda of two parties, I
could find nothing, except stand on Art370. In fact it might be for the first
time that two national parties have openly and abundantly accused each other in
their manifestos.
Exasperated, I gave the exercise to my daughters aged 17 and 15,
of course as a punishment for exceeding their screen time limit. Forced, they
studied both the documents carefully, discussed these threadbare and came out
with the following differences:
(a) The font used in
both the document is different. Congress party appears to have chosen Arial in
8size with paragraphs left aligned, with some extra space in between lines to
make it an easy reading. BJP on the other hand has used unconventional Century
Gothic in 10 size, justified paragraphs with no space between lines, making it
cluttered and tough to read.
(b) Congress has used
a liberal dash of Saffron, Green, Blue and Grey to make it look inclusive and
secular. BJP on the other hand has used only Saffron, with a slight tinge of
green in the bottom line, to align it with Right Wing nationalism.
(c) Congress has
liberally admitted to its historical mistakes and blunders. BJP has however
avoided all topics where its performance could be questioned.
(d) Both the parties
have claimed that their respective manifestos have been prepared in
consultation with common people and experts. Naturally, the agenda must be
same, as the concerns and issues of the people remain the same irrespective of
the party in power.
However, a close study of documents highlights that both the
parties have touched the concerns of the people only reluctantly. They have
rather tried to pass their pre determined agenda for people's will.
Congress document has imposing American influence. The jargon
like Homestead Act, Para State Workers, Regulatory Forbearance, High and
Suatained Economic Growth, Fortune500, Scenario Planning and Strategic Future
Office, etc., and commitment to ratify ILO conventions 87 & 98 (Freedom of
Association and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining) etc. clearly
indicate the constitution of group responsible for drafting the Congress
document.
The BJP document has vivid imprints of RSS jargon and
terminology.
(e) Congress has
made "Jobs" the starting point of its manifesto; whereas BJP has
placed "National Security" on the top.
Barring the placement in the document, there is hardly any
difference in the agenda and approach regarding national security in both the
documents. In fact, in many places both the documents even use the same
language. The media narrative on this issue therefore appears totally
mischievous.
Admission of historical failures and blunders
The best part of Congress manifesto is that it has admitted to
historical mistakes and blunders committed by various government, including
Congress governments. For example consider the following:
"A basic weakness of the Indian economy has been
infrastructure. Flawed design, inefficient execution, insufficient capacity and
poor maintenance of infrastructure have dragged India’s growth rate down."
"Congress promises a fair deal for the crores of workers
and the self-employed who toil every day in the unorganised and informal
sector."
"Many years ago, Jawaharlal Nehru said, ‘Everything can
wait but not agriculture."
"Our economy is still over-regulated. Structural
problems remain. Government control and bureaucratic interference are aplenty.
Regulators have morphed into controllers. There is growing interference by the
courts in economic policies."
"Congress recognises that business—be it manufacturing
or supply or trade or exports—runs best on predictable and stable laws,
protection of property rights and sanctity of contracts"
"Foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2018 is estimated
at about 1 crore. Comparing this number with the numbers of comparable
countries, it indicates substantial under-performance."
"Congress believes that a large country like India
cannot be administered by the Central Government alone. In fact, in most
matters concerning the daily lives of the people, it is the State Government
that is close to the people and, in some matters, it is the Local Government
(Municipality or Panchayat) that is even closer to the people."
"Congress believes that we are an over-legislated and
over-regulated country. Laws, Rules and Regulations have proliferated and
restricted freedoms. Consequently, there are severe restrictions on innovation,
enterprise and experimentation, and economic growth has suffered."
"The greatest challenge to free and fair elections is
the Election Commission’s inability to prevent the use of black money in
election campaigns and the use of inducements to influence voters."
"Denotified and Semi-Nomadic Tribes have long suffered
discrimination and neglect."
Congress recognises the sexual diversity among people and
promises equality and equal rotection of the laws to people with different sexual
identities.
"Education is a merit good and must be available to all
children as a public good."
"Schools, colleges and universities shall be, mostly,
public institutions funded through public resources. Private educational
institutions may supplement public educational institutions."
"It is a bitter truth that India’s environment has
deteriorated. The 2018 Global Environmental Performance Index placed India at
rank 177 out of 180 countries."
"It is not possible to eradicate poverty without tackling
the dual threats of climate change and natural disasters. It is the poor who
suffer most on account of natural disasters and climate change."
BJP has apparently not admitted to any mistake.
Over next couple of days, I shall analyze specific proposals in
the manifestos of BJP and Congress, especially from impact on investment
strategy view point.
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