When the Centre’s policies don’t hold

The Modi government doesn’t hold any surprises whenever it unleashes policies, executes decisions, and passes laws. Latest in the news is privatisation of banks, selling of PSUs, lateral entry in bureaucracy sans reservation, and rising fuel prices.

Bank Strike

In 2019, the NDA government announced the merger of 27 public sector banks into 12. Of these, two are now proposed to be sold to private owners, and the rest will face the same fate. To denounce the Centre’s decision to privatise two major public sector banks, 1 million bankers hit the streets on March 15-16 to register their protest against this decision. The bankers who came on the streets are most likely the ones who might have stood by the government during the demonetisation and pandemic crisis. This group usually falls into the middle-class gentry. Now when they are protesting for the reasons that affect them, it should invite us to think how the middle class is put under the grind at the cost of promoting a handful of private individuals.

If at all this move is a test for the government, then the middle class, which is high on nationalism, Hindu-Muslim-Dalit canard, and berating of civil rights activists, is now becoming the next angry group against the State. If the trend of protest is taken into account, then bank strikers should fall into the category of anti-nationals.

Selling PSUs

There are more than 270 public sector undertakings in India. Of these, the government is in the process of selling Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), among a host of other cash cows.

The government’s privatisation push is based on the rationale of bad performance by these PSUs, hence the need for private sector support. The government and its neoliberal crony handlers through their media misinform the public about the inevitability of the private sector’s involvement, thus creating a no-option zone.

Atmanirbhar Bharat’s Public Sector Enterprise Policy seeks to privatise or merge existing PSUs in strategic sectors. By the time we close 2021, Air India will be completely owned by the private sector.

The private sector world over has wreaked havoc. That is why people across the world are on the streets to push back greedy individuals who want monopoly over the important shared resources of the public.

Lateral entry

The lateral entry into bureaucracy is an anti-reservation, anti-Constitution and anti-SC, ST, OBC policy. Getting help from outside the bureaucracy is certainly a welcome move. However, manning these coveted positions with people from particular castes and ideology smells of danger. By putting people in key positions, the Modi government, it seems, is all set to fully control all arms of the government.

Union minister Jitendra Singh had already clarified back in 2019 that lateral entry would carry no reservations. The government ducked this responsibility by not doing cluster appointments; instead, they hired through single-post cadre appointments. In the initial list of appointments, there are no candidates from the SC, ST and OBC communities.

Rising prices of fuels

It is an undisputed factoid that rising prices impact everyone across the class hierarchy. However, the victims of these pernicious decisions are the middle and lower-middle class who heavily rely on energy for their everyday subsistence. The poor are out of the equation due to prices.

Another, unsurprising news that made waves recently amidst the privatisation pushback was Gautam Adani becoming the biggest wealth creator of the pandemic year, adding $16.2 billion to his net worth.

If Mr Modi is genuine in his interest towards the social diversities of India, he needs to work in their favour and demonstrate that he is there for them. World over, the government is scrutinised and if things go on at the pace as they are doing now, one might fear this vibrant democracy will be shunned as a hostile State. We do not want to witness another failed State in India that will punish hardworking and hopeful younger generations.