Promise Vs Performance: Has Modi Govt Delivered In The Last 9 Years?

No government has been under a giant microscope as the present dispensation headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Anything he does or says gets two extreme views. This is why the article in the Indian Express by Distinguished Professor Ashok Gulati and Research Associate Purvi Thangaraj, both from ICRIER, makes for an interesting reading. The duo have evaluated the performance of UPA and NDA on three parameters.  They have chosen GDP growth, inflation numbers and impact of social welfare schemes for two periods. The UPA government –2004-05 to 2013-14 — headed by Manmohan Singh. And the NDA government — 2014-15 to 2022-23 — headed by Modi. The average annual GDP growth during Modi’s regime stood at 5.7% compared with 6.8% clocked during Singh’s 10-year period. “But in terms of taming CPI inflation, the Modi government has surely done a much better job by holding the inflation rate at 5.1% vis-a-vis Manmohan Singh’s period when it averaged at 8.1%.  On the social welfare scheme front, the writers say the Modi government appears to have surpassed the achievements of the Singh government. In sum, they say, “Overall, while the Modi government’s performance in terms of GDP growth has been somewhat subdued, it has succeeded in taming inflation, keeping agri-growth respectable and doing a much better job on welfare schemes than UPA.”