There is a myth among this generation that Mr. Narendra Modi can never be wrong. But little do they understand that he too is a human being. A human being makes mistakes. Often learns from the mistakes and not repeat it.
Many people followed great leaders like first prime minister of India Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru and Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. They were the architects of the Indian administration. In fact, Nehru made many policies and plans to build the nation. He had many challenges to face. Not all the policies and decisions taken by Nehru were right.
Nehru as First Prime Minister of India
Nehru had many challenges to face as the first PM of India after 200 years of colonial rule by the British. He was forced to follow the closed economy approach then. He opted to use the Russian model. Few policies failed as he had pressures from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Russia. Poverty and many more internal challenges had to be minimized.
Nehru took a decision to make India a self-sufficient country, that focused more on only agriculture and not on any other goods. This policy of Nehru failed very badly. The result of the policy was slow urbanization and growth than any other East Asian countries.
Since Nehru hails from a rich family background, his policies and decisions as PM of the country used to be according to his lifestyle. Apparently, his policies made the country run on the same track for 74 long years.
Narendra Modi’s Era
As soon as Mr. Narendra Modi sworn as the PM of India in 2014, he minimized the efforts of the foundational figures. He projected the mistakes of the foundational fathers. Unfortunately, Nehru is the most denounced leader till date.
According to the biography of Modi, he had helped his father to sell tea in a railways station in Gujarat. As a result of his background, he experimented a few policies in Gujarat. Fortunately, these policies brought him success.
His policies in Gujarat were highly capital-intensive industrialization, investor-friendly policies. He also supported these policies with the right infrastructure. However, when Modi became the Prime Minister for the first time, he tore down all the policies of Nehru. He introduced the Gujarat model. This worked only for sometime.
In 2019, Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister of India for the second time. Paradoxically, Mr. Modi introduced the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, which is the same Nehruvian policy. Surprisingly, Modi was the one who spoke so much against Nehru and his policies. He invested trillions of rupees in the five year infrastructure pipeline project.
Currently our country is facing many challenges and threats from China and Pakistan. Political analysts warn that the loss would be irreparable if the plan goes accordingly. On the contrary, Modi is repeating the same mistake made by Nehru. He is choosing self sufficiency(Atmanirbhar) instead of openness.
Nehru’s Mistakes
Nehru’s policies did not fetch employment opportunities then but farming came to the rescue of Nehru. He very soon rectified his mistakes. The growth of economy was very slow. As a result, Urbanization and the economy started in the 1990’s. Skill based work, with the introduction of the computers brought in all the growth rapidly.
The blunder made earlier was that the unskilled and cheap labor were always exploited. Employment opportunities were not created for them. The population of the country at the time of Nehru’s death was 500 million in 1964. But now, Modi has to create jobs for 1.3 billion young people.
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Atmanirbhar Bharat and Other Policies
Additionally, the woes after the Corona pandemic has worsened the situation. Around 75 million people are pushed into poverty. With this Atmanirbhar policy, the imports from other countries are shut down. The infrastructure and the support is not enough for the industrialists. The industrialists are also worried about the policies made by the government.
India has almost lost its market in synthetic textiles and many other exports. This opportunity is being cashed by China. India could have been the main producer and exporter to other countries and doubled the growth of the previous decade.
Undoubtedly, the policies are not leading the country towards development. Since Modi is the most obliging PM, especially to the elite’. He has concentrated more from Steel to the Seaports. Indeed he is pushing the country to monopoly by doing so.
Avaaz24’s Take
Modi needs to learn from history and not repeat the mistakes of Nehru to bring in the right development in the country. He needs to understand that self sufficiency is a myth, as it will not provide food but jobs will.
Alas! Mr. Modi seems to be treading the same path. He hasn’t learnt any lessons from the previous mistakes.
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