Modi 2.0: Focus on accelerated delivery of welfare schemes expected

For the past three years, Kriti, a 32-year old domestic help in Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region, would visit her village near Ayodhya once in every four-five months. During the four-day leave, she used to see the progress of the construction of her house under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana and ensure that the toilet was being built according to the plan she had in mind. “Modiji has sent the money. They will come and take photographs on their cell phones, and only then will I be able to get the money”, she would say. The amount would vary. Once it was Rs.2,00,000 at one go; another time it was part of what would be a total of Rs.70,000. She did not know the name of any scheme, nor was she aware of the the local body or any other institution that was involved. It was purely between “Modiji” and her.

With Mahatma Gandhi's 150th anniversary in mind and 'Gram Swaraj' as the main motif of its welfare schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term will see an increased focus on schemes that will redistribute resources to “ensure everyone has equitable access to resources”. The 75th anniversary of India's Independence that this government will celebrate will also showcase massive welfare works done in rural India.

It is a no-brainer that almost all welfare schemes that involved the transfer of money directly to the beneficiaries, with an invisible and unwritten 'From Modiji' card, have paid off hugely in the just concluded elections. And such schemes are going to be the priority for Prime Minister Modi as he assumes office for a second term. According to sources, during all the closed-door meetings the prime minister has had with senior party leaders and party president Amit Shah, in the run up to the elections, Modi emphasised that “the astounding impact of government initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Saubhagya, Aayushman Bharat, Ujjwala and other schemes” is what “karyakartas should talk about and help with delivery”.

The new government will accelerate the delivery under the 25 welfare schemes that were either launched from scratch or re-invented from the UPA government's schemes. 'Saashray' or housing is going to be given a big boost. “We will not wait till 2024 to ensure that everyone has a pucca house in the country. That will happen in the next two to three years. Next year itself when you drive through the countryside, you will see the difference,” said Anil Kumar, a party office staffer in its Punjab state unit.

The government, through a group of ministries, will also work to ensure digital connectivity, clean drinking water, and initiate steps to take the 'Swachchata Abhiyan' to the next level. While the government claims to have built nine crore toilets under the programme, this time, in addition to building more toilets, the Swachcha Bharat Mission will focus on setting up projects for sustainable waste management in all villages—by itself a daunting task. Recycling of used water will also form part of the project.

Shamika, a member of an NGO involved in the construction of toilets in Western Uttar Pradesh suggested that the design of toilets that will be built now may also be different.

While the first tenure of Modi as prime minister has seen, according to NITI Aayog, more children coming to schools and a better student-teacher ratio, it has not translated into more education. “Now we know that the focus should not be on inputs in order to improve education, but learning outcomes. That is something that has to be improved” said a NITI Aayog official. There are indications that the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan will henceforth seek to orient the education system towards outcomes, equip schools with better facilities and improve the governance mechanism of schools.

A programme that will be given a lot of focus will be SATH-E (Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital-Education), a NITI initiative seeking to improve the health and education sectors of Indian states. It aims to transform elementary and secondary school education with the support of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership (PFEL), chosen as knowledge partners for the project to facilitate review, data collection, and implementation. It is expected to have a great impact in the three states where it will be launched.

The focus on the welfare of farmers, going beyond the Rs 2,000 that the government has already begun dispersing, will gather momentum. “We will have to seriously address the issue of children of farmers. If we want them to move away from farming, they will have to be trained for new age jobs. It has to be a special kind of education that will not keep them in the classrooms too long” said a party leader from Uttar Pradesh, adding, that the details of how the government will do this will be known only after the new cabinet is formed, and the ministers take charge.

“We can be sure of one thing. The implementation and monitoring of all the schemes will be more intense this time” said a source in NITI Aayog.