100 days, 100 Failures of Modi Government
A. From Empowered Ministers to Emasculated Ministers
1. Prime Minister Modi deals directly with Secretaries, bypasses and undercuts Ministers
2. Ministers not allowed to choose their own private secretaries
3. Home Minister Rajnath Singh cut out of appointment process
4. Ministers told how to dress, who to eat with, and when to talk
5. When food price inflation is key challenge, Food Minister Paswan cut out of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
B. From Secular India to Communal India
6. 100 days, 600+ riots: communal polarization of Uttar Pradesh ahead of polls
7. “First wicket has fallen” — Muslim techie in Pune murdered by emboldened Hindutva fanatics
8. Sanjeev Baliyan, accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, inducted into Modi ministry
9. Sangeet Som, accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, given Z class security
10. “Reward the Polarisers”: Yogi Adityanath made BJP campaign chief for UP bypolls
11. Communal violence incited in Assam by BJP MPs
12. Raghav Lakhanpal, BJP MP from Saharanpur, indicted for instigating communal clashes
13. BJP painted black by Committee Reports, which say all communities hold BJP responsible for communal violence in UP
C. Saffronization of Education
14. Smriti Irani, HRD Minister, to give a Hindu perspective to education
15. HRD Ministry approves creation of Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog to “Indianize” the education system, advocated by RSS and affiliated with Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas
16. After his fantasy-filled books are adopted in Gujarat, Dinanath Batra, polarising activist and bogeyman of Indian publishing, to now work on “Indianising” the education system
17. Y Sudershan Rao appointed as Indian Council for Historical Research’s new Chairman: No substantial academic credentials other than as votary of Hindutva
D. Ministerial Gaffes
18. Minister Jitendra Singh, announces rethink on Article 370, then retracts
19. Ministry of Defense files affidavit calling Minister VK Singh’s actions as army chief premeditated and illegal. Soon after, VK Singh tweets against new army chief
20. Najma Heptulla’s terrible confusion: All Indians are “Hindus.” No, they are all “Hindi’s”
21. Smriti Irani’s Yale “degree” – HRD minister knows no difference between certificate and degree
22. Arun Jaitley believes that the Nirbhaya tragedy is “just one small rape” and laments that it affected India’s tourism revenues.
23. Union Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan believes values are better than condoms to prevent AIDS
24. Harsh Vardhan’s vision: To ban the “so called” sex education in schools
25. 1.5 lac files junked by the Home Ministry, some related to Gandhiji’s assassination
26. Processed food for mid-day meals?: Food processing ministry vs. HRD ministry
E. Undermining the Integrity of Institutions
27. Politicized appointment process for Supreme Court judges: Gopal Subramaniam rejected because of his amicus curiae role in Sohrabuddin encounter killing case
28. Planning Commission dismantled with no clarity on alternative structures
29. Announcement of dismantling of Planning Commission in the middle of a plan process disrupting funds transfers, projects, etc
30. Cooperative Federalism? Unilateral announcement of dismantling of Planning Commission without consultation or consent of state governments
31. First act of Modi government to amend TRAI so that a specific individual could become Principal Secretary to PM
32. Politicizing the bureaucracy: officers who served under UPA ministers banned from Modi government
33. BJP thwarts recognition of Leader of Opposition, putting various constitutional appointments in jeopardy
34. Governors eased out in violation of Supreme Court norms
35. Institutional safeguards in the Land Acquisition Act to be weakened considerably through amendments
36. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sacks whistle blower Chief Vigilance Officer at AIIMS for exposing corruption
F. Foreign Policy Blunders
37. India diplomatically isolated in WTO and painted as a global villain
38. Firing by Pakistani forces along the international border in the last 45 days possibly the “heaviest” since the 1971 war, according to BSF
39. Nirmala Sitharaman cancels Myanmar summit visit, sets back progress toward including India in ASEAN+6
40. India embarrassed by last minute cancellation of visit to South Africa by Venkaiah Naidu-led parliament delegation
41. Gaza: Government supports resolution against Israel in UN but curbs debate in India.
G. Corrupt Parliament, Criminal Parliamentarians
42. 13 out of 45 (30%) Union Ministers have serious criminal charges against them
43. Irony of BJP fighting criminality and corruption with Amit Shah and Yeddyurappa at the helm
44. Supreme Court constitutional bench advises Prime Minister to take action and drop charge sheeted ministers: no response from Modi Government
45. Minister Nihal Chand Meghwal accused in a gang rape case
46. Officers charge sheeted in fake encounter cases in Gujarat reinstated
47. Senior BJP member, Yashwant Sinha, takes law in his own hands, assaults government official
48. BJP’s national party president disregards the law and due process: does not appear in CBI court case when summoned
H. Dissolving Norms, Destroying Environment
49. POSCO given thickly forested Khandadhar Hills for mining
50. Coal mine expansion projects now allowed without public hearing
51. Forest Rights Act diluted: consent by tribal population now replaced by consent by district administration
52. Mid-sized polluting industries allowed to operate within 5 km of national parks, against the Supreme Court mandate of at least 10 km
53. Ban on new industries in critically polluted areas lifted, like in Vapi, Gujarat
54. Pollution index-based moratoriums lifted, weakening scientific environmental management
55. Norms for coal tar processing, sand mining, paper pulp industry eased
56. Environmental clearances for irrigation projects weakened
57. National Board for Wildlife gutted, and number of independent expert members cut from 15 to 3.
58. Truncated National Board for Wildlife clears 140 projects in one day, drawing Supreme Court ire and stay.
59. Mining norms diluted by blurring distinction between violate or inviolate forests, making them more vulnerable
60. “Laws Keep Changing” – Prakash Javadekar: Judicial power of the National Green Tribunal reduced to administrative power.
61. Supreme Court hauls up Modi government for lack of progress on Independent Environment Authority
62. Narmada Dam height to be increased, will inundate new areas and displace 2.5 lakh people
63. Ken-Betwa river-linking project revived, to adversely affect the Panna tiger reserve
64. Field trials for 21 genetically modified crops approved
I. Not a Word on Women’s Safety and Reservation
65. A mere Rs.100 crore alloted for the Beti bachao scheme.
66. Women’s reservation bill ignored entirely thus far, despite promises in BJP Manifesto
67. Inadequate initiatives on women’s safety, despite rising number of incidence of violence against women in the past 2 months
68. Prime Minister chooses silence over words and action during Badaun atrocities against women.
J. Union Budget: Name Changing but Not Game Changing
69. The UPAs National skill development program re-announced as ‘Skill India’ program.
70. The PURA (Provision of Urban amenities in Rural Areas) scheme renamed ‘Rurban Mission’
71. UPA’s Financial Inclusion plan to provide bank accounts to the poor, copied and continued as ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’
72. UPA’s Teacher Education Scheme effectively rehashed as the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Teachers Training Programme
73. Model of 100 Smart Cities based on UPA’s JNNURM Knowledge Base
74. Most of the big-ticket allocations retained from UPA’s Interim Budget.
75. 100 Crores! Piecemeal budgetary allocations appear to have been prepared hurriedly overnight
K. No Rail for the Poor
76. Railway fare hike of 14% and privatization of stations announced: Right to mobility non-existent for the poor
77. High speed bullet trains proposals are inherently exclusionary
L. NDA’s U-turns and Credit Claiming
78. BJP now proposes a number of policies which it resisted while in opposition: GST, FDI in insurance etc
79. Modi takes credit for Katra Railway line built by Congress-led UPA Government
M. High Risk, Low Delivery on Economic Promises
80. Emphasis on disinvestment can lead to cheap sell off of public assets, given the disinvestment track record of previous NDA government (Ex Disinvestment Secretary Baijal indicted by CBI).
81. Over-reliance on privatization and PPP models
82. Economic recovery is a result of UPA’s efforts in first quarter of financial year
83. Inflation still runs high: priority area for NDA sees no improvement even after 100 days!
84. Retail inflation for industrial workers rises to 7.23 per cent
85. BJP denies promised paddy bonus to farmers, betraying farmers and manipulating the issue.
86. BJP takes the UPA path again as regards de-regulation of fuel prices
87. Food price stabilization fund in budget highly inadequate in both scale and operation
N. Policy Confusions and Mishandling
88. UPSC examination mishandled, solution on CSAT neither satisfactory nor fair
89. Four Year University Programme (FYUP) of Delhi University reversed through undue interference by government in the autonomous University
90. University Grants Commission takes cue from government interference in FYUP and meddles with innovative programmes at the Indian Institute of Science and IITs.
91. Panicking, Modi Government rolls back Mumbai suburban rail fares with an eye on impending Maharashtra assembly election.
92. Confusion on fuel prices as they are alternately cut and increased.
93. Government efforts at bringing back black money summed up by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey as “we will not be able to bring back black money from Switzerland in this lifetime”
94. Jaitley caught in Defense-Finance crossfire: Part time Defense Minister, Part time Finance Minister even after 100 days.
95. Modi makes false claims of “Khazana Khali Hai”, Chidambaram exposes false claims.
96. Mis-governance of the BJP in Delhi with water and power crisis on rise and denial of pension payments.
97. “Social media wing” of I&B Ministry tasked with monitoring social media sites like Facebook and Twitter
98. Hindi imposition back in BJP Regime? Government backtracks after its circulars face backlash
P. Recent Issues
99 Never in the history of India an Ex SC Judge was appointed as a Governor
100. PM’s speech made compulsory for all students.
INDIA - POLITICAL CENTRE 