The Modi government’s governance style in 2025 continues to be a subject of significant debate, characterized by a unique blend of market-oriented "Right Wing" economic policies and extensive, "socialist-style" welfare initiatives.
Welfare and Socialist Tendencies
While the administration is often associated with neoliberal or pro-business policies, it maintains a massive social safety net that mirrors socialist ideals of wealth redistribution and state-led support for the marginalized:
- Welfare Spending: Social services expenditure increased to ₹25.7 lakh crore for FY25, a steady rise from previous years.
- Flagship Schemes: Extensive programs like Ayushman Bharat (healthcare cover for 50 crore people), PM Awas Yojana (affordable housing), and PM-Kisan (direct income support for farmers) provide essential services directly to low-income populations.
- 2025 Initiatives: New 2025 schemes include the PM Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana (aiming to create 3.5 crore jobs) and the Gig Workers Scheme, which extends health insurance to platform workers.
- Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT): The government leverages technology to send funds directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts, which it argues eliminates corruption and ensures 100% of the aid reaches the recipient.
Secularism and Pluralism
The government’s relationship with secularism is more contested, with perspectives split between its formal commitments and its critics' concerns:
- Constitutional Stance: In 2025, the government has officially stated it has no intention to remove "socialist" or "secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.
- "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas": The administration frames its welfare delivery as "truly secular" because benefits like tap water (Jal Jeevan Mission) and gas connections (Ujjwala) are distributed based on economic need rather than religion.
- Criticism: Conversely, critics argue that policies like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the promotion of a "Hindutva" national identity undermine India's traditional pluralistic fabric.
Should these tendencies be lauded?
Whether these traits should be "lauded" depends on the metric used to judge them:
- Supporters argue that the government has redefined secularism as equal service to all without appeasement, and that its "pro-poor" focus has lifted millions out of multidimensional poverty.
- Critics contend that these welfare schemes act as "stopgap measures" to mask deeper economic issues like high youth unemployment and widening income inequality, while also viewing the government’s cultural policies as a departure from traditional secularism.
I can provide a detailed breakdown of the 2025-26 Union Budget's welfare allocations to help you see exactly how much is being spent on these social programs versus other sectors. Would you like to see that analysis?
-GoogleAI
While the Modi government often overtly criticizes Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy—frequently framing it as a period of missed opportunities or "appeasement"—in 2025, analysts and data suggest it is substantially furthering the "Nehruvian consensus" through its reliance on state-led development, industrial planning, and centralized authority.
The following areas highlight how the current administration functions as a modern, "muscular" extension of Nehruvian ideals:
1. State-Led Industrialization and PSUs
Despite a pro-privatization rhetoric, the Modi government has significantly increased state involvement in the economy:
- Public Sector Investment: In 2025, capital expenditure on Public Sector Enterprises (PSUs) reached ₹22 lakh crore (inflation-adjusted), compared to approximately ₹1 lakh crore during the Nehruvian era.
- Expansion of PSUs: The number of central PSUs has grown to 84 under Modi, surpassing the 70 present during Nehru's tenure.
- Industrial Planning: The government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for capital-intensive industries like semiconductors and automobiles mirror Nehru’s focus on heavy industry as "temples of modern India," though now targeting high-tech sectors.
2. Infrastructure as Nation-Building
Modi’s "Gati Shakti" and "Viksit Bharat" initiatives echo Nehru’s vision of massive, state-directed infrastructure projects to unify the country:
- Massive Outlays: The 2025 budget for infrastructure exceeded ₹11 lakh crore, maintaining the tradition of using the state as the primary driver of national growth.
- Institutional Capacity: Like Nehru’s creation of the IITs and CSIR, the current government has envisioned 13 new research parks and expanded vocational labs to foster a "scientific temper" through modern technology.
3. Centralized Executive Authority
Politically, the Modi administration mirrors the "Nehruvian style" of governance through a highly centralized Prime Minister’s Office (PMO):
- One-Man Authority: Critics and biographers note that both leaders displayed an "authoritarian streak," exerting tight control over both the party and the cabinet.
- Personal Diplomacy: Modi, like Nehru, relies heavily on personal charisma and direct engagement with world leaders to conduct foreign policy, positioning himself as the primary face of India on the global stage.
4. Continuity in Foreign Policy
While moving toward "strategic autonomy," the current foreign policy remains rooted in Nehru’s Non-Alignment legacy:
- Strategic Autonomy: In 2025, India continues to balance its relationships between global powers (e.g., maintaining ties with Russia while strengthening the Quad), a pragmatic evolution of Nehru's stance of not joining superpower blocs.
- Civilizational Identity: Modi has merged Nehru’s "Unity in Diversity" with a more assertive "Cultural Nationalism," using India’s heritage as soft power in global forums like the G20.
5. Massive "Socialist" Welfare
The government’s extensive welfare state—providing free food to 81 crore people through the PM-GKAY—is seen as a massive expansion of the socialist safety net envisioned in the early post-independence years.
I can prepare a comparison chart of Nehru’s Five-Year Plans versus Modi’s "Viksit Bharat 2047" goals to show exactly where the economic priorities align and diverge. Should I generate that for you?
-GoogleAI
Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
No comments:
Post a Comment