Editorial
Government claim to an impressive scorecard
Core issue is, of course, quality of governance
THE government is of the view that 80 per cent of the decisions made by the cabinet in the last 15 months have been implemented. In a little more detail, one is to understand that of the 405 decisions made by the council of ministers, a total of 325 have been carried out. It is now a mere 80 that are being worked on. We are happy that the government has decided to enlighten the nation on its achievements and has, in such an appreciable way, taken the people into its confidence. It conveys the government's sense of accountability and there should be more of it. However, even as we appreciate the move, we will hope that this self-assessment about its performance has nothing to do with being self-congratulatory.
Implementation is a very loaded term and one wonders what precisely the government means by it. Are we to suppose that an implementation of cabinet decisions has just got underway? Or should the government not be informing the nation at what exact stage such implementation happens to be at present? If policy decisions are in the process of implementation, within what time frame can we expect the goals symbolized by such decisions to be reached?
Since government is all about steering a nation toward its cherished goals, it is extremely important that quality define any implementation of policy. The authorities have given us some numbers as a way of convincing us that things are on track. We have no argument with that. At the same time, though, we cannot help feeling that the government could really be in self-congratulatory mode at present. We do not suggest that the government is wrong about itself. Here we can cite the instance of the agriculture sector, where real efforts vis-à-vis supply of inputs followed by encouraging results have impressed the nation. But despite such successes, there are the negative factors that quite undermine all the good that has been done or is being done. Consider the depredations of the Chhatra League. Its relentless violation of the law has clearly dented the image of the government. In this context, law and order is a prime region where matters must improve. It is not enough to suggest that crimes have come down in comparison to what they used to be in the past. More than the figures for crime it is the gravity of crime that most worries citizens. The point here is that one can only feel comfortable when government action is seen to be effective and policy implementation takes place to the satisfaction of the general public.
The perspectives are clear. We firmly believe that the question of where the government stands on the issues, especially in the matter of policy implementation, is ultimately dependent on a public perception of the reality. If now the government claims 80 per cent implementation of its decisions, we ask again as to what criteria determined such a conclusion. That the government is apparently monitoring policy implementation is appreciable, of course. That should be accompanied by regular and timely intervention and corrective measures where and when necessary. Such monitoring should present before the country a picture of conditions as they really are. Transparency is of the essence. A quantitative assessment of things may be a good thing, but a qualitative observation of circumstances is infinitely better.
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