Five Year Plan

Vasu Reddy From Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The new BJP government has a five year tenure and should have the ability to set the agenda and also drive the agenda for India. It has the votes needed and power to plan and deliver to whatever plans that it can develop and already has developed. It is only the second week of the new government, but a lot of discussion on every available medium that covers India (including yours truly) has optimistic opinions on what Narendra Modi will drive in his tenure as the PM of India.

Just by judging from the reactions of the Pakistanis, it is apparent that Modi has started to drive home his agenda, and they don't like the developments and all of a sudden a democratically elected PM of Pakistan looks like a school boy. Modi must be doing something right to get the attention his is, and not just Pakistanis, but other international media seem to have very optimistic opinions on what he might do in his tenure as the head man of India. I do too, along with all my friends and colleagues who want a better managed India. He certainly has the people's backing and support to do something extraordinary for the massive democracy, and he keeps stating and restating the obvious; development.

India certainly needs development in every aspect. Not just with building infrastructure, and education and jobs and taking care of poor and providing sanitation facilities and cleaning the rivers, and attending to the diverse needs needs of the people and the vast variations in requirements of people and process. It is a massive undertaking, and Modi is the right man for the job. He has no interest in money and he has no worldly affiliations except a couple of suitcases, but has a lot of people believing in what he can do, and overall they are ready to receive the benefits of the mandate given to him. It is no small task to handle the varying interests and requirements, but the new PM seems to be taking them in stride and working on what he said while he was asking for the votes. The difficulty for him is not just the size of the population and their needs, but the entrenched attitude to scams, bribes, looting and dishonesty disparity in the society and with life in general. Indians want someone else to do it and will always want the other person to do things (specially good deeds) rather than they taking the initiative (This is critical of my own folks but it is just the way it is with most of the Indians).

Modi needs not just plans for India's development, but also plans for people development. He needs to impart on them that society as a whole needs to be appreciated, rather than individual gains. People needs to respect each other, and woman needs to be cherished. There are so many ills in the society that needs to be addressed outside of just development, but Modi can perhaps drive the social development along with economic development.

India and Indians need a much longer plan, rather than a five year plan. The life of a nation can be devoid of selfishness and divisiveness. The nation can be prosperous by respecting its own and embracing all of its people. We don't need a communist society, rather a true democracy which treats people well first and development comes with the societal equality. Modi certainly represents a life time of simplicity and a drive for development. While the word development is rather loosely used in the Indian context, he certainly represents a generation of simplicity and striving for societal improvement. Irrespective of how the opposition parties and foreign media presents him, he is different in approaching the people issues. First few days are a refreshing change from the years after congress government. Next five years will certainly be interesting for India and the world. Jai Hind.