While the powers that be are flattered that India has secured recognition as a rising global power, governance has to catch up with delivering the basic services, especially to the hundreds of millions of poor to overcome the social backwardness and to ensure equitable opportunities for economic advance. In human development indicators, India continues to remain far behind many other developing countries.

Political stability at the Centre has been the hallmark of the decade, the Congress-led UPA successfully completing its five-year tenure as did the BJP-led NDA in the first half of 2000s. India's democratic strengths were asserted in the national elections of '1999 and 2004 - and in 2009 to give UPA a second term - though the country had moved to rule by politically convenient but disparate alliances comprising regional parties and state-level entities. However, lack of cohesion had not come in the way of implementing economic liberalisation policies.

There have been several highs and lows during this first decade now nearing its end. Both coalitions subscribed to the agenda of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation with gradual opening of the economy for market forces and furthering integration with the rest of the world. This no doubt helped India to share the boom in terms of high GDP growth with larger trade, capital flows and technology transfers, during the expansionary phase of the world economy, which abruptly ended with the collapse of the international financial system in late 2008. Despite the onset of the deepest recession in advanced economies in 80 years, India could tide over the global crisis with its sound banking system and a domestic demand based economy, with in-built resilience to withstand sudden exogenous shocks.

India had managed to record a 9 per cent growth for three years in succession (2005-08) which generated a buoyancy in revenues to enable the launch of an agenda of “inclusive development” with a series of flagship programmes mainly focussed on education, health, rural employment and infrastructure, rural and urban. That helped to bring about fiscal consolidation though it became short-lived with the global crisis and downturn affecting all countries necessitating extraordinary counter-cyclical policies. Large fiscal stimulus packages to create demand again widened the deficits. As economic recovery takes firm hold, an excite strategy would be put in place, maybe in the 2010-11 budget in February to restore fiscal stability over the medium term.

But what the Centre overall has failed to achieve over decades has been effective delivery of services to the mass of the people and ensuring intended benefits reach the targeted sections. The credibility of A Government is linked with its actual performance in relation to stated objectives and its awareness and ability to respond and react to emerging situations. India's governance has also suffered from poor intelligence services at its command with the result that Government is left high and dry in dire situations when it has to make timely interventions. India is already vulnerable to cross-border terrorism.

The spread of Naxalism in the tribal belts of several states is an ominous development, the dimensions of which were not foreseen in good time. The Prime Minister has described it as the biggest internal threat for the country at present. That the millions of tribal population have been left far behind in development processes has come as a rude reminder.

In another context, Dr. Manmohan Singh had said recently that India's challenges were mainly at home and his vision for 2020 (the second decade) is around three pillars - inclusive growth, composite culture and a peaceful, forward-looking neighbourhood. But the art of governance lies in making Government, at the central, state or local levels work and deliver goods. Irrespective of constitutional delegation of powers at different levels, the Centre has to exercise its over-riding authority in legally permissible ways and by persuasion to secure the fulfilment of objectives, whether in terms of law and order, economic development or social justice. The Centre has to be in close touch with developments in states so that situations do not get out of hand for the polity.

For instance, at the political level, the violent agitation that has gone on in recent days in Andhra Pradesh, especially in the Telangana districts and Hyderabad was clearly avoidable with timely interventions. The Telangana leader Mr. K Chandrashekhara Rao was willing to end his fast at an early stage if he was called to New Delhi for talks on his demand for formation of a Telangana state. Apparently this was not taken serious note of because of the earlier antics of Mr. Rao with varying postures. Once the students took over command and went on rampage at several places, the demand gained what seemed an unstoppable momentum. Even Mr. Rao had to rethink and ignored medical advice to terminate his fast. Delay in responding to the ongoing developments has placed the Congress leadership at the Centre with its vital political stakes in Andhra Pradesh, in a dilemma.

In the midst of security and developmental challenges and global obligations that would keep India preoccupied over the coming decade, there has to be timely response to issues on the boil. Similar is the case with the surging inflation, especially the double-digit food inflation, which has suffered neglect at the Centre. There is much talk about India weathering the global storm and emerging faster than other economies to recover growth at 6 to 7 per cent but there is relative indifference to the hardship millions of poor are enduring because of the extraordinary rise in food prices, especially cereals like rice, pulses and edible oils. Food inflation has been in double digit for a long time and was 17.47 per cent in mid-November.

All that Government occasionally noted was that prices are rising that it was keeping a “careful watch” but there were “enough stocks” at its disposal. The seriousness of food inflation has been underlined by the Reserve Bank of India over the last few quarters and the Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Dr. C Rangarajan warned very recently that urgent steps are needed to contain the price spiral before it affects the manufacturing sector. This is essentially a supply management problem and not a monetary phenomenon, though RBI would be forced to reassess its current soft policy stance shortly.

Statements at the highest levels of Government thus far have assumed that food prices would come down on their own “in the coming months”. The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission simply put the problem as one “hyped” by middle class which did not want farmers to get support prices! Minimum support prices have been in vogue for a long time and were not known to have exerted undue pressures on consumer prices. While high inflation could be a matter of great discomfort for policy-makers whose sights are on high growth and giving a push to reform agenda, inflation cannot be wished away.

Now that the Congress President Ms. Sonia Gandhi has also drawn attention to the price rise problem saying it is the “highest concern” of the UPA Government, one would expect some credible steps beyond telling states to improve the supply situation of essential commodities.

But the food inflation is a manifestation of the glaring inadequacies of policies and performance on the agricultural front. Five years ago, UPA Government said the country needed a second green revolution. This still remains a distant goal. Even the 2009 electoral promise of food security and supply of cheaper food to people below poverty line had been put on the backburner, whatever the circumstances. India's growth being underpinned by manufacturing, which has become globally competitive, and Services backed by information technology, agriculture has taken a back seat in Government priorities. It would become an even more critical problem area for the future with global warming with its disastrous effects on natural environment. (IPA Service)