Confused
with the title of this article?
This
article is about the just concluded “State Of The Union” address of the
“President Of The United States” on 30th January 2018, its
implications and its similarities with the challenges we face in India.
President
Trump struck all the right chords in this address. I had written an article in
September 2016 outlining why I believed Trump would win the election and I
continue to believe that he is delivering on everything that he had promised in
his election manifesto. This was a different Trump than what we have seen in
the past. He was less aggressive and more inclusive. It is clear that all that
matters to him is his country.
He
spoke about major investments in America (singling out companies like Apple,
Chrysler and Mazda), reduction of taxes, investing over US$ 1.3 trillion in
infrastructure, immigration, and strengthening the defence forces and other
services like border guards, police forces and the fire service. He peppered
his long speech with very well placed examples of people who had been carefully
selected and invited to this address. He took time to discuss the need for
protecting the citizens of the country. He spoke about setting up vocational
schools to train the next generation of young Americans.
He
spoke at length about the cost of medicines and his plans to reduce these costs
very soon. He also referred to the need to respect their National Anthem and
their National Flag. He was applauded regularly by the Republican benches and
several times, albeit reluctantly, by the Democratic benches. He asked for a
bi-partisan approach to many challenges being faced by the country.
As
he spoke, I tried to draw a parallel with the Indian parliament. Would our
Prime Minister be able to make a long speech in parliament without loud
challenges from the opposition benches and without people rushing into the well
or tagging a walkout? Would the opposition, even reluctantly, applaud the Prime
Minister and this Government for so many achievements?
The
analysts are busy tearing apart his speech on every channel and I am sure the
newspapers in the morning will be full of views and counter views on his
speech. Critics are talking about what he did not say instead of talking about
what he did say. Here is a President who is refocusing his energies on his own
country and is moving away from providing leadership to the World. His “Make
America Great Again” slogan appeals to his constituents but shakes up the rest
of the World who have got used to looking towards America to provide leadership
first and then blaming America when things do not go as per plan.
The
challenges we face in India are no different. Our Prime Minister too is faced
with a small group of high decibel politicians and journalists whose only aim
is to critique every action that is taken and every word that is uttered by
him. Mr Modi’s challenges are much greater. Not only does he have an over
aggressive group of opposition parties who can never hope to present a
bi-partisan face given their wide disparities, he can never think of supporting
or naming businesses since he can never be identified with any business group.
India
too needs huge investments in infrastructure in our economy. We need more and
better roads and better public transportation. We need more airports and river
transportation. We need clean energy and clean air. We need improved healthcare
and cheaper medicines and improved educational facilities. We need cheap
housing for our masses. We need more control of our borders (yes we have a huge
problem of illegal immigrants from our neighbouring country on our east). In a
country adding 27 million children every year, we need strong and determined
policies to create more jobs. We need to support and galvanise the Make in
India philosophy because only then will be create value added jobs for our
people.
We
need more respect for our defence forces and we must stop these ridiculous
FIR’s against the Indian Army. We need a very strong policy to manage our over
aggressive neighbour on our western border and therefore we need to improve on
the arms and facilities for our armed forces. Our space programme needs to be
supported not simply because we want to “reach for Mars” but because this
technology helps develop more reliable defence capabilities.
Since
Independence, the “roti, kapda, makan” promises have been made by successive politicians
and the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to widen. Too much has
been done for a few who have amassed huge wealth under the guise of providing
employment. We need to ensure that the “have-nots” in our country which
comprises of agricultural workers, blue collar workers, people in rural and
semi urban India and those people who have never benefited from the largesse of
previous Governments are provided opportunities in a nation that belongs to all
of us.
We
need to provide opportunities for our millennials and beyond, the people who
will power our nation into the next few decades. All this can be delivered only
by a strong and committed leadership who will be able to follow through on
tough reforms despite criticism.
We
need India to be take its rightful place in the comity of nations. We need to
provide leadership in South Asia and in the World. For this we need a strong
and unwavering foreign policy.
As
President Trump ended his speech with “God bless America”, I wondered if a similar
statement could be made by Prime Minister Modi. If he did, there would be an
uproar of “which God” he was referring to and which audience he was selectively
“blessing”!
*******************
The author is the founder Chairman of
Guardian Pharmacies. A keen political observer, he is an Angel Investor and
Executive Coach. He is the author of 5 best-selling books, Reboot. Reinvent.
Rewire: Managing Retirement in the 21st Century; The Corner Office; An Eye for
an Eye; The Buck Stops Here - Learnings of a #Startup Entrepreneur and The Buck
Stops Here – My Journey from a Manager to an Entrepreneur.
Twitter: @gargashutosh
Instagram: ashutoshgarg56
Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com |
ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com
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