Modi attacks Montek Ahluwalia over criticism of Gujarat's social sector performance
Modi's team, which met deputy chairman of Planning Commission to finalise Gujarat's annual plan, came all prepared to turn the tables on the government while insisting that its budget had been focused on inclusive development.
If the man on the other side of the table was not named Narendra Modi, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia might have been one of his chief advocates.
Both men believe in cutting red tape, industry-friendly reforms and a general emphasis on growth rather than welfarism. Yet when the Gujarat chief minister left Yojana Bhavan after finalising his state's annual plan of Rs 59,000 crore - Rs 2,000 crore less than Modi's original expectation, but a 15.7 per cent hike over the outlay for the previous fiscal - on Tuesday, the mood was positively chilly.
Social sector
"Generally it has been our view that Gujarat needs - in order to bring its social sector performance up to its economic size - to have some special attention to this area," Ahluwalia said in his address to the press, earning an evident scowl from Modi who was standing alongside.
When his turn came, the Gujarat chief minister decided to make a direct response to the criticism over his state's social sector performance. "[Gujarat] spends 42 per cent of its budget on the social sector, and has a motto of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas (everyone's support, everyone's growth)," he insisted. "The funds would help in the uplift of all sections of the society, including the scheduled caste, the poor, the exploited and tribals. We want to ensure all sections of the society get the benefits of growth."
Criticism
Behind the closed doors of the meeting, Montek specifically highlighted the issue of child-sex ratio - which has deteriorated in about half of Gujarat's districts, despite a state-wide increase - as well as high levels of infant and mother mortality rates. On malnutrition, an issue that has often been cited as a deficiency in the 'Gujarat Model', Montek said its level was far higher than what the state's "advanced economic level" should have warranted.
As if he had anticipated the social sector criticism, Modi's team came all prepared to turn the tables on the central government while insisting that its budget had been focused on "inclusive development".
"Our government is committed to the development of every section of society and every corner of the state," said a glossy, 20-page document produced by the Gujarat government to explain Modi's point of view at the Planning Commission. The booklet - Gujarat: Where Growth is For All - made no secret of the state government's effort to sell its "Gujarat Model". "The development model evolved in Gujarat in the last decade has been a cynosure of many eyes... It is now being seen as a model to be studied and emulated," said the booklet.
One of Modi's demands for more leeway to Gujarat in handling funds from Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) received partial approval from the plan panel. Montek said this issue might come up for discussion in the Cabinet this week, in which case he would push for added flexibility, not just for Gujarat but for other states as well.