UPA receives mixed report card

The Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cruised past the 100-day milestone of its second term on August 29. The date would not have warranted much public attention had the UPA not promised to deliver so much in this period.
No official 100-day action plan was released by the government when it assumed office in May, but President Pratibha Patil had mentioned this target in her parliamentary address. Although Patil only said that the UPA government would "initiate" certain measures - and she steered clear of outlining any specific goals - the 100-day promise found an immediate resonance with the Indian electorate.
Three months is too short a time to gauge any government's performance, but various factors had led to enhanced expectations from the UPA's second term. For example, the UPA had romped back into power with a solid majority, and its leader - Manmohan - seemed more surefooted this time round. Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, had also wrought a fruitful makeover within the Congress rank and file. With the more left-wing and capricious allies edged off the stage, the field was clear for the UPA to go full throttle.
Nothing quite so dramatic has transpired. As a result, the party's 100-day report remains a mixed bag. Skyrocketing food prices, negative inflation, a drought that has affected 264 Indian districts and a mishandling of the swine flu pandemic has taken much shine off the 100-day plan.
The government has pushed through pioneering changes in some sectors - education and social security, for instance. But in many others, the outcome has been below par. In matters like internal security - a major concern in the wake of the devastating Mumbai terror attack last November - Minister of Home Affairs P Chidambaram has beefed up the nation's security architecture and set up four NSG (National Security Guard) hubs in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.
However, Chidambaram has seen little progress in talks with Pakistan on terror and bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice. Similarly, spiraling Naxalite or Maoist violence in Bihar and Jharkhand has cast a shadow on the ministry's performance. The education sector seems to be the biggest beneficiary of the UPA's first steps. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal's measures to overhaul the education system have ultimately found favor with the people. Sibal has managed to steer through the landmark Right to Education Act bill, and a string of other reforms including a new grading system for schools, an independent policy-making body for higher education, and proposed legislation to check malpractice.
If there was one department which outdid all others in delivering on the 100-day promise, it was the prime minister's office. Its monitoring unit to oversee the delivery of the government's flagship programs was up and running within 40 days of the government assuming office. The monitoring unit will fast-track implementation of the government's major programs and ensure trouble-shooting through periodic reviews. The emphasis will be on making information accessible to the people, bucking the trend of India's notoriously opaque bureaucracy.
The UPA's idea of setting up a national identity card scheme headed by Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani has also won plaudits. The authority will implement a project to store a unique number for each citizen in a database (akin to a social security number), helping the government better implement its projects. The Finance Ministry has also introduced new tax legislation to make payments less burdensome. Credit goes to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, though he has struggled to address price rises in a period when the prices of most commodities - especially sugar - have touched 30-year highs.
The specter of drought hangs over India, with a predicted 20% plummet in farm output threatening rural demand. Low growth - pegged at around 6% this year - may also hamper Mukherjee's plans. This contrasts with spectacular growth in the UPA's first tenure, when growth in gross domestic product galloped at more than 8% annually.
Gender empowerment has been one of the UPA's favorite topics, given that the Congress party is headed by Sonia Gandhi and the party chose India's first woman president and speaker for the Lower House (Lok Sabha). There have been steps to provide an early passage of the Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve a third of the elected seats in parliament and in state legislatures for women. And for the passage of a bill that will ensure 50% of all seats in village councils and city municipalities are reserved for women.
There have been letdowns, too. Manmohan has been criticized for agreeing with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt, in July to disassociate terrorism from ongoing Pakistan-India peace talks. Internal divides in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) somewhat helped the UPA tide over this crisis, though it may re-surface.
With the right-wing BJP in serious disarray, India's left is gasping for survival, and is more dependent on the Congress than ever - so UPA may not have to worry about support, unlike 2004. It can instead focus its energies on the complex issues that confront this nation of 1.3 billion people. A true litmus test of the UPA's first 100 days will be its performance in assembly polls in three important states - Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra - next month.

Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.