Wednesday, August 29, 2012

“I rate the UPA government’s second tenure only a five on ten.”

Sudarshan Mazumdar, Former Director of Brand and Communications, Fortis and Escorts Group, speaks to Steven Philip Warner on why he considers the UPA II regime a half-success...

B&E: How would you rate the first and second tenure of the UPA government?
SM: Considering the overall performance since 2004, I rate the UPA government’s first tenure a 6.5 on 10 and its second tenure only a 5 on 10. The second season for UPA has been marred with failures. Be it the Budgets or the failed implementation (so far) of an issue like GST.

B&E: But aren’t you satisfied with UPA II’s foreign policies?
SM: We have tried to improve our relationships with China, Russia and others. But how beneficial it has been for India? Even today, we have not been able to strike any agreement with China, which still supports the nuclear programme in Pakistan. I think the biggest failure of the UPA has been that even after the Mumbai attacks of 2008, it did not succeed in creating a cohesive pressure on our neighbours to stop them from shipping terrorists. That is blatant. There has to be a coherent policy. You cannot have external parties representing you, which is precisely what has been happening. This has given Pakistan an undue advantage during inter-border talks. All this represents a failure of UPA II.

B&E: And what are your thoughts on inflation in basic food commodities?
SM: Even today, we still have to count on the weather gods to forecast how our economic growth will be. Currently, our agricultural growth is below expectations. Food grain production actually dropped this year by 12%. Then, there is poor food preservation. The lack of government supported logistics creates great wastage. Inflation is just the end result.


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