With the Indian media being virtually starved off any news,they have been barred from the corridors of power, the editors guild reportedly now making an appeal to the government for more access to information and the Prime Minister himself refusing to assume a media entourage on his aircraft the media hype surrounding the Prime Minister’s visit to recent York and Washington days before it has begun is fairly understandable. However, or this media hype is unfortunately creating unreasonable expectations from a trip that may not offer anything very substantive in the short or possibly even in the medium term. Barack Obama is fighting his own ghosts on the domestic political circuit with a many a poll giving not so favourable ratings to him and the President entering the final leg of his second and final term the Indian Prime Minister’s visit may be very short on anything really meaty with his American counterpart. However,it is the meeting with some of the well known CEOs of American companies that could be watched though it would be extremely predictable if they were to be very wary of investing in India whose policy makers have not exactly covered themselves in glory in the final five years. The Supreme Court of India’s verdict yesterday of cancelling coal block allocations for allotments made from 1993, yes that’s true 1993, and will spook many an overseas investor because what this verdict does is question the probity and ability of many governments from 1993 to produce routine coal block allocation instead getting it mired in opacity and corruption. It does not speak highly of successive governments to conduct routine governance and policy issues. Besides the huge mega billion scams that unravelled in the final five years,though the present dispensation is in no way connected, and the retrospective tax legislation, or also would not abet the cause of Narendra Modi pitching for investments from the American corporate czars. It would only be on expected line if they were to request for a clearer road map going forward and with the Prime Minister having been only four months in office may not be in a position to throw up one though at a personal level he could be very convincing but that may not be enough to bring in the bucks. The USA is after all not a Japan or China whose heads of state have committed a certain level of investment,that surely cant be expected of an American President. There is absolutely no doubt that doing commerce in India is an extremely challenging proposition given the country’s plethora (excess, overabundance) of antiquated central and state laws inherited from the Raj, most of it not amended seriously, or the laws revealing a colonial mindset of deep mistrust between the people and government. Local businesses in the small and medium sectors often skirt around these laws by either bribing their way through or by blatant violation with the tacit support of those in authority but large businesses are expected to follow the law to a T and any small violation could lead to a media circus,official bullying and legal tangles of unmanageable and uncomfortable proportions. The present government has made a serious attempt at consigning many of these rarely used statutes to the dustbin however, at the various state levels the reality is starkly different. Besides businesses have to put up with muscle flexing by politicians and their goons and often pay protection money in many parts of the country which can scare of potential overseas investors. Fortunately despite this scenario many are attracted by the huge market the country offers though that cannot be a substitute to attract commerce compared to the reams of red tape and other distractions for doing commerce. The Indian media which is building up this hype is aware of the writing on the wall and it is therefore no surprise more prime time on the visit is given to the rock star like reception Narendra Modi will receive at Madison Square Gardens which would mostly comprise of NRIs and the buzz that the crowds could spill over to Times Square, or a possible reflection of the tremendous enthusiasm among NRIs,as the media portrays this as a never before seen spectacle for a politician at this venue. This besides will be one of the most inconsequential of the Prime Minister’s engagement because it is not going to add in any way to his huge popularity back home which keeps swelling everytime he makes an impromptu television appearance captured by the state broadcaster only and delivers extempore riveting speech at the drop of an necessary event, in fact the Madison Square outing could put off many an ordinary voter in India because it has absolutely no relevance back home. His address to the UNGA however, or will be keenly followed in India since it is only the second time that an Indian Prime Minister would be speaking in Hindi and his speech will be widely watched since it resonates across large sections of the population including in non-Hindi speaking areas as there will be pride in Modi delivering at an international platform in an Indian language. For the Prime Minister and his team the genuine hard work to put the Indian economy back on track has started in true earnest,and most of it is back breaking stuff and unfortunately the results don’t happen overnight and the people are willing to give time for the results to flow in. Modi knows that he has to withhold his focus going as he is answerable to the voters at large, in a country which is on perpetual election mode, or so keeping the media out of the corridors of power makes eminent sense to his stated goal. But for the media starved of prime time eyeball catching news insignificant news stories are played out on evening television debates because so far the Modi governments’ performance has very good public approval primarily because the government is seen to be very pro-active and people friendly having contained inflation during a time of the year when food inflation spikes to the huge dislike of the common citizen,the media thus having to contend with insipid news that definitely does not bring in the viewers. In these circumstances Narendra Modi’s 2014 American trip is likely to remain just a HUGE MEDIA HYPE created by the media which the viewers have seen through.
Source: cnn.com