A midsummer daydream

From simplified taxes to daring reforms, India Inc’s wish list for the new government is long

- K.SUNIL THOMAS

Most bureaucrats in the corridors of power in Delhi look forward to the summer. The pace of work gets a bit languorous and a good chunk, family in tow, go to their native places for that much-needed summer vacation. Many others take off to cooler climes—the lucky few to Europe and others to domestic hill stations and pilgrim centres.

A lazy summer becomes an even greater attraction in an election year. With the model code of conduct limiting the incumbent government from making any major decisions or policy changes and with ministers away campaigning, the pace of government work further slows down. It is usually a relaxed few weeks spent speculating on election results and extended tea breaks before the flurry of activity hits them in full blast with a new government.

This summer, though, things have been a bit different. The outgoing Narendra Modi government, in a show of super confidence in its fate at the hustings, has given them so much work that the bureaucracy’s hope for a ‘chill-out summer’ just melted away. It was set in motion way back in February. Modi initiated in a cabinet meeting the planning for a 100-day agenda that his government would take up after coming back to power. The plan was to be worked out by senior bureaucrats; a final list of 50 projects or policies to be taken up immediately after the new government’s formation, targeted at the grand vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.