Leading news-magazine “India Today” carried a
report card of the present government on its performance in the last four
years. The Report Card reviewed the achievement of various ministries and the
performance record of various ministers. The ministers were assessed on five
parameters namely- (i) promptness of response (ii) understanding of issues
(iii) openness to ideas (iv) Commitment to reforms and (v) achievement. They
were graded “A” (Excellent), “B” (Good), “C” (Average) and “D” (Needs
improvement), based on their performance. The achievement of ministries was graded
on a scale of 10. None of the ministry got a perfect 10. The performance ranged
from a high of 8 (Transport) to a low of 5 (Social Sector, Manufacturing and
Defence). The overall average was
61.6%. Though the ministries
failed to live up to people’s aspirations, none of the minister who headed
these ministries was ranked “D”. The editor attributed the poor performance of various
ministries to two factors- a slothful bureaucracy and the poor bench strength
of the Modi Cabinet. However, with none of the ministers being ranked “D”, it
was difficult to comprehend how the editor attributed the poor performance to
the poor bench strength of Modi’s cabinet. This is to say that the editor wants
his readers to believe that the various ministers in the Modi’s Government
failed to perform despite their brilliance due to a slothful bureaucracy. This
is a classic case of a bad workman quarreling with his tools. Since the
bureaucracy is the favourite flogging horse, it is always easier to lay the
blame at its doors. Such shallow journalism was certainly not expected from an
experienced editor like Mr. Aroon Purie.
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