Cong-NCP promises of 2004 still on paper

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had made tall promises with special emphasises on the social and infrastructure in their respective manifestos in 2004. But after five years, it is clear that both the parties, which allied to form the
Democratic Front government, have failed to deliver.

The success of the Cong-NCP is the implementation of the right-to-information act, tribal laws, and the national employment guarantee scheme which promises 100 days work to every rural household in the backward regions. It has also increased the budget for the health and education sectors.

The acute shortage of electricity is perhaps the Congress-NCP’s biggest failure, even though the DF has been in power for 10 years.
Notwithstanding the Rs 8,000 crore budgets for irrigation and special farmer package, little has been achieved. Of the total Rs70,000 crore farmers package allocated to the country, the state received almost 20% as a special case, but the cotton-growing farmers in Vidarbha remain are still reeling in poverty after their crops failed.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan and his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh claim they have succeeded in implementing their agenda to the maximum extent possible. In fact, the Congress and NCP give themselves 80-90% marks for their performance, and claim that the power shortage situation will improve from 2012.

The Congress-NCP government in the state has refused to admit it has failed in the agriculture sector where farmer suicides had been rampant till some time ago; instead, they say under union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, the nation has for the first time received Rs70,000 crore for the agriculture sector.

In infrastructure, Mumbai has received massive assistance under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The large number of construction works are visible on the streets of Mumbai, but all remain incomplete. The showpiece project, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, remains incomplete even as the state continues to pay interest for the loans taken for the project. Despite promises to transform Mumbai into Shanghai, little has been done. Housing for the poor and urban middle class remains out of reach.

The attacks on Dalits (for instance, the Khairlangi case) and communal riots in Dhule have upset the Dalits and Muslims respectively. Although these were cases in isolation, they remain a blot on the government’s performance.