UPA vs NDA report card on House menu

Politics of development would surface next week in Parliament, during the trust vote, when the UPA is expected to present a report card on its performance in comparison to the NDA as the run up to elections, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Jul 19, 2008, 02:04:17 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Politics of development would surface next week in Parliament, during the trust vote, when the UPA is expected to present a report card on its performance in comparison to the NDA as the run up to elections.

In the past few days several Central government ministries have prepared background papers for the PMO to indicate how the government has fared in its four years vis-à-vis the same period for the NDA regime.

The homework for the PMO has twin objectives — to counter offensive against the UPA and showcase what the government has achieved.

On the platter, would be the social sector covering inclusive growth of rural poor and backwards and upgradation of infrastructure, for which the government has spent about 40-50 per cent of the budget allocation in the past years.

At the time when attempts are being made by parties like the BSP to get hold of Muslims, riding on their perceived anti-US feeling, the UPA government would show how its inclusive policies have improved social indicators for Muslims.

In education, out-of-school Muslim children have reduced by half to close to 13 lakh in 2007-08 compared to about 25 lakh in 2003-04, the last year of the NDA regime, because of scholarships and free books for girls and opening of 10,000 schools in Muslim-dominated areas under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.

In health, maternity rate among Muslims has improved with opening of health centres in Muslim-dominated districts.

Government data also shows that it has curbed leakages in the PDS from over 55-60 per cent during NDA regime to less than 35 per cent; has improved rural connectivity.

Better performance of flagship programmes like SSA, midday meal scheme and National Rural Health Mission and Pradhin Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna are some of the areas where the UPA claims to have done better than the NDA regime.

The UPA claimed economy has grown at an average rate of 8.9 per cent every year during its rule as compared to 5.8 per cent during NDA’s. Agriculture, the government said, has grown at 3.55 per cent in last four years in comparison to less than 2 per cent for the NDA regime.

But, the figures to be presented by the government would be strongly debated by both NDA and Left, who would have their own story to tell on India’s growth charter.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.