Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Firstly, many congratulations on securing a historic second 5 year term at the helm. It pleases me greatly as an Indian to see an acclaimed and renowned economist and intellect par excellence as my Prime Minister.
As the stock markets indicted on Monday, 18th May, it is also an occasion of great optimism that you can now run a government without the Left pulling strings, hampering your every progressive reform. There can be no better opportunity than this to make up for your previous term on economic reforms where frankly you were allowed to do very little. The mandate you have got during this General Election is loud and clear. India has voted for stability during a time when there is global chaos. India has voted for a sitting Prime Minister whose integrity and honesty is beyond doubt. India now needs to see that confidence in you translated into the kind of performance that made you a household name during the early 1990s, i.e. the era of economic liberalization.
There have already been some pleasing reports in the newspapers on government formation and the Cabinet's new members. If they are to be believed, this time round the new government will have a higher representation of young ministers. It is also being mentioned that non-performing ministers from your previous term may not find a berth. It was also pleasing to hear that this time MPs with criminal proceedings against them will not be invited as the bargaining capacity of your allies has reduced significantly. How much of this will materialize will be known soon enough when the Cabinet is announced and all the ministers are sworn in. Nevertheless, the Indian voters can still celebrate the fact that this time you do not even need the support of RJD, LJP, SP and JMM. These parties like the proverbial Shylock and they would have extracted their pound of flesh from you.
As an Indian I have two primary concerns which I hope will get top consideration from your administration.
Fiscal Deficit
India's fiscal deficit is in excess of a mind boggling 45 billion dollars; one of the highest in the world. With revenues falling short of expectations and borrowing higher than expected, it seems this deficit is only getting bigger. It is hoped that your administration addresses this issue and bring down the deficit within the next 2 years. Now the Left parties do not have the same level of influence in Delhi, it is hoped that you can pursue PSU disinvestment aggressively and bring in much needed cash into the government coffers. Also of concern is the liquidity in the market (or the lack it). There are market expectations of the interest rates coming down and I hope these expectations are not without basis.
Security
We live in an increasingly volatile neighborhood. The safety and the well being of ourselves, our families, our local neighborhoods, our cities and of our all our countrymen is of paramount importance. We live during times where our rich diversity is being used against us by vested external and internal forces to drive a wedge between us. The very social fabric of our society is being torn apart. There is an urgent need to implement inclusive and progressive policies, introduce education to the hundreds of millions of our countrymen and to bring the prosperity of a growing economy to the rural population.
I was very disappointed with the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. While I was alarmed and concerned over the attacks, they did not represent my biggest disappointment. I understand that in a country as large and as populated as ours, security checks, intelligence reports and the ability of thwart terrorism is an extremely difficult job. The British Prime Minister once said after the July attacks in London, that if the government raised an alert on every threat perception and gave out information on every threat stopped then the country will come to a complete stand still and pandemonium would ensue. I accept that argument on face value.
What baffled me during the Mumbai 26/11 attack was our response time and our ability to stop an ongoing terror. We watched in amazement for 48 hours as our country was held at random by less than a dozen terrorists. It felt incredible that so much time was taken to mobilize our commandos. Crisis Management, co-ordination and response time was woefully lacking that day. I hope during your tenure, steps will be taken to address these anomalies in our security.
I look forward to a safer and brighter India, to a better tomorrow. This General Election holds great promise for us and in turn it has given me great hope.
Yours sincerely,
M Shariff
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