Thoughts on NMP

 Summary

Like all things Bharat Sarkar, a Sarkari press conference with partial information of what the plan is and absolute silence on the process. This is a flaw that is excusable initially but consistently repeating it shall alienate the public, even ardent supporters. 

Background

1. While the goal of being a Vishwaguru is noble and honourable, without a proper action plan that is implementable and tracked for implementation, it shall be only a dream, a delusion.
2. The demonetisation plan can be confidently declared as a gross failure from the process of implementation. Even a simple task of recalibrating the ATMs for the new currency had not taken place. Considering that the implementation was on cards, a simple implementation process should have been planned effectively.
3. In some of the programs that have been in domains I operate (e.g., Made-in-India, Atma Nirbhar Bharat, CAA, CoVID management, farm bills, 48 hr road accident insurance under Ayushman Bharat), I can say with certainty that the thought is great but there is no understanding of the implementation difficulties or follow up after announcements. 
4. People involved move on to the next program for “namkaran” but “palan and poshan” is neither planned nor performed. 
1. While the naming of programs and publicity for consumption in the participating population group is important, not having a good implementation plan is to hang the program out to dry. 
5. A bureaucratic approach to things is neither helping administration, science, research or development. While bureaucrats are expected to work in the background and give the inputs, it is a political process with lots of empathy that is essential to reach the public (the ultimate Janardhan, God!).

Suggestion

1. A detailed implementation plan of the NMP with a detailed action plan (that can be amended based on constraints) to eliminate risks involved has to be made at the earliest. This should be verified by people independent of the planners who created it to check for desirability, possibility and viability.
2. There is a real and present danger in the NMP program. Taxpayers have are already invested and paid for the assets that are being leased (monetised). While the taxpayer continues to pay taxes and cess for the maintenance, they will now be made to pay the additional usage fees by the concessioners. This if articulated well by the opposition will put the Govt in an extremely dark corner (suit-boot ki sarkar!) in the public. This certain landmine has to be addressed and not wished away.
1. Need to have clear short communications (meme, short videos, discourses, writings, etc) to alleviate the issue.
2. The impact of these communications have to be assessed on a weekly basis and continuous improvements/ course corrections have to be made. 
3. These communications shouldn’t be just numbers but at a level that can connect with the general public.
3. There is a clear and present danger of concessioners hijacking the welfare aspect of utilities (electricity, water, etc) and infrastructure (road, ports, etc) in pursuit of making money. This is a fear of known pitfalls. There are plenty of cases from East India Company to Streetcar conspiracy in the US for this to have happened in the past. This fear in public and educated society has to be addressed if we would want to go through with the monetisation plan.
4. Niti Aayog has tried to replace the Planning commission, its actions/ programs have been sheer wishful thinking, something that think-tank does. There is a serious requirement to have a system to make a detailed work plan that can be implemented. This should be followed up as a project manager to monitor the implementation by the line ministries.  
1. A secondary focus group to assess the impact (project management group) has to be put in place to see how the Govt (bureaucracy is implementing the program). This focus group should not be headed by bureaucracy and should be a system within Govt and at a place of authority (PMO?) to follow up the progress and suggest course corrections.
5. There will be a short-term discomfort during the transition phase of implementing NMP that has to be minimised and explained to the public if there is a requirement for purchase.

Footnote

1. While these suggestions are easy to be claimed as implemented verbally, it requires an extreme process focused rigour. These shouldn’t be wished away as “oh we know policy”. 
2. Understanding that policy framing is different from policy planning and policy implementation seem to be limited. While the current dispensation has excelled in getting policy framing it has failed most often than not when it comes to planning and implementation.
3. There needs to be much better coordination across the party and its ground troops to face 2024 and beyond. It should be a process and not person dependent.