The growth and development of the people is the highest calling of the leadership. Unfortunately, PM Modi missed the opportunity of being a perfect leader while climbing international ladders as he forgot to count his people’s development.
The extravagant years of the PM Modi-led government have been a perfect show composed of domestic expansion and enhancement of India’s image across the international borders. The major highlights of this government have been the PM’s innumerable foreign trips. From Pakistan to Bhutan, Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned in creating India’s global image. Undoubtedly, it has been considered a great initiative by him. Therefore, it became the bone of contention for the opposition parties and rants against the party are still continued over Modi’s rigorous endless four years foreign trips.
Creating a false image of ‘ache din’ worked effectively for the BJP-led NDA government and the outcome turned out to be the largest expansion of the party in the country so far.
However, Throughout PM Modi’s tenure, it appears that there was a vacuum in the relationship between the economically backward sections of the society and ruling party. To some extent, the criticisms against PM Modi’s foreign trips are acceptable because they have cost India a lot.
Total Amount Spent On Foreign Trips
As per the figures given by the government during a Rajya Sabha session, an expenditure of ₹1,484 crore was incurred on chartered flights, maintenance of aircraft and hotline facilities during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to 84 countries since June 2014. If we divide the expense in years, the Prime Minister visited a maximum of 24 countries in 2015-16 followed by 19 in 2017-18 and 18 nations in 2016-17. In 2014-15, he visited 13 countries with the first one as Prime Minister to Bhutan in June 2014. In 2018, he travelled to 10 countries, the last one being China.
The cost for chartered flights to overseas destinations in 2014-15 was ₹93.76 crore while in 2015-16, it was ₹117 crore. In 2016-17, the cost was ₹76.27 crore and in 2017-18, the expense on chartered flights was ₹99.32 crore. According to the data, a total of ₹1088.42 crore was spent on maintenance of the prime minister’s aircraft and ₹387.26 crore on chartered flights during the period between June 15, 2014 and June 10, 2018.
These figures simply showcase the PM’s fascination with diplomatic relations. Be it middle-eastern countries or developed superpowers, these trips look like a perfect visual treat to common man’s eyes but have failed to benefit the Indian economy domestically in the short run.
Farmers’ Plight
Recently, while addressing a public rally in Midnapore, Narendra Modi attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government while talking about farmers’ issues. “My government is your government, it is a government of farmers. Our government worked for farmers.” The words are absolutely emphatic and impactful. However, the reality is far away from this flowery speech, despite various schemes for farmers being launched.
As per the Economic Survey, in the last four years, the level of real agricultural GDP and real agriculture revenues have remained constant, which implies that there has been no significant growth in agriculture during the BJP-led regime yet. At the same time, numerous farmers’ suicides have also been recorded. As per reports from 2017, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that over 12,000 farmer suicides have been reported since 2013 despite enough initiatives.
The statistics submitted by the Centre revealed that the maximum number of suicides (4,291) were reported from Maharashtra, followed by Karnataka.
In the end, it can be said that the party is working for 24 hours a day for the economy and development of the nation but unfortunately, within a stipulated time frame, the government seemed to have been more concerned with PM Modi’s extravagant foreign trips rather than the serious issues faced by farmers in the country.