From serving as an RBI Governor, to the Finance Minister, and then to the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh’s tenure was full of unblemished schemes and some high profile scandals. Despite all this, there is no debate over Manmohan Singh’s place in history of Indian Prime Ministers. All the governmental schemes brought between 2004-2014, were for the development of the society and especially inclined towards women, SC/ST, and minorities.
National Commission for Minorities Educational Institution, 2004
A National Commission for Minorities Educational Institution, 2004 was constituted with an aim to ensure that any person or any group of people from the minorities can open an educational institution. The commission gets its power from Article 30(1) of the constitution. There are various schools and colleges in India such Hindu College, Hansraj College, DAV Schools, which give preference to students from their communities. So, this act allowed institutions like St.Stephens college, or Guru Harkrishan Public School to give preference to students from their community in order to promote education amongst the minorities. But after 2014, the work of this commission slowed down. Today differences are being defined in the society, and people from the minorities are regarded as second class citizens. Such instances put us back in the 15th century. And this picture is not good for the growth of the nation.
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
According to the population consensus of 2001, there were 933 women per thousand men, and despite their religion, all of these women were suffering. They were the real minority in India. In 2005, the UPA-I government came up with the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. This act gave strict instructions on how women should file cases, setting up of female police stations, counsellings as well. This act took its power from IPC Section 498A, 1860. It helped women in becoming more powerful. Their visits to the courts became a little less, and the number of dowry killings also came down.
Right to Information Act, 2005
To create good relationships there should be transparency amongst both the parties and to achieve this the UPA-I initiated the Right to Information Act, 2005. This act did its work of bringing transparency and now the public was able to question the government on its daily work. This also reduced personal discretion of government employees, as this discretion was earlier present in the government since the British Era. This was known as the Official Secrets Act. Removing it was a great step towards public empowerment and in the first ten years, this platform received 1,75,00,000 requests and questions about various departments. After 2014, efforts were made to diminish the efficiency of this platform. In 2019 an amendment was made to this act, which allows the central government to prescribe the term of Information Officers, their salaries, and also their condition of service. This gives a hint that the government in power wants to intervene with an independent body, by bringing such an amendment.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005
Another issue which this government looked at was unemployment. For this they introduced Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005. The main idea was to generate employment, and an overall progress of the society. Work was provided over a term of a hundred days in 27 states and 200 districts. It gave more power to the Panchayati Raj institutions and its main preference were tribals, women and poor people. This was the first time in history taxpayers money was directly going to the villages to employ people and not for the construction of any statue. It helped in the development of the villages and also improved its economy. This employment generation programme is much better than any promises of money distribution that are being made before elections today.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
This government also came up with amendments in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The aim was to remove the gender discriminatory provisions of the 1956 act. It balanced the rights of succession for men and women and now they both are co-shares of the father’s property.
Right to Education Act
During Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government a law was also made for education. When the Right to Education Act was introduced, India became a part of 135 such nations which have policies for free education. It was a very important step taken by the UPA-II government. After this the primary education enrollment increased to 99%. The enrollment in higher studies increased from 12.3% in 2006-07 to 18% in 2011-12. Schools were bound to provide free education to students from age 6-14 and they were constructed near the houses of people within 5-10 km of distance. This allowed students from both rich and poor backgrounds to sit together, study and eat. This initiative could have been a game changer in the field of education. But after 2014, this Act with 39 Clauses was of no use to the government. Today the government and even the people have many more important things to talk about rather than their child’s education.
2G Spectrum and the Coal Scam
What came as a blow to the UPA-II was when Mr. Vinod Rai, the then CAG sent out the reports related to the 2G Spectrum and the Coal Scam. This started protests in Delhi, under the leadership of Anna Hazare and a united demand for a Lokpal was initiated. People of India were united to see the finale of corruption in India. Various leaders like Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan etc. This protest, in one way, showed the country the future of 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Prevention of Harassment of Women at Workplace, 2013
After this the UPA-II, came up with Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Prevention of Harassment of Women at Workplace, 2013. In 2009, a 110th amendment was introduced in the constitution about raising women’s reservation from one-third to one-half of the total seats in the Panchayati Raj. But despite these steps there was a wave blowing in the country, which showed everyone the departure of congress.
The idea of the previous congress was to develop India’s economic status in the world. Today India is focused more towards religious matters, and no one wishes to see India turn into a theocratic state, one like Pakistan. Today the Indian rupee is depreciating day by day, and this will lead to inflation. The present government in the sitting should work upon improving the economic status of the country, rather than the religious. Such practices are leading to revenue deficit and ultimately deficit of trust and confidence of the public in the government.