NEW DELHI: If Manomhan Singh is remembered as the finance minister who ushered in economic reforms, he was also the PM under whose watch UPA govt launched many landmark social sector initiatives – from right to information to right to education and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
The concept for the initiatives didn’t come from within govt, but from National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, with civil society activists as members. Not surprisingly, the schemes’ credit was also taken by Gandhi and her team. The flagship schemes were backed by legislation, with RTI and NREGA being the first ones to be enacted in 2005.
Singh’s first term also saw the introduction of OBC quotas in education, a move pushed by then HRD minister Arjun Singh, which was resisted by several of his cabinet colleagues before they fell in line. The quota announcement, which set off protests, was followed by govt announcing an expansion in the number of seats in educational institutions. Towards the end of UPA’s first term, Centre also announced a mega farm loan package, seen to be a key factor in enabling the coalition return to power in 2009. And, when it returned to office, it enacted RTE and followed it up with the land acquisition act, and Right to Food or the National Food Security Act. While the land law is seen to be a major stumbling block for industries, something that NDA sought to reverse in its first term but was forced to abandon the plans, NFSA was never fully implemented.
