An Era of Transformation Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Compiled by Faiz Askari

Today we are looking at an old man who is struggling between life and death in a hospital bed. But whatever may be the opinion Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be considered as a brilliant politician, bold orator and a decent leader of India. Let's also discuss his economic policies and success stories which were conceptualized and executed during his regime. He is the one who laid the foundation for infrastructure development and telecom revolution in the country.

Mr. Vajpayee will always be referred for prestigious projects such as the Golden Quadrilateral, which connected Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.  He laid the foundation for massive infrastructure projects for fuelling the growth of the country. His initiative Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojna was also successful in connecting far-flung villages across India.

In the regime of Prime Minister Vajpayee, the role of MSMEs was started getting a formal recognition at the high-level policymaking. It was immediately posted Mr. Vajpayee's tenure when MSME Ministry became an important mechanism for shaping up the MSMEs in India.

The 93-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader, a diabetic, got admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on June 11. He is the first non-Congress prime minister who has the credit of completing the full term of five years.

Another feather in his cap is the introduction of the Fiscal Responsibility Act with an aim to control the fiscal deficit of the country.

Disinvestment

Vajpayee is the one who formed a separate disinvestment ministry for the privatization of non-strategic public sector enterprises. It was under his tenure that Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) and Hindustan Zinc, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited and VSNL were disinvested. It was a bold decision taken by the Vajpayee government considering public sector units are considered as jewels of the economy and it was not easy to convince people about disinvestment of public sector units. The value unlocked helped in the further development of the company.

Telecom Revolution

The Vajpayee government is the one who replaced the fixed license fees with a revenue-sharing arrangement. He is the one who took the mobile connectivity to another level, which is currently supporting today’s BJP strategy of financial inclusion through JAM- Jandhan, Aadhaar, Mobile.