Topic of the week for discussion: 9th to 15th Jan.

2014 Topic: The Rhetoric of a Taciturn

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said he will not seek a third term, and will hand the baton to a new prime minister, one he hopes is selected by the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance after this years general election. The speech marks an important historical milestone for the man who helped drive Indias economic policy for more than two decades. And, as it was given during the prime ministers third press conference ever, its likely to be one of the last public utterances from the Oxford-educated economist. He said that during my first term in office, India witnessed for the first time in its recorded history a short acceleration of the rate of economic growth to 9.0 per cent. This exceptional performance was followed by a slowdown initiated by the global financial crisis. We followed farmer friendly policies including raising support prices for farm produce, expanding credit to farmers, and through increased investment in horticulture, in rural development, and rural infrastructure, especially roads and electricity. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has assured agricultural labour of a floor and has increased their bargaining power. Because of these developments the percentage of the population below the poverty line has fallen much faster in the period 2004 to 2011 than it did in the previous ten year period. As a result, the number of people below the poverty line has come down by 13.8 crore. I take great pride in the fact that we have transformed the educational landscape of our country. Through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, through new scholarships for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities, and with a focus on the Girl Child and young women, we have widened educational opportunities Indias 2011 literacy rate of 74% was just 9.2 percentage points higher than it was in 2001, according to the national census, the latest figures available. While the momentum is in the right direction, one out of three girls over the age of seven remains illiterate. Encouraging girls to go to and stay in school, a focus of Singhs, has not been an unmitigated success. Primary school enrollment rates for girls increased substantially from 2002 to 2009, but dropout rates in between primary and secondary school remain high. NREGA has been a cornerstone of Singhs time in office since its 2006 launch; it now employs some 53 million people. It has been derided for everything from causing corruption to poor building quality, and there is a debate about whether it has increased rural wages overall, but it has improved the income level, purchasing power, life style and living standard of the people participating. The claim that The number of people below the poverty line has come down by 138 million depends on how you measure it. Singhs statement is accurate under the controversial Tendulkar method of defining povertybut the government was forced to effectively abandon that that metric two years ago after groups across the political spectrum criticized its accuracy. Indias most recent Planning Commission report said there were 269.3 million Indians living in poverty in 2011-2012down 32.4 million from the beginning of Singhs term according to one measure, or up 30.8 million according to another.

Topic Introduction

Two important speeches. Two relevant politicians. And that is where the similarities end. Because Indian PM Manmohan Singhs address to the media and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals speech during the trust vote at the Delhi Assembly are so different in their context, relevance and approach, that there is absolutely no case to compare them. But compare we must. Why? Because we need to see how the past of Indian politics stacks up against the future. First Hand Reaction Arvind Kejriwal was too emotional. Atleast Manmohan Singh spoke. Interest Factor We wanted to hear Arvind Kejriwal speak. Our video kept getting stuck, but we kept reloading, because in the first 5 minutes, it was established, he was infact talking, no like a politician, but a common man. With Manmohan Singh, after reading the first 3 paragraphs, it took great effort to keep going on. The text had a 'neta ki speech' feel throughout, and struggled to retain our attention. Where Both Were Looking No, we dont mean it in the literal sense. Arvind Kejriwal did tip his hat to the Delhi public for electing his party, but he also devoted a major share of his speech outlining the issues his brand new government will be tackling. Manmohan Singhs tenure is just nearing its end, and he even made clear that he is passing on the baton (to whom? Only Congress knows). But he mostly talked about Congress past achievements and acknowledged the partys shortcomings. Language Manmohan Singh stuck to the age old political jargon. Seriously, terms such as 'the cycle of global economic growth', 'institutions of our democracy', 'educational landscape of our country',' committed to the objective of combating corruption', 'our Government will work ceaselessly till its last day' have been so over-used, that they have ceased to be impactful anymore..Arvind Kejriwal spoke from the heart, so much so, while listening to his speech, the recurring thought was, he is speaking our thoughts. No fancy words, simple sentences that conveyed its intended meaning and no Keats/Mirza Galib quotes that netas throw in their speeches to make them look fancy.Just a heart-felt simple speech that we could easily connect to. Delivery Kejriwal spoke fluently and with passion. Though he was also reading out from a written speech, he emoted and felt the words he was saying. Now, Manmohan Singh has never been a great orator, but his dead pan expressions and rote delivery have drowned many good written speeches before and this time was no exception. Yes, he did launch a never before seen scathing attack on BJPs PM candidate-Narendra Modi by holding him responsible for presiding over the mass massacre of citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, without naming him. But you had to invent Sherlock Holmess detective skills to find out voice modulation, expressions and passion in his delivery, which borders on being robotic, to say the least.

Read further: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/not-modi-manmohan-singh-is-disastrous-for-india-bjp-on-pmsspeech-1320893.html?utm_source=ref_article http://pmindia.gov.in/speeches.php http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/arvind-kejriwal-vs-manmohan-singh-a-tale-of-2-speeches120860.html