Elected governments and its leaders have the responsibility to implement policies keeping the best interest of the people in mind. The guiding spirit behind charting out a new programme or policy should be solution to the people’s problems. Public good, rather than benefits to a particular section, should be the consummate intention of the government. However, a look at the governance in the past few years does not bode well. 

Many laws passed by the Central and some of the State governments betray a sense of favoritism and preference for some and bias against others. They reveal blatant tilt towards certain sections of society. 

Take the controversial decision of the Lakshadweep Administration to remove meat items from the mid-day meal scheme of the students and the move to close down dairy farms. The Administrator had no qualms in interfering with the food habits of the people wreaking havoc in the region. The Kerala High Court has mercifully stayed the seemingly partisan orders. 

The Assam government’s push to bar people with more than two children from the ambit of a slew of public welfare schemes is sure to hamper a section of the society. This comes as a double whammy for the people as the State has a law which denies government jobs to people with more than two children. 

The ‘love jihad’ law being implemented in some of the BJP-ruled States is yet another instance of a flawed policy meant to intimidate one community on an issue which courts said could not be proved. This law is the result of a paranoid government which goes an extra mile to sooth the ruffled feathers of its hardcore vote bank. 

The anti-cow slaughter law being implemented in saffron-ruled States is yet another case in point. If the ostensible reason for making the law is to protect ‘gau mata’, how is the blanket ban on slaughter and consumption of all bovine meat justified? Unmistakably, the new law is meant to cater to the Hindutva protagonists. 

The initial vaccine policy of the government, allowing the vaccine-makers to charge different prices from various stake-holders, was baffling. While one vaccine manufacturer supplied the jabs for Rs 150 to the Centre, it was allowed to charge several times more price from States and private hospitals, a decision which was questioned by even the apex court. 

The apathy of the government towards the poor and the marginalized glaringly came out when millions of migrant workers were forced out on the roads to fend for themselves in the wake of the unplanned announcement of the first lockdown last year.  

The nation witnessed reckless decisions over demonetization, Citizenship Amendment Act, changes in Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, and several other ‘pet policies’ which brought untold miseries to the aam aadmi (common people) for whom the government sheds crocodile tears. 

The policies of the BJP governments do not seem to focus on the ‘last man in the queue’ as Gandhiji envisaged; rather they are meant to cater to the interests of sections of people who are the vote bank of the ruling party. 

It is wrong to hoodwink people with self-serving policies. The government is apparently bending over backwards to please its benefactors in the guise of welfare policies. Policies are programmed apparently to protect the interests of the ruling regime’s vote bank and its patrons.