Narendra Modi has not made many sweeping reforms since he stormed to India’s premiership in May. But he has made some reforms about sweeping.
Among the many campaigns the new prime minister has championed, one is his beautification drive, known as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or “Clean India Mission”. Seizing a broom, the prime minister exhorted his compatriots to sweep away the rubbish that is a blight on public spaces, not to mention a health hazard. In doing so he cleverly stole the symbol of the Aam Aadmi anti-corruption party, which electrified the country last year but whose political momentum he has entirely co-opted. “Don’t we all have a duty to clean the country?” said the low-born Mr Modi, with a sly dig at India’s upper castes — some members of which believe it unbecoming to perform manual labour. Even the nation’s bureaucrats — too many of whom are corrupt, arrogant or both — are not safe. On a public holiday in October, Mr Modi insisted they tidy up their offices and clear out useless files, many of which have been gathering dust since the British quit the country.
Mr Modi specialises in such publicity stunts. In his August Independence Day speech, delivered from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort, he brought up topics normally outside the purview of prime ministers, including rape and the indignity of village women obliged to wait until nightfall to defecate outside. Didn’t every Indian deserve a toilet, he thundered? He has launched a “Make in India” campaign to encourage manufacturing by clearing away the flotsam of regulation and the jetsam of shoddy infrastructure. Back on the subject of civil servants, he has threatened those who do not turn up for work on time and has even sent spies to golf courses to ensure that public servants are not slacking off. Suddenly, the fairways of India’s most prestigious clubs are empty most weekday afternoons.