PUBLISHED APRIL 10, 2019

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won a surprise majority at the last general election in 2014. As Modi seeks re-election in a poll that begins on April 11, how far has he been able to implement the pledges from the party’s last manifesto?

Reuters selected 50 pledges from the BJP’s 2014 manifesto based on their importance and the promise of concrete action. The policies were then analysed using government filings, Reuters reporting and third-party sources, and categorised into three groups: FULFILLED: 

 The policy has been completed, both technically and in the spirit of the original pledge. New institutions or committees are fully operational, and other targets based on a quantifiable metric will have been met or exceeded, based on government or third-party data. PARTIALLY FULFILLED: 

 The government has made some progress towards fulfilling the policy, but it is not yet complete. NOT FULFILLED: 

 Policies that have either been shelved, stalled or blocked.

Agriculture

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 FULFILLED: Implement a farm insurance scheme that will soften the impact of crop losses after natural disasters

 FULFILLED: Reform the Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) act

 FULFILLED: Strengthen employment bases in agriculture and related industries

 PARTIALLY FULFILLEDRevise minimum support prices and increase farmer profitability through a rural employment scheme

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Use technology to distribute real-time data to farmers

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Welfare measures for farmers above 60 years of age, marginal farmers and farm labourers

Business and Industry

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 FULFILLED: Ensure that a conducive, enabling environment is created, making ‘doing business’ in India easy

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Accord high priority to the growth of manufacturing to ensure job creation

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Ensure availability of credit through a dedicated bank for small and medium enterprises.

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Housing for all by 2022: build 200 million homes in Indian cities

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Raise public and private R&D investments to increase manufacturing competitiveness

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Set up trade facilitation to ensure easier customs clearances

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Support for R&D and innovation in micro, small and medium-sized businesses

 NOT FULFILLED: Set up world class investment and industrial regions as global hubs of manufacturing

 NOT FULFILLED: Set up a task force to review and revive micro, small and medium-sized businesses

Economy

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 FULFILLED: Set up a Price Stabilisation Fund

 FULFILLED: Implement fiscal discipline, without cutting the availability of funds for development work

 FULFILLED: Undertake banking reforms to enhance ease and access, as well as accountability

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Allowing FDI in sectors wherever needed for job and asset creation

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Engage with foreign governments to facilitate information-sharing on black money

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Overhaul tax dispute resolution mechanisms

 PARTIALLY FULFILLEDSet up a task force to tackle black money and amend or enact laws

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Take steps to reduce bad loans in the banking sector

 NOT FULFILLEDFD: I will not be allowed in the multi-brand retail sector

 NOT FULFILLED: Put in place strict measures and special courts to stop hoarding and black marketing

 NOT FULFILLED: Unbundle Food Corporation of India (FCI) operations to ensure greater efficiency

Education

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 FULFILLEDRevisit the Apprenticeship Act

 FULFILLED: Set up Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and virtual classrooms

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Institute a mechanism for interaction between industry (including SMEs), academia & community

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Standardise secondary education and skills with a focus on rural, tribal and remote areas

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Use real-time data to audit the performance of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

 NOT FULFILLED: Restructure the University Grants Commission into a Higher Education Commission

 NOT FULFILLED: Revitalise the management and delivery of the midday meal scheme for school students

Governance

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 FULFILLED: Special emphasis on the development of dispute resolution services before cases go to court

 FULFILLED: Periodically review and refine or scrap outdated laws

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Focus on increasing the penetration and usage of broadband across the country

 NOT FULFILLED: Abolish special status for Jammu & Kashmir

 NOT FULFILLED: Evolve a method of holding Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously

 NOT FULFILLED: Explore all possibilities to facilitate the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya

 NOT FULFILLED: Look at revising election expenditure limits realistically

 NOT FULFILLED: Mandate digitisation of all government work to reduce corruption and delays

 NOT FULFILLED: Fast-track cases against politicians and eliminate criminals from politics

Health

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 FULFILLED: Initiate the New Health Policy

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Increase the number of medical and paramedical colleges to make India self-sufficient

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Initiate the ‘National Health Assurance Mission’

 PARTIALLY FULFILLED: Set up an AIIMS-like institute in every state

 NOT FULFILLED: High priority will be given to address the shortfall of healthcare professionals

 NOT FULFILLED: Launch a National Mosquito Control mission

 NOT FULFILLED: Occupational health programmes will be pursued aggressively

 NOT FULFILLED: Set up the ‘National eHealth Authority’ to leverage telemedicine and mobile healthcare

Sources: Government filings, Election Promises Tracker, Reuters reporting

Graphics by Aditi Bhandari. Photo Illustration by Chris Inton. Reporting by Alasdair Pal. Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan.

REUTERS GRAPHICS