Your core supporters are losing hope, Mr Modi. Here’s how you can win them back

Full disclosure: I am a Modi supporter. And, yes, that means we knew plastic surgery since the time of Mahabharat.

The Modi government took the oath of office in May 2014 amid much hope and belief. However, after 18 months, Mr Modi’s core supporters, especially the young, are losing patience. Believe me when I say this. I am also a young man in my late 20s.

With the Bihar loss, the way to 2019 has become more difficult and the chances of Mr Modi getting a second term look quite slim.

As a supporter, I am worried. So, I’d like to give some advice to Mr Modi that I think will change the way people look at this government and help him regain the hearts and minds of the Indian youth.

Mr Modi and his ministers are working day in and day out, but the results are not apparent. This is so because of price rise and adverse journalists. Also, owing to the fact that non-issues hijack the media space.

The government is working on big infrastructure projects in the roads, railways and aviation sector, and waterways. But there’s little information on the progress of these initiatives that is reaching the public. In this aspect, I think the Modi government should take a cue from its power minister Piyush Goyal who recently launched a Rural Electrification app that will give timely updates on LED distribution across the country.

Mr Modi should take a bold step and digitise his government’s ministries before digitising India. All ministers should register their daily, or at least weekly, progress through mobile apps.

It will affect great change in terms of public engagement. Imagine what impact it would have if all infrastructure ministries created their respective apps and reported their progress through it.

For example, Indian Railways is working on enormous capacity expansion. If it had an app, it could have updated the progress of each project with locations/pictures for people to monitor them in real time.

This is already being done by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India through its website but the progress isn’t reported daily or weekly, and not done consistently on both the western and eastern corridors.

The government’s target of constructing roads at 20-22 km per day is completely unbelievable for me, but seeing is believing. If I were to have an option of having an app through which I could see the progress/pictures/locations of these projects, the claims would look real.

The Department of Telecom too plans to connect panchayats through optic fibre based broadband. The progress regarding this can be shared through an app as well. Once the Income Tax policy is simplified, an app would be enough for citizens, at least in cities, to pay their taxes.

The agriculture sector could also make all its policies and progress available through apps.

Apps can be created for the labour ministry, the tourism ministry and so on after consulting industry experts. The app’s rating, followers could easily be seen and queries related to it could be handled easily. Through respective apps, real-time feedback could be generated from the public, which could help ministries improve delivery and capture public mood/advice on policy.

These apps could be promoted in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Noida, Gurgaon, etc with the help of movie stars, cricketers and other renowned personalities.

Apps will help convince young people that things are really moving in the right direction. It would also be a much better way to engage with the youth rather than Twitter (on which ministers mostly re-tweet praises of their own work), Facebook and WhatsApp (where fake messages circulate often).

The media, then, would be forced to do more shows on the core concerns of the public: that is, governance. Ministries that are unable to digitise and share their progress via apps should be made to perform other duties for the party. The feedback gathered online can help Mr Modi judge his ministers’ performances in a more holistic manner.

Mr Modi, time has given you the chance to become the best Prime Minister we ever had and I don’t want you to lose that opportunity. Hence, focus on delivery rather than election rhetoric and acronyms like the ones in used Bihar.