Villains Of The Economy
As the economic downturn worsens, the Vajpayee Government comes under fire for holding up key reforms. INDIA TODAY analyses the performance of 10 ministers to find the extent and causes of inefficiency.

The Shadow Of Fear
In a bid to regain the initiative after the Agra Summit, militants have moved to the Jammu region-stretching the security forces and sparking tension.

Crime And Reward
The Chautala Government indulges in a controversial spate of forgiveness, pardoning murder convicts, most of whom are close to ruling party politicians.

New Pot Of Gold
While the US debates the ethics of a cutting-edge medical technique that uses cells from embryos, India can march ahead-if it gets its act together.

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

There is no feel good factor in the economy any more. The constant news is of shrinking business, dipping investment, falling incomes and a crashing stock market. It is a long way from the days when liberalisation and economic reforms were magic words promising national transformation. The crushing slowdown couldn't have come at a worse time. This is the moment for second-generation reforms to take over from the first, launched in 1991. It is usually the finance minister who draws flak when the market goes into a freefall. But second-generation reforms are much tougher to push through especially in a coalition government as they involve moving beyond the finance and commerce ministries to others responsible for economic activity.

We thought it was time to take stock and see how 10 of the major economic ministries were doing. The results, sadly, are not encouraging. Senior Editor Rohit Saran and Special Correspondent Malini Goyal spent more than a month on the story and consider it one of their most taxing yet rewarding assignments. They found utter cluelessness and zero performance on one hand, and good intentions not supported by effective action on the other. The ministers' responses told stories of their own: some like Suresh Prabhu (Power) and Arun Jaitley (Law & Company Affairs) had plenty to say, while others like Ananth Kumar (Tourism and Culture) and Satyanarayan Jatiya (Labour) refused to cooperate. The reasons for non-performance varied from ministers' reluctance to act to intentions being scuttled by political pressure.

Saran says, "The few good deeds of a minority of ministers get lost in the misdeeds and inaction of the majority." We have given ministers marks out of 10. The final assessment by its very nature is subjective but is based on intensive research. If there was a way to reward those who did well and dismiss those who didn't, perhaps, we woudn't be in the mess we are in.

(Aroon Purie)

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