Ramesh Abhishek: The man who tanked India’s Start up dreams

With a zestful ‘anti-corruption’ drive clean, the Modi 2.0 government seems to have begun the task of governing in right earnest, having sent home over two dozen corrupt bureaucrats and proposing to induct over 400 professionals from private sector into the bureaucracy with a clear message of “perform or perish.”

However, in its second term, the government is learnt to be wary of announcing any lofty slogans since its earlier ambitious initiatives like Start up India or Skill India which it had announced at the time of coming to power in 2014 failed to kick off in view of bureaucratic apathy.

PM Modi is learnt to be taking a hard look at the unfinished agenda of the first term and the reasons behind it, including those who were responsible for it. The PM, who is known for his ‘shock-treatment,’ has obviously not dropped any hints in this regard but the lackluster fate of the Start up campaign has clearly not skipped his eye.

The role of Ramesh Abhishek, the Bihar cadre IAS officer, who has failed to implement bolder initiatives to encourage entrepreneurial zeal in his current role as Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary since 2015, has already come into question.

Abhishek’s style of functioning and lack of business-friendly policy initiatives have reportedly dissuaded entrepreneurs and businessmen in and outside India from regarding India as a conducive business environment. As a result, the entire 
Start up industry is facing turbulent times due to angel tax, lack of right policy framework and clear and entrepreneur-friendly initiatives. Abhishek failed in enabling entrepreneurship in the country through encouraging schemes 
for a start-up-centric environment. Under his stewardship, instead of becoming a feather in the cap as envisioned by the PM, the Start up India initiative has turned into an embarrassing disappointment for his government.

It is a mystery as to how Abhishek has escaped the public glare all this while especially since he has been known to misusing his powers and manipulating the system for personal gains or those of his political masters.  As a district magistrate in Patna, Abhishek played puppet to his political godfather and then Bihar CM, Lalu Prasad Yadav in conducting and then steering clear of many corrupt deals.

As the chairman of Forward Marketing commission (FMC), the erstwhile commodity market’s regulator, Abhishek played to the tunes of his next political mentor, P Chidambaram to destroy India’s vibrant commodities markets six years ago only to favour lobbies close to Chidambaram’s and protect his financial interests. In the process, Abhishek ended up destroying more than 10 lakh jobs in the commodities markets but still managed to grab an important posting as Secretary, DIPP.

With his unsavory past catching up with him, the government finally seems to have realized that it is better late than never. So, the moot question is: Will the PM’s clean up drive axe corrupt bureaucrats like these who are sitting pretty in the system serving private interests of corrupt politicians instead of working in the national interest?