Problems are well known. Only action matters.

The President's address to Parliament yesterday laid out a road map which the new government wishes to follow. Opposition politicians were quick to criticise the government's agenda. Mr Anand Sharma of the Congress said," There is no new line of thinking.... no original thought.It is just jugglery of words, full of platitudes and replete with cliche and slogans which the country heard during the last six months." Mr Anand Sharma is the erstwhile Minister of Commerce who managed a contraction of 0.7% in industrial production in the last financial year. The reason the speech seems full of cliche is because everyone, including school children, knows the severe problems that need urgent solutions as we face blackouts even as temperatures break record levels. Water and sanitation will save girls from rape as they have to go out to the fields under cover of darkness to relieve themselves. Extortionate taxes are strangling the economy so the Goods and Services Tax bill needs to become law. Roads, railways and airports are essential to boost commerce. Mr Sitaram Yechury of the CPM said," Compilation of election slogans was repeated in the speech. But how it will be implemented was not there. It has only expressed intention not the solution." Quite. The CPM left Bengal with a debt of over Rs 2 trillion after destroying the entire industrial base by going on strikes and slogan shouting. Perhaps the omission of detailed steps of implementation was deliberate to prevent sabotage from such people. The BJP government of Rajasthan has proposed fundamental changes to labor laws which will be anathema to corrupt union leaders whose power and wealth depend on holding companies to ransom by organising strikes and then selling out workers in a fraudulent deal. Perhaps the most significant point was the absence of the phrase ' inclusive growth ' which meant spending vast amounts of money in handouts to the poor while allowing friends and relatives to loot trillions of rupees from telecom licenses, mines and every deal, whether in purchase of trucks or helicopters. Handouts increase inflation and poverty while reducing jobs. So the latest wheeze was targeted subsidies to the poor through biometric Aadhar cards. The Bolsa Familia program in Brazil is admired for lifting millions out of poverty while empowering women. Why then is the government of Brazil having to use teargas against protesters just before the World Cup? There is only one solution to poverty in India. No handouts to those who have more than one child. It will reduce deficit, reduce inflation, improve education, improve health and protect the environment. So simple.