(October 1999 to May 2004)

The Kargil war was fresh in the public mind when the country went to the polls in 1999. There was public support for the NDA and the prime minister, in particular. The election results gave the NDA led by the BJP a majority with the support of new constituents such as the Janata Dal (United) and the DMK. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister for the third time on October 13, 1999.

Economic and Social Steps

The NDA government carried forward the economic reforms that had been initiated by the Narasimha Rao government. Infrastructure development got special attention and encouragement. Telecom, highways – the National Highways Development Project and the Golden Quadrilateral – got importance. Rural sector was not ignored: the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched to improve rural connectivity with all-weather roads

The services sector was growing and software industry was given a boost. Outsourcing of work from the West created tremendous increase in jobs in India.

The government came out with a new telecom policy that announced a shift from the high fixed licence fee to a more reasonable revenue-share based fee. The government also privatised state monopolies such as VSNL and brought about fiscal changes in the form of duty-free imports.

The Disinvestment Commission was upgraded into a ministry.

With the economy being opened up, foreign companies began tapping Indian markets. Indian pharmaceuticals exported their medicines and brought in precious foreign exchange. Efforts were made to encourage foreign investment,

especially from Europe and the United States.

The government was instrumental in getting through the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in 2003 to institutionalise financial discipline, reduce India’s fiscal deficit, improve macroeconomic management and the overall management of the public funds by moving towards a balanced budget and strengthen fiscal prudence.

The government tried to spread education through the Sarva Shiksha Abiyan for achieving universalisation of primary education.

A highlight of the period was the Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002 which placed the right to education among the Fundamental Rights in Part-III of the Constitution.