#RahulStumped? Not really. A reality check on Swachh Bharat & Make in India

While interacting with students at Bangalore's Mount Carmel College on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi's attempt to score political points seemed to trip badly.

The Congress vice-president asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Make in India campaign were working.

The audience stumped him by shouting 'yes, it is working' and cross questioned him. Of course, Gandhi was a good sport and engaged in a discussion with the students, bringing out differences of opinion within them.

Read: #SwachhBharat: Picking up the broom once a year is not enough

While there was resounding support for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a few students did feel that the Make in India campaign hasn't succeeded in generating jobs as had been promised by Modi.

The interaction and the media frenzy that followed ended up drowning Gandhi's rather pertinent question: are the schemes really working?

Is Rahul Gandhi right in questioning government policies so soon?

The answer to both questions is yes. The programmes are working, though with certain caveats. And Gandhi is right in raising questions because that is precisely what a good Opposition's job is.

On 2 October 2014, Modi promised that he would clean India in 5 years. The government is seen to be doing a lot: from enlisting celebrities to clean roads, introducing a Swachh Bharat cess, Swachh Bharat Kosh and even initiating contests for the public. But critics still allege that roads are dirty, sewerage is overflowing.

Significantly, cleaning India is a three decade old dream. However, toilets built in rural India got used as godowns, there was rampant corruption in awarding 'Nirmal Gram Puraskar' to villages and urban India remained as dirty as ever.

Here's a reality check in numbers. Rahul Gandhi would have done well to have had them in hand.