India - some answers

Satish has asked some thought provoking questions and I will try to answer some of these :

1. Is India really developing the way it should?

Yes, India is indeed developing in a phased manner. No doubt this development has come in late, but its better to be late than never. From 1974, India has been ready to take off, without quite doing so. We were what was called in those days as "The Crouching Tiger". Unfortunately the crouching tiger continued to crouch for the next twenty years but it was not until 1994 that the first signs of a developing economy was seen. Once India took the path of Globalisation, development became easy. The last few years have seen fabulous advances made by our economy. GDP growth has been consistently in or near double digits. Only one country was growing at a faster clip - China. India managed to shake off the Pakistan yoke and got hitched to China.

Having said all this, the development in India has been a bit skewered. Almost 60 % of our economy is now dependant on the service sector (read IT outsourcing by developed countries like US etc). While growth in any sector is welcome, too much dependance on the service sector can result in umbalanced growth. We need to focus more on the manufacturing sector. History bears testimony to the fact that the countries who have become global giants are those that have developed on the back of the manufacturing sector. If it was England in the 19th century it was USA in the 20th century and China now who are making waves in the manufacturing sector. Thus we need to increase our investments in the manufacturing sector and ensure that almost 50 % of GDP growth comes from this sector.


2. If so, why are the poorest of the poor delinked from this development ? Can you honestly say that they have benifitted from India's recent development ?

Absolutely Right. The benefits of development has not yet reached the poor. In fact it is a clear case of the poor becoming poorer and the rich becoming richer. But we must not forget that the middle class is fast becoming more prosperous. Once the middle class prosperity sets in, the poor will surely benefit. But yes, our Government needs to take some hard decisions in order to ensure that the development benefits the poor. The most important amongst these are Education, Healthcare and Social security. Once these are in place the lot of the poor will surely improve. We can only hope that our Government is listening and takes some concrete measures in this direction.


3. Will not this sort of haphazard development cause social strife and unrest ?

Definitely - the French Revolution is testimony to this. But luckily for India things are not that bleak. The benefits of development are trickling down to the poor, albeit slowly. One hopes that the speed of empowerment of the poor will increase and our development will not cause social strife.

4. For any country to really develop, we should have a set of politicians who rise above vote bank politics and take the country very seriously. Why are our politicians not doing that, but instead are only interested in their own development / development of their constituencies / vote bank etc ?

Unfortunately this is one of the drawbacks of democracy. Dont forget that democracy is the will of the masses. In an illeterate country like ours, we get the government decided by the masses. This results in the election of people who sometimes do not deserve to be elected. Conversely, the politicians in order to keep their chairs, bring about policies that cater to their vote banks and in fact may be detrimental to the well being of the country as a whole. Thus if the politicians rise above vote bank politics, they will no more be in politics. We can only hope that with better education and development, a better, cleaner set of politicians are elected in future who will lead India to the next century.

5. Why is corruption still so prevalent in our country ? We are still bracketted with sub Saharan countries and other banana Republics in this regard. As far as business ethics and corruption our rank is still around 130 out of 160 countries. Why ?

Corruption is an old game in India. Not only in India, in almost all undeveloped countries, corruption is prevalent. It has to do with the poverty level. In developed countries also, corruption exists, but only in the higher levels and do not effect the common man. In poor countries, we see the policeman take a bribe of Rs 5/-, the babu in the governement offices take a bribe of Rs 10/- and above and so on. Thus as long as we are a poor country, the charm of easy money will remain. This sort of corruption will automatically cease once we become a developed nation as we will, one day, God willing !!

6. Why are Indians so unhygenic? The way we litter the place and are not at all shamed to even defecate in public is disgusting. When will we behave like a developed society and what measures can be taken to avoid this ?

Education, education and education. It is only because of illiteracy that we do these sort of things. With the GDP growth projected today, education for all will become a reality within the next fifty years o so, and we will then begin to see that our people are more civilized and learn to conduct themselves in a befitting manner. In addition the Government must bring in some tought measures to rein in littering in public. For example in Singapore, there is a very high fine for spitting and any sort of littering in public. Even the most illetrate worker in Singapore knows this and avoids littering, making Singapore one of the cleanest cities in the world. So, I am sur that if the Government imposes tough penalties we can reduce this sort of littering. But the will must be there and the lawmakersmust not think that this is an easy way to extort some bribe from the public !

7. The incidents of dowry, wife beating, molestations, rapes are one of the highest in India. Does this make us a developed society or an undeveloped one ?

Education, education and education. Yes, it is a shame that these atrocities are still being carried out in broad daylight. We need to remember that women are an essential part of our social system and should not be abused. This change in public perception will only come about once development ushers in education. Then and then only can Indfa be called as a developed country. Again all cases related to atrocities against womed must be taken up in a fast track womens court where they get instant justice.

8. Whereas in developed countries philanthropy is a way of life, our rich businessmen, socialites and High net individuals are only interested in accumulating their wealth and not in any social work as such. Why ?

Unfortunately true. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Steve Waugh and countless other foreigners devote a lot of time, energy and money to our country, but, we Indians are not bothered. Our well to do folks are busy getting their tenth car or upgrading to a Mercedes or a BMW, rather than serving society. No answers for this question, its all in the mind. But thankfully, a small set of industrialists are indeed devoting more attention to the upliftment of the poor and that is a good sign. It is hoped that they will ignite the fires of social service in others and we will soon see an India where the rich actively help the poor to lead a better life.

Note : I have not been able to give all the right answers, but deep inside me is a feeling that we are on the right track. The crouching tiger has begun to move and will indeed bring happiness and a good life to all the Indians. Positive thinking will go a long way......... Jai Hind.............