Reflections on the Indian Independence Day.
India will be celebrating its 65th Independence Day on August 15,
2012 with army parades, floats on Indian heritage and economic
development of the country - all this in midst of the looming drought
in many parts of the country. India's economic, social and political
developments are a mixed bag of achievements and glaring lack of will
to tackle problems confronting the country, especially the poor.
The achievements.:
Democracy & Food Security : India's achievements are well-known. A
democratic set-up which has weathered the storms of dictatorial
mind-set ( the 19-months emergency regime ) and many challenges to its
unity ( the rise of sub-nationalisms with political tact and
accommodation). It has banished famine. Just now it has 80 million
tons of food-grains in its buffer stock, thanks to increased
irrigation facilities, hybrid seeds and fertilizers introduced since
the Green Revolution. The country has come a long way from the famine
conditions in 1965-66 when India had to depend on US wheat imports to
feed its teeming millions.
Economic Growth, Technology and Defense: It is one of the few
countries which has mastered the space technology. It is one of the
leading countries in software sector.Today it one of the fast-growing
economies of the world after the change of direction of its economic
policies from the statist to encouraging free enterprise initiated
in 1991 by the Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao and ably implemented
by the finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. It has also joined the
select few in the world with its own nuclear technology and atomic
weapons with which USA and other countries have nuclear agreement. The
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee courageously exploded and
stockpiled a few atomic weapons to ensure India's defense in a region
full of these weapons. The decade of the 'nineties took India to the
top table.
The failures.
While the achievements are significant, economic and political
problems are persistent. These have been summed up by the President
Pranab Mukherjee in his speech delivered on the assumption of office
on July 25: poverty ( 'For our development to be real the poorest of
our land must feel that they are the part of the narrative of rising
India'); corruption ( 'Corruption is an evil that can depress the
national mood and sap its progress') ; terrorism ( 'The war against
terrorism is the fourth '(world war).
Poverty : Among the most important problems of the country is the
persistence of poverty in the country. While the experts and
economists discuss the poverty line, whether it is Rs.28.65 or
Rs.22.42 per day, whether it should be related to caloric food intake,
infant mortality rate, education, health or employment, all are agreed
that more than one-third of the population, which would be about 400
million, are poor. A recent report states that ten percent of rural
people live on less than Rs.17 per day. " Trickle-down theories do not
address the legitimate aspirations of the poor", as the President
pointed out in his address. All the policies implemented by the
successive governments have failed to uplift the poor. They are still
not the 'part of the narrative of rising India'.
The latest policy of offering 100 days of work for the poor under the
Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is riddled with
design faults - it does not create any permanent asset, it does not
train the uneducated for any job, and full of corruption - not paying
the workers in full and in time, the local politicians in league with
the officials manipulating the workers' attendance to enrich
themselves. There are no proper checks and balances, there is no
efficient monitoring and there is no transparency. Moreover, you can
build a nation on doles. There is a certain lack of vision.
There has to be a policy to empower the poor with various training
programmes. The small landholders should be able to get more returns
from their holding with proper advice from the agricultural experts.
The landless should be trained in some profession or job which can
extend from brick-lying to electrician which every village, town or
city requires. Recently, the government has set-up a skill development
corporation under the guidance of one of stalwart of software
industry.
Mahatma Gandhi was right. India lives in its villages. He dreamt of
village republics as self-sufficient in most of its needs. He believed
in self-reliance,decentralisation of political and economic power to
empower the poor - to remove tears from the eyes of the poor, as he
put it. His vision is now being appreciated by many as global warming
is becoming a global menace due to the energy-intensive lifestyle
which creates demand for more goods. He said long ago that there is
enough in the world for everybody's needs but not for everybody's
greed. President Abdul Kalam, a visionary like Mahatma Gandhi, has
put forward a plan to uplift the villages called, PURA,( providing
urban facilities to rural areas) with multiple connectivities (
knowledge, technology, marketing etc.) This is in tune with the vision
of Mahatma Gandhi.
Corruption : Corruption is a universal phenomenon to realists and
cynics but to the poor, it is a curse. People have to pay for every
legitimate government services such as issuing a ration card, getting
a birth or a death certificate, registering a FIR ( First Information
Report) in a police station, getting admission to a school, getting a
water connection and others of similar nature. Madhya Pradesh and
Bihar governments have now made it mandatory to provide these services
within a time-frame with a fine for defaulting officials.
The recent scams such as 2G spectrum sale, Commonwealth Games Scam
and Coal-fields allotments were just the tip of the iceberg of
corruption in India. The corruption has a long history in India going
back to the jeep scandal during the early years of our freedom. Many
well-known politicians were involved. Cases, even when they went to
the court, took a long time to investigate and punish the culprits.
CBI ( Central Bureau of Investigation) is under the prime minister's
jurisdiction and the politicians have the tendency to to misuse it. In
the recent years cases have been filed against two former chief
ministers for possessing disproportionate of wealth and they are still
going on. Now both of them support the ruling coalition at the centre.
No wonder, Anna Hazare and his NGO, India Against Corruption, have
demanded that CBI should be under the jurisdiction of Lokpal (
Ombudsman) who can take up cases involving politicians and the
bureaucracy suo moto for investigation and persecution. The
institution of Lokpal was a suggestion made by the first ARC (
Administrative Reform Commission) almost 42 years ago and has never
been implemented by any of the administrations till now. The least
that the government has to do is to make CBI as independent as the
Election Commission.
Terrorism : India has two types of terrorism to tackle, one is
left-wing terrorism which wants to change the Indian polity through
violence, and the other one is promoted by Pakistan, first in Jammu
and Kashmir, now all over India.
Naxalite terrorism, started by some left-wing intellectuals, has
killed many innocent people who do not join them or help the
government bodies who promote social welfare programmes such as
schools and hospitals. It has spread its tentacles to many states.
They have recruited the poor and the unemployed to its rank. Instead
of preventing the misuse of power by the politicians and the
officials, the movement has prevented social welfare programmes
reaching the poor. The government has to appoint young and highly
motivated officials who can mobilise the support of the youth of the
region to frustrate the efforts of these terrorists. And the officials
should be adequately protected by a well-equipped police force.
The other terrorism has a different dimension altogether. It is a
state-sponsored project and it spans many of our neighbouring
countries as well.It stated in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 challenging
the rigging of election by the ruling party of the state, and later,
questioning the state's integration with India, now it has spread all
over India. It has hurt India and now, Afghanistan and Pakistan as
well. Its effects are felt all over the world - UK, France, USA. It
has inflicted many wounds on Pakistan itself. It is assuming the
proportion of a frankenstein killing the creator.And the day may not
be far off when the world would jointly hold Pakistan to account for
this act of war against the world.
India has always extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan in spite of
numerous acts of terrorism executed by the non-state actors with the
support by its agencies. This has been misunderstood as the weakness
of the Indian state. India would be forced to act to defend itself
against these activities by Pakistan sooner rather than later. The
least that the government has to do it is to equip our police to
gather intelligence to prevent such activities, when occurs,
investigate speedily and punish the culprits immediately. This the
duty of every state and it can not abdicate its responsibility under
any excuse.
Our government has the dubious distinction of dealing sternly with
Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev than the terrorists of both the variety.
The vote-bank politics has weakened our country.
India needs new politics and new economics.
Indian politics has run on few slogans which are touted as principles.
While the constitution envisages a society of equals, its politics is
based group interests. The only tools it has in its armoury for
welfare are reservation and subsidy which have distorted our economy
and politics. However, the only principle which can promote welfare of
all ( sarvodaya) is good governance - that which rises all the boats.
Mahatma Gandhi gave a talisman to all politicians - to ask themselves
whether their policies would empower the poor. This is the standard
which should guide government policies.We have to use all our
resources, men and materials, to create employment and wealth.Here are
a few examples:
(a) Water : We have drought in many areas and at the same time there
are floods in other areas. There has to be a vigorous campaign to
promote conservation of rainwater through bunds and check-dams, and
afforestation to attract more rain in the drought-prone areas. Plans
should be drawn to divert flood waters to dry areas. River-linking
project should be initiated where ever it is feasible. The rain-water
harvesting should be made compulsory in all towns and cities.
(b) Electricity: The recent headline all over the world says it all -
" India in the dark, 600 million people hit by world's worst
blackout". Electricity generation is not enough for economic growth
( thousands of villages and millions of households have no supply),
supply is erratic, some are given free and all electricity boards are
in the red. India has 300 days of sunshine and it should be the
pioneer in solar power. Every household should be encouraged to have
solar panels over its roof One-time cost is high but it has low
maintenance cost and lasts for many years. Solar lamps cut down the
use of kerosine and provide better light to the villagers. Germany is
phasing out nuclear power and going in for solar power in a big way.
Gobar gas projects too should be revived.
( c ) Roads and railways : They are the lifeline of the country. They
link villages with towns and cities, and promote movement of people
and goods - agricultural produce to towns and manufactured goods to
villages. They open the doors of prosperity. They needed to be funded
adequately.
(d) Food security : Every village or a group of villages should have
a grain silo and refrigeration facilities to store food-grains, and
preserve vegetables and fruits. Now hundreds of tons of food-grains
rot under the open sky as the state has not built enough storage
facilities. Fruits and vegetables are spoiled without any preservation
facilities.
(e ) Health and Education : Every village or a group of villages
should have a primary school and primary health centre.
( f ) Housing : Housing has many multiplier effect - create demand for
bricks, cement, steel, labour. It fulfills one of the basic needs of
man. It should be made easier to people to build houses and own
apartments with low interest loans and low taxation.
Let the politicians treat India as one and Indian people as one.
People will respond as one. Indian people are industrious and
talented. The government policies should unleash their hidden talents
and aspirations. Politicians have to be persuaded to renew their
pledge to serve India, not any narrow interest, through agitations and
movements by concerned citizens. Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev have
shown that it is possible to awaken and mobilize the people to change
the system. Changing the system is not easy but it is not impossible.
That is way to change our swaraj into suraj.
August,10,2012.
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