India lacks vision.
India lacks vision, not ruthless pursuit of China, as mentioned by Sumit Ganguly, in his interview with Faisal Kidwai (India Abroad, Sept.14).
India followed the Soviet-type planned economy dazzled by the quick industrialization introduced by the Soviet Union, and killed the Indian enterprise which had built not merely cotton textile mills but steel mills as well during the unsympathetic British Raj. This ushered in the infamous ' permit-license' raj. All that it produced was measly 3,5/4.0 percent GDP growth till 1990. It was forced to change statist economy to liberal economy due to foreign exchange crunch which resulted in an average of 7.5 to 8 percent GDP growth for the next 20 years.
State capitalism became crony capitalism. This is apparent from the interview of Hansraj Ahir, an MP from the coal center,Chandrapur, in Maharashtra(India Abroad,Sept.14). Coal was allotted to companies which had no experience and no connection with the sector who later sold it to others at huge profit. This is just the repetition of the 2G scam. Ganguly mentions ' lack of transparent regulatory and investment climate'. That is indeed the crux of the problem. Free enterprise can benefit people only when it follows rules and regulations which are fair for all. Coal, like spectrum, is a scarce resource and the government can get its fair share only when it is auctioned. That is what CAG ( the Comptroller & Auditor General) said. And that is what the Supreme Court said in the case of 2G spectrum.
The UPA government lacks the vision to garner resources for the uplift and empowerment of the poor. India has the largest number of poor in the world. The health and education indicators in India are abysmal. All this in spite of more resources coming into the kitty of the government due to the rapid growth of the economy. All that UPA can think of was rural employment scheme which assures 100 days of work which has benefited the landless in spite of considerable leakage. However, no permanent assets are created by this program.It looks like a dole to get votes.
Neither state capitalism, nor crony capitalism is the answer to the poverty of the Indian people. Trickle-down theory does not work. India has to have bottoms-up strategy. Its development strategy should be village-centric. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi initiated constitutional amendments to decentralize power but this has not been implemented.
Every village should have a primary school and a primary health-care centre. A cluster of village shoud have secondary and high schools where modern agricultural methods should be taught as 60 percent of the people depend on it. Vocational education should be made available for landless labor. With the decay of villages, people flock to cities and towns to live in slums. Small farms should be made more productive and farmers' cooperatives should be organized to market their produce. The villages could be self-sufficient in power through bio-gas and solar power. India is blessed with 300 days of sunshine.
Anna Hazare has built a model village in Ralegoan Siddhi with rain-water harvesting in a rain-shadow region. Dr. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, has proposed a scheme to improve the living conditions in India - PURA, providing urban facilities in rural areas with multiple connectivity. This is what Mahatma Gandhi envisaged for India - village republics which produce the basic necessities of life. The village life should be made productive, dynamic and satisfying. This is the vision bequeathed by the Mahatma.
China is following the state capitalist system which has failed the people of the West - search for resources and market all over the world, industrialization with pollution, energy-intensive life-style. This does not lead to a peaceful, equitable and harmonious world order. Additionally, China has stifled the voice of the people and it is human beings who create value. What is the use of winning the world if you lose your soul ?
September 13,2012.
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