Changing World and Tomorrows India
“A change is
essential for development and growth and it’s relevant only if its effects are
positive on the society” –A.P.J.
AbdulKalam
Sweeping
changes are afoot in the world. Over past two decades, the world witnessed
drastic changes in all fields such as economic, politic, environmental ,
medical and much more. We are today a part of a process of unprecedented global
transformation. Threats to human security and prosperity is increasing. The
geography of extreme poverty has shifted from low income to middle income
countries.
Adding to
the difficulties of emerging from this global anemia in the growth process are
a series of complex longer term challenges. These include:
·
A need for
emerging economies to continue to attract global capital for investing in
infrastructure
·
Possible
commodity constraints due to soaring demand and prohibitive prices
·
A growing
incidence of jobless or job-poor growth as technology displaces labor moving
into higher technology
Failure to
generate a more equitable and sustainable form of growth comes at high cost.
Any growth model that does not properly address growing inequality will
ultimately force a crisis of legitimacy and erosion of trust.
The word “change”
can imply positive or negative change. The world has advanced very much in
developing new medicines, cure of various illness, making life easier with new
electronic technologies but the ultimate question is these positive changes
have caused people to become more lazier, and think lesser and people often
complain “I don’t have time”.
At the turn
of the 21st century, India emerged as an important global player in
terms of manpower exporter and remittance recipient. The exceptional growth of
remittances has augmented India’s foreign exchange reserves and provided funds
for savings, investments and capital formation. In the Asian economic,
political and strategic integration India is said to “have acquired a global
status” as its role extended beyond South Asia.
India's
low-cost Mangalyaan spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet on
Wednesday, September 24, after a 10-month-long journey. The success of the
mission represents a milestone in the country's space program. The question of
change cannot be measured by a mission to the moon. India is a poor country:
per capita income remains below $2,000 (£1,206) at actual exchange rates, and
there is still widespread destitution. About 95% of all workers are in informal
employment, and roughly half are self-employed. What's more, the recognized and
paid participation of women in working life has actually been declining in a
period of rapid income growth.
If we look
deeper into India, some of the
things which we have make us a great country - a vibrant democracy,
flexibility, religious tolerance, youthful demography and a great desire to succeed. We still lack the combined vision on several
fronts including infrastructure, anti-corruption drive, and competitive
positioning. Be it water, electricity, roads, ports, or airports we need
several times improvement over what we have. Corruption is absolutely
undesirable but it is everywhere in the world. Poverty is decreasing, but at a
speed that is far insufficient. We need to bring depth to our reforms process
so that it seeps to the poor man in terms of education, jobs, and an increase
in per capita income, etc. One of the ways to expand job opportunities to the
poorest is the growth of sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and
fisheries. Unfortunately we have not done so well in this area, compared to
countries like China. Without the infrastructure basics like roads and ports,
even if you have world-class manufacturing or farming, it is not going to be
possible to have the goods reach at the right time at the right place. Global
markets are too tough and there is no scope for error. But the growth rate of
infrastructure in India is still dismal. India is getting too expensive for
comparable quality of goods, to the exception of labor. Equivalent hotel in
London or Tokyo cheaper than it is in Delhi or Bangalore, and so on.
Anywhere in
the world, Indians stand out as exceptional people with their intelligence and
work ethics. We just need to work on some of the things at our end to make
India one of the most competitive and powerful forces in the world. Eradicating
poverty to a considerable extent and removing the stigma of ‘corruption’ are
important.
This basic failure
helps to explain several other failures of the development project so far: the
persistence of widespread hunger and very poor nutrition indicators; the
inadequate provision of basic needs like housing, electricity and other
essential infrastructure; the poor state of health facilities for most people;
and the slow expansion of education. Growing inequalities do mean that a rising
middle class is emerging, but this should not blind us to the lack of
fulfilment of basic social and economic rights for the bulk of people.
Over the past
decade, India has added local roads and highways that prioritise the speed and
efficiency of vehicles with no consideration for human safety. The World Health
Organisation reports that the death rate in road crashes in India has been
consistently rising. Approximately 134,000 people died in traffic crashes in
2010.Until India begins to value the lives and needs of all its road users, and
move away from its current middle-class aspiration of car ownership, in my
opinion, India's growth is backwards and inequitable.
To understand the
real India, we need to look at many other indicators, such as health and
education too. As far as India is concerned, we might score very highly
in terms of growth of physical infrastructure, but most of the public places
are inaccessible to people with disabilities. As per the 2011 census, India has
about 2.7 million people with disabilities, and only a handful of those enjoy
education and/or employment. We are spending less than 4% of our GDP on
important areas of education and health. Almost 12% of our children (between 5
and 15 years) are identified as child labour, and we have about 2.4 million
people living with HIV/Aids.
Almost 25% of my
fellow Indians are poor – in the same India where millions use smartphones.
Within India, there are many different countries. One is high-flying and
tech-savvy, [with people] driving flashy cars in and out of top-starred hotels
and clubs. Another is white-collared middle class. And another is still
struggling to survive. There is no doubt that in some areas we are a developed
country and, as far as people with disability are concerned, we have created
facilities and a support system. But in many areas we still have long way to
go.
Binu
Rani Albert
