Sometimes I wonder the allure of Indian economic progress is anything more than an attractive trailer of a poor comedy movie, where you are lured in the movie hoping it to be good only to find the only comic scene was in the trailer; rest is just stale old tale.
Few things we must be proud of, even in this economic crisis we managed to pull above 8% GDP growth where rest of the world reeled under the massive economic crisis (only exception to China). While in coming future, Europe and US is supposed to face a severe economic uncertainty, we can safely say that India will still grow over 7%. Few more things which our PM or Government never forget to mention that India is becoming a superpower with major geopolitical influence. To be frank it fills my heart with pride, if these will not then what else would. Recession is only because India is growing and with economic growth it is inevitable. So recession is also a sign of growing Indian prosperity. There are always a few words in all speeches and plans which make you think Government has genuine concern for all of us; inclusive growth, equitable, social justice, poverty alleviation etc.
If you liked the trailer, believe me you are not going to like the movie. It never has been a happy ever after movie after the Indian independence. Things have changed and now the way we are taught and primed to think has fogged our eye sight where we are unable to see beyond the alluring trailer.
Let us start with some blatant facts. India ranks 134 in Human Development Index (HDI) out of 187 countries (UN development council releases the statistics). Just to give a prospective, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are better placed than us. Last year India was at 119th position. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka do better than us in gender equality.
According to most conservative, pro government Tendulkar committees report, India has poor population of 37% (more than one third). Just to point out Tendulkar committee report was the basis for government to decide Rs. 32 and Rs. 25 for BPL which we all know shows how divorced our government is from reality. Even based on this report India has now more poor people than its total population at the time of independence. That says a great deal of great Indian dream.
However if we go by National Smaple Survey data (collected by Government), this percentage is 76% in rural areas and 68% in urban areas. This data is based on how many people can not afford to meet their basic nutritional requirement. One more interesting fact I would like to point out the aim of Tendulkar committee was to show that overall percentage of poverty has decreased, so basically they reduced the BPL to an absurd value to meet the desired.
Recent death of more than 450 children (who also were found to be severely malnourished) this year in UP alone within 4 months due to encephalitis tells a grieving story of negligence. This is a recurring occurrence in state and still apathy towards it from either state or central government is deplorable.
Maharshtra which boasts highest GDP in the country (and Mukesh Ambani’s pride 600 room house) has topped in the farmer suicide chart by 15,964 deaths in last 15 year time. Staggering total of 256,913 farmers’ suicide in India in last 15 years. The data is from government agency.
India has maximum number of people, nearly 57% of whole world’s population, who do not have proper sanitation facility and who defecate in open. Again this is UN data.
!3% of child population in urban area spends their childhood in slums.
We can pile more data, but the point is the country where more than 70% people can not afford to reach their nutritional value how justified is our obsession with GDP. What does economic powerhouse and target growth of 9% in 12th plan, mean to those people who commit suicide? Isn’t inclusion of social equality, economic justice, parity and equity a mere farce? My ire is not against the condition but the negligence to take corrective action.
Mary Parker Follet had said that, “Home of my soul is in the state”. This is one the most poetic line I have read in my life. This means I am so integrated in the state that state represents me and I represent the state. Can 70% population who can not feed themselves, farmers committing suicide and many more say the same thing for our Indian government? She says it is only possible in participative democracy. Just to give you feel how did you feel when Anna was agitating? Did you not feel that through Anna a part of you was heard and you were part of system? That same feeling do you feel on any other day? Do protesters at Kundankulam feel the same way? Does Iromila Sharma feel the same way? Why do we feel that psychological alienation from our own government? The answer lies in the fact that you will only feel that integration when soul of state also lies in you.
In a line Burns had summarized it, “In representative democracy, liberty of individual vanishes in ballot box in 2 seconds, after which people consume others politics." We have been consuming others politics for long. Sadly our state’s heart lies in those billionaires dream that see death through poverty a natural cleaning process of social evolution. Policies are not made to equitable growth rather for enhancing capital market policy which naturally breeds disparity and where poverty is not natural a phenomenon.
I will start with neo-liberalism or so called our PM Manmohan Singh’s great economic reform. The fact is it was not a brainchild of Manmohan singh, it was simply a forced coercion of IMF which we had to follow due to some unavoidable reasons. NO, he did not have a great innovative dream. So our puppet should stop taking credit for the economic changes he had to introduce. From the day one we were made to believe that it is an economic reform while social agitation like Occupy Wall Street would beg to differ. Since the introduction of neo liberalism the disparity has increased many folds and will continue to widen. I am not against free competition but at least people should have a similar base to start with. Do you not feel that a farmer’s son had inherent disadvantage in competition as compared to a well to do family’s kin? Is it a fare competition at all? Without proper basic education, nutrition, health facility, drinking facility, electricity or even sanitation how he is supposed to compete in this world? The question is if government is promoting free competition then whose responsibility is to provide equal chance? And if government had failed in providing these due to any reason (say corruption) then whose accountability is it? Should not government be more accountable and stop playing interdepartmental or state-centre blame game and for once take some stringent action? Have you realized in only last 20 years all millionaires and billionaires have popped up? Do you know India’s GDP is primarily driven by domestic consumption and NOT by export as envisioned earlier, otherwise we wouldn’t have such big current account deficit. This is the only reason why we did not feel that much slowdown in economic recession.
12th 5 year plan envisages a public private partnership (PPP). It promotes corporatization of lands. For many of us land today means an investment, capital and housing needs, but not for 70% population who still see it as source of livelihood, social justice, food security, sustenance and matter of dignity. By corporatization, marginal land owners will again be reduced to feeble daily wage workers while private corporate will mint money. It will simply increase the availability of daily wage workers who will be exploited at the will of private sector. Was not this the reason in the first place why land reforms were introduced and jamindari was abolished? We all know how land accusation in UP has angered farmers due to inadequate, forcible accusations by state itself. Later all those property are sold to real estate agents who makes extravagant profit while farmers are paid marginally. It would not be harsh to say that government forgot our farmers after 2nd 5 year plan. Farming still provides livelihood to 55% of people.
Let us talk about some government mindset. Government has failed to address critical issues of labors in organized and unorganized sector. Liberal, corporate oriented labor mindset has resulted in exploitation of people working in these sectors. To make market look lucrative Government has made weak laws which enables corporate (MNC) to exploit employees. How sad is it that MNC’s do not give holidays on Indian Independence Day but it gives holiday on American day. Unless a country respects its people, MNCs will keep treating Indian human resource as expendables. The comparison of safety standard followed by same MNC in India and in western country should be enough to validate my point. Weak nuclear liability bill is nothing but a simple manifestation of it.
Planned privatization of education and health sector will not realize in empowerment of people. This is simply because when goals at the heart of policy formulation lie in maximization of profit, it will never result in welfare. In most of the developed country health has been public (governmental) concern. If government is serious about providing health service then it should take serious substantial step to achieve it. Without the lack of political will, every policy will be a failure.
I will touch a bit on AFSPA (Armed force special power act) which is operational in J&K and North East. As many of us profess strong law is necessary but they must remember what is even more important is strong accountability. Our laws have weak accountability so in case of failure, we argue we require a strong law. If accountability is proper probably we will not require strong laws. To mask our failure we enact these draconian laws. Strong laws should go with strong safeguards too, otherwise nearly 1700 unidentified bodies in J&K would not have happened where army has authority to shoot at will without any consequence.
The question I would like to raise, can you see beyond the fog where people are in distress and any % of GDP means nothing to them, or bailout of Kingfisher Airlines (arrogant SOB) is our priority. Government must remember it is simply an instrument to achieve people’s goal, it is not an end itself.
