India on the Move - The Way Forward (Sl 7 Last Instlmt

8/13/2019 India on the Move - The Way Forward (Sl 7 Last Instlmt

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The Way Forward

The way forward obviously needs to be a multi pronged effort over a long haul, for

India moving forward at a reasonably good pace in a sustained manner. Some of the

maladies, lie corruption, are pretty old and a part of life for many of us. !ven though it

may seem difficult to mae a significant dent on some of these deep rooted problems, it is

not impossible, given a wider understanding of the malaise and moving away from

unproductive finger pointing. It can be done. It must be done. "ur potential is huge. #hy

must not the remaining few crores of our citi$ens be able to lead a more decent life with

access to better nutrition, health and education in the near future%

This chapter outlines some common sense approaches, some of which are derivedfrom the analysis in the earlier chapters , that I believe will provide the momentum

needed.

We the People

WE NEED TO BECOME BETTER CITIZENS

#e have aimed at presenting a balanced picture of India on the move.

#e have scanned in depth our achievements & the Indian democracy, the macro leve

economic performance from 1'(0 onwards, uplifting crores of our citi$ens out of e)treme

poverty, better airports, better roads in cities and in the rural hinterland, the *avoday

Schools , the creditable performance in the information technology sector and the

telecom sector, rural Indians using mobile phones going up from 3.+ to (.3

proportion of households with thatched roofs declining from // to 1(, technology

improving public interface facilities lie income ta) refunds, issue of passports, not only

on-line booing of railway ticets, but also spotting the progress of the train you are

waiting to board etc.

ooing at the other side of the coin we have taled about the absent teachers in

rural government run schools and absent doctors from government health facilities, the

wide spread phenomenon of toenism, our poor performance in "lympics and how some


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sports records get doctored at the national trials, the poor uality of electric power supply,

the shoddy performance of our 2ili 4itran *igams stringing electric cables over head in

varying curvatures 5 hanging electric meters on the electric poles at all odd angles and

the swinging dangling wires maing our colonies loo ugly , various facets of our wide

spread corruption problem & how some of its tentacles are centuries old, trash heaps

ne)t door to Ta 6ahal, filth and e)crement spread all over, whole villages being plastic

waste lands, the phenomenon of 7al-faeda8 , many of us not paying 49T 5 Sales ta) etc.

:o all these loo to be the problems caused by only the politicians and the

bureaucrats alone or are there a few elements that are being contributed by 7#e the

people8. :r 9bdul ;alam, our e)-president in a speech delivered has rightly wondered as

to why most of us would behave very responsibly while in Singapore or ondon or *ew

: professional focusing in helping people develop hasstrengthened my belief that by the time a person comes as an adult on the ob maret in

his 5 her twenties , the nature and nurture have done their ob and the person is a

finished product , each with a different set of ualities, abilities ? traits of personality and

it is rather difficult to change him 5 her at a deeper level. Some change will come, but the

pay-off would be rather limited.

Therefore it is paramount that we significantly enhance the development focus with

immediate effect on the young right from school age, starting with students in10 thor 1/th

classes, when their minds-sets are more amenable to be shaped in a positive direction.

9part from learning two plus two maing four it should be possible, with some help

from behavioural scientists, to mae reasonably sure , for e)ample, that the young man 5

woman stepping out of the school system is a well evolved human being & free from


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preudices related to colour of sin, gender, religion, language, food habits, caste ,

community etc and firmly believing that each human being should be assessed on his 5

her own merits and not to be stereotyped and discriminated on that basis.

@an you visualise a dialogue between father and young son ust fresh from school,

A :ad & =ow does it matter if she is a woman and from a dalit family. She is competent.

et us employ her. A

The outline of , Sadharan dharma vs. , swa-dharma so brilliantly brought out

by Shri Burcharan :as needs to be part of this agenda, both at the adult and more so at

the school level initiative.

Cust to restate the concepts as understood and interpreted ? supplemented by

me D

Swa - Dharam - 6e and my family first

Sadharan - Dharam - Eniversal for all, broadly covering D

>espect for aw

>espect for Feople as individuals, irrespectie !" !nes

c!#!$r !" s%in, re#i&i!n, caste, c!mm$nit', #an&$a&e, "!!d

ha(its, &ender etc)

>espect for their right to practice religion of their choice as

well as respect for their right to e)press dissent.

>espect for honoring commitments made

Integrity

@ollaboration & wor in neighbourhood groups displaying

team spirit. O$r Resident We#"are *ss!ciati!ns tend t!

spend &reater ener&' in "i&htin& am!n& themse#es than

with the &!t) a&encies)

4oting at elections

!mpathy for the under-privileged,

+!w man' !" $s, "!r eamp#e, &ie wee%#' !"" t! the

d!mestic he#p, as a matter !" ri&ht


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"ne sure way therefore, to my mind, is to mae it a very important part of our school

curriculum. In *@!>T boos today some aspects of the subect of citi$enship is being

covered, but the thrust must be enhanced tremendously on top priority basis . It wors.

"ne has to only see the vigour with which youngsters these days get after the elders to

give up smoing. It must be the attitude orientation developed in our schools and

supplemented by the T 4 medium.


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et us scan few of the achievements of :elhi 6etro >ail @orporation. !ven

though for the 1stphase of the proect for (G ms of metro rail system in functioning

mode, the target for completion was set for 10 years but 6r Sreedharan and his team

decided to pare it to K years, against the advice of some professionals, on the plea that

:elhi cannot afford to wait for 10 years and went ahead to complete it in seven years

and three months.

Today on the average // lacs people ride on the metro daily in /'0 plus trips.

@an you imagine what would have been the traffic chaos in :elhi without it. It is

estimated that around one lac additional vehicles would have been on the road today%

#or ethic in some of the government agencies is surprisingly wea. In my

pursuit of water supply problems in our colony with =E:9 =aryana Erban

:evelopment 9uthorityJ it comes out that they have a very fu$$y target date for

completion of a proect. "nce that is missed, which happens more often than not, there

is no revised target date ,there is no vigorous follow up and things drift.

In what ever sector we wor the practice, introduced by 6r Sreedharan, of each

department 5 each agency having a cloc running bacwards, showing number of days

left for completion of wor as per commitment made for delivery to the ne)t in the valuechain, seems a very good idea. ord 6ountbatten followed a similar practice of

calendars running bacwards, showing 7*umber of days left for Independence to India

on 1(th9ugust 1'K8, supplied to all concerned , who tore off a page every day.

>eal improvement can only come when we as a people change our mindsets.

Sills is not the problem. Sills can be learnt comparatively more easily.

TR1T+ IS STR*N2ER T+*N 3ICTION 4 3*CT B*SED *//RO*C+

This is one adage that we ought to remember and not be ever ready to accept a

hearsay, a guesstimate by some one, that we see on our T4 screens each day, as

gospel truth.


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et me illustrate with a comparatively fresh incident.

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In our housing colony, called Breenfield colony, there is problem of inadeuate

supply of water by the =aryana Erban :evelopment 9uthority =E:9J. 9 strong

conviction among the general public was that =E:9 supplies much larger uantity of

water to another adacent colony of roughly similar habitation, which they manage to get

through underhand means, due to the same being a privately managed colony against

ours being run by a government agency. So I thought of seeing facts under the >TI

>ight to InformationJ 9ct. :o have a loo at the reply received D

A "ffice of the !)ecutive !ngineer, =uda division no /, Laridabad

To 4 ; Sharma

6emo *" G(1G :ated & //.0K./010

Subect D TI 9ct /00( to SFI"-cum-S! =E:9, Laridabad

The reuisite information is as under D

#ater supplied in ; 5 month to

6onth @harmwood 4illage, !ros Barden Breenfield @olony

Can -/010 13G00 ; 1G000 ;

Leb- /010 1(000 ; 1000 ;

6ar- /010 1000 ; 1+000 ;

9pril-/010 1300 ; 1((00 ;

6ay-/010 13000 ; /3+00 ;

Total M G',000 ;SJ Total M +K,300 ;SJ

Sd5-

!)ecutive !ngineer

So, it is worthwhile to remember the adage, 7 Tr$th is stran&er than "icti!n)

It is uite evident that no partiality has been there in distributing the available water.

"ver the si) months, it is we who got better supply of water..


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Some effort at verification, where ever possible, would be desirable. et us

learn to loo for facts.

Ta%e /!#icin&. #e are all very critical of the sub-standard performance of our

policemen, including lac of courtesy, which is by ? large true.

=owever, have we ever tried to understand the facts about the woring

conditions under which they perform, the ind of demands made on them and how well

we loo after them.

=ere are the 7facts8 as learnt from a very senior retired honest police officer D

The average woring hours over seven days of the wee of a police

constable are around /0.

+!w man' !" $s w!$#d (e a(#e t! per"!rm we## and sta'

p!#ite, i" &ettin& !n#' three t! "!$r h!$rs !" s#eep per da', wee% a"ter

wee%

Interestingly, when I uestioned the same retired police officer,

7 =ow come the police were so thorough and also polite during the@ommon #ealth Bames%8 =e laughed, 7 #e had taen care to give

proper rest to that lot, apart from some training.8

The average current remuneration of a police constable, including

allowances, is around >s /0,000 pm. There is no overtime for e)tra

hours put in beyond + hours per day.

Is this 3air

The S=" Station =ouse "fficerJ has instructions that he can visit

home not more than / 5 3 times per wee.

Interestin&5 T!da's newspaper st!r' 6 7 Circ$#ar wants S+Os !n d$t'

.89 4 The De#hi +i&h C!$rt has as%ed the De#hi /!#ice t! re#!!% at

circ$#ar iss$ed (' the C!mmissi!ner !" /!#ice, which as%s the S+Os

t! (e !n d$t' .8 h!$rs, with!$t an' #eae and ta%e a


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h$mane appr!ach t!wards the matter)

Indian !)press, 6ay 1G, /013J

Transfers among the officer cadre are freuent.

Supreme @ourt guidelines for a minimum tenure of two years

at one location are hardly followed. 2y the time the officer

gets to understand the problems of his area, transfer may happen

any time, at the whims of political higher ups.

#hat ind of family life can they have under these circumstances,

including education of their children%

*re the' entit#ed t! s!me "ami#' #i"e

Branted that changing this system is in the hands of the state and the politicians,

but are we even aware of the situation on the ground% 9re we showing serious

concern on these issues and building pressure for a change%

I have not seen any of our bold, vibrant and aggressive T 4 9nchors organi$ing a

debate on police reforms needed.

This is not meant to be a character certificate for all policemen. "f course , there

are some undesirable characters there.

Our Corruption Problem

:E*RN 3ROM * NEI2+BO1R

9n important step to my mind would be to learn from an *sian nei&h(!$r &

Sin&ap!re) I was standing in front of my bed room window, ready to oin the

conference in a few minutes. #hat I noticed below was very interesting. In the plot ne)t

to our hotel construction wor at the foundation level was in progress. 9nd a dumper

with a full load approached the gate and stopped there. Lour men rushed with hose

pipes to wash the dumper tyres clean so that the road outside does not get dirty. I was

highly impressed with this high sense of good


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citi$enship behaviour. 2roaching the subect with a local delegate, he e)plained

that if the tyres are not cleaned, the company will have to pay a heavy fine N dollar one

for each lug mar on the road. That for sure would be a huge sum.

6y mind was inuisitive to find out if that does not promote corruption among the

police, who have to enforce the fine. 9nd my informant laughed.

7@orruption in our country has been taen care of by our Frime 6inister, 6r

ee ;uan egistration charges. The efficacy of this step can be assessed by the e)ample

of Income Ta) rates having been slashed substantially some years ago in the 7dream

budget8 presented by 6r @hidambaram, leading to much higher of age of population

becoming willing payers of Income Ta) and to much higher overall collections. So once

the temptation level is brought down, I believe , blac money in property may come

down significantly. 9nd as said earlier,

one very effective step would be for all of us to start insisting on paying 49T.


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maret and competition based approaches in an ethical and ecologically and socially

responsible manner .

The thrust needed then is to devise appropriate policies ? mechanisms for

distribution of wealth for the welfare of the populace taing care of the underprivileged

sections of our society, for defense of the country, for home security , for infrastructure

as well as for helping other emerging and developing nations, to the e)tent we can.

The prime focus has to be on regulation of the economy to see that the self-

interest motive, the engine of growth, does not degenerate into greed, into profiteering &

while taing care that the word profit is not maligned. In our imperfect world, profit so

far is the only valid measure available to see that the resources of the society are being

productively being utili$ed and not getting wasted.

To achieve that would be no easy tas. To mae it a success there would be

need for attraction of still better talent of the country into government and ensuring that

the talent already available is deployed on high pay-off areas listed above and is not

being wasted on things lie running buses in a city.

O1R :E2IS:*T1RES

9 common sense suggestion given below arose from a conversation with one

*>I, a friend from the engineering college currently running a civil engineering firm

employing G0 plus employees in *ew


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9nd that brings 9@@"E*T92IIT


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That should substantially reduce the desperation on the part of opposition to

disrupt proceedings. Farliament and state legislatures can then run smoothly and be

productive.

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=ere is a thought in support of above from 9le)is :e Toueville, the famous

Lrenchman who wrote 7 :emocracy in 9merica8, in 1+(3.

7 Othe desire to be re-elected dominates the thoughts of the Fresident that the

whole policy of his administration is directed toward this end, his every action bent to

this purpose and

that, particularly , when crisis looms his own individual interest supplants the general

interest in his mind. 9t such a time the Fresident seeing reelection, prostrates himself

before the maority he governs less in the interest of the people than his own and the

whole e)ercise, tends to degrade the nation8s political morality and to substitute

shrewdness for patriotismO. 9 president who did not have to worry about re-election

would have been accountable to the people without being dependant on them. =e

could steer a smoother course between the maority will and good sense , not having to

bend so obviously to the former. The notion of essentially having to whore for votes

greatly distracts from the dignity of the office.8 /J

#hat we somewhat respectfully call, 74ote 2an Folitics8, 6r Toueville has termed

it as whoring for votes. 4ery interestingP


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WHY NOT ABOLISH THE UPPER HOUSE, THE RAJYA

SABHA, IN INDIA

In /011 we were in #ellington and during a conducted tour of the *ew Qealand

Farliament =ouse, the group entered a large empty chamber and the guide announced,

A This used to be where the upper house used to meet, until it was abolished .R

"n my uery, as to why it was abolished, the reply was straight forward,

A 2ecause the laws were not getting passed.R

Sounds familiar PPP

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RED1CTION O3 DISCRETION*R; /OWERS !" 2O


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unethical ways. Frimarily it has the potential of improving the election climate by the

public being better informed about the contending parties.

9ssuming the date of election to the parliament is announced G0 days in

advance. et one of :oor :arshan channels offer hours per day of prime time, free of

cost, from G.0 pm to 10.0 pm each day , e)cept wee ends of Saturday and Sunday to

avoid any undue benefit to any one. That comes to 1KG hours of viewing time over a

period of two months.

et this time be divided eually between the party in power and the principal

opposition in the e)isting parliament, after allowing 1( minutes for each independent

candidate to mae his pitch.

The political party can utili$e this time for maing Fower point presentations on

their manifestos or organi$ing debates with opposition parties or holding Locus Broup

-11K-

discussion with general public. In other words giving them a free hand as to how anyparty desires to use the allocated time.

If the e)periment proves worthwhile, it can be e)tended to the state legislature

elections.

I understand that both 9ll India >adio and :oor :arshan have been doing this for

more than three decades. =ad you heard about it% I had8nt till today when I read it in the

news paper. The reason is simple. It is a very low ey affair. 9 party getting only two 1(

minutes slots before the elections. 9nd that too under the supervision of 9I> and 5 or

!lection @ommission. "ur recommendation is to mae it 1KG hours of viewing timeJ

much more vibrant with lots of time for debates, focus group discussions, FowerFoint

presentations and the lie. 9nd no supervision . et there be only a few guidelines ,

which if not followed , the party gets penali$ed by cutting their time fully or in part.


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DE/:O;IN2 TEC+NO:O2;

"ne hears that in the state of =imachal Fradesh LI> can be filed on-line. I am

sure that it would help in a big way to curb corruption on the part of some members of

the aw ? order agency.

So also land records getting computeri$ed, first pioneered by Shri @handra

2abu *aidu in 9ndhra Fradesh, can be a big positive step. Initiative of EI:, now called

9adhar, will be a very useful in this struggle - more so for poor people. So deployment

of technologywherever possible can help a great deal.

+12E B*C0:O2 IN >1DICI*: C*SE

9t one time the law and order situation in *ew


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/)K in mobile vans. The police could reuest any available magistrate to come to

scene of the crime, or where the accused has been apprehended.

It is reported that this step resulted in dramatic improvement in the situation.

"ne wonders, as to why such a step should not be tried out in India. Lresh

magistrates 5 udges can be hired, we are said to be short in numbers on rolls in any

case, with /)K duty on mobile vans as a condition of service. "lder hands may not

welcome such a change.

Investment in such an initiative can have a uic payoff and serve as a deterrent to the

potential criminals.

Spread Optimism, not gloom

The need also is that in our day-to-day inter-actions we do not spread gloom. It is

not ustified. "ur right to critici$e is there and is sacrosanct. 2ut who prevents us, when

voicing five criticisms to also share one or two positive aspects of the subect under

discussion. 9 sense of balance maintained, would help a great deal.

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To such pleadings, the denunciation brigade is liely to say, 7 #e now all this.

"ur aim is to eep the government and the maority party wide awae as Cawahar al

*ehru said and to accelerate the corrective action.8 Line. =owever, in absence of a

balance, do they reali$e the danger of turning a large chun of our population cynical.

7 men who say that democracy cannot be honest and efficient - Lranling : >oosevelt 7 #ebster dictionary ,

more so the younger generation, our hope of tomorrow, who have not e)perienced our

ourney 1'K onwards. 9re we not nudging them towards a dictatorial setup. :o we

really want that % #hich dictators have proved beneficial to the people at large in the

long run% =itler % 6ussolini %


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In our country, agriculture on small farms seems to be the main source of

livelihood, for a large chun of our population. Lor a number of reasons the land reforms

intended land to the tiller, rhetoric of the pre-independence daysJ have actually happened only in a

few states lie =imachal Fradesh and ;erala, and the result is there for all to see, thereare hardly any poor people.

Sunil ;hilnani in his 7 The idea of India8 e)plains this lacunae .

7 In acnowledgement of @ongress8s dependence on the landed upper class of

rural India to win electionsJ, the constitution limited the centre8s ability to alter the rural

property order the promise to do this had been a loud part of the rhetoric of some within

the pre-independence congress. It left the matter of social and economic reform, whose

significance 9mbedar had underlined and *ehru understood, to regional legislatures,

where the landed elites could bring local pressure against redistribution moves.8 1(J

In a very interesting relevant comment on us as 7#e the Feople8,

-1/0-

AO. 2etween 1'( ? 1'(0 primary membership of the @ongress party grew from (.(

mln to 1K mln and by early (08s the regional and district congress boards had been

captured by conservative elements composed of large land owning castes ? urban

businessmenO. >egional politicians, far from cooperating with *ehruvian center to push

reforms, were competing with centre for control of state resources for powerOR e)cerpt

from , 7 4ishnu8s crowded temple8 by 6aria 6isra. +J. The point to note is that this phenomenal ump in

membership did not happen as a result of some drive for membership, but these peoplesensed well before 1'K which way the wind was blowing and uietly too advantage and

became members of the @ongress party. That is what Shri >a 6ohan Bandhi has

described , as reported earlier our great sill of , 7 al-faeda8.


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F 4 *arasimha >ao, in his boo, 7The Insider8 relates his personal frustrating

e)perience to bring about such a change in 9ndhra Fradesh as its @hief 6inister, and

failed for the same reason.

This corrective step needs to be enforced, so that landless group is reduced to theabsolute minimum. =ow and when it may happen , is beyond my comprehension,

eeping in view the dominance of similar classes as the ruling elite in the states. "ne

wonders, why Srimati 6ayavati, who ruled Ettar Fradesh as last @hief 6inister with clear

maority did not or could not tae steps in this direction.

9nd the small farmer would need help in terms of technology, information about

better practices and resources to mae it viable. =owever, infusion of technology

and better practices if left to government alone would again not be an efficient ?

effective process. 9llowing selected few private firms & Indian or multinational , some of

whom are already helping farmers improve output ? uality of potato farming would be a

desirable step. Talented persons from Bovernment or academia can certainly devise

some innovative safeguards so that interests of farmers are well protected.

>ecently another useful alternative came to my notice & an *B" in the name of

:igital Breen is using video technology and Information technology and telecom

technology in helping farmers adopt better farming practices. They focus on

-1/1-

7modulari$ing agricultural and related practices in short +-10 minute segments. The

videos feature local farmers on topics including testimonials and demonstrations of

improved techniues, maret linages and government schemes. The videos are shot by

the members of the community using pocet video cameras. The videos are then vetted

by the domain e)perts of each partner and are distributed on memory cards for playbac

on battery-operated , pico proectors in each village. Small groups of 10-/0 farmers , lie

self help groups, participate in weely screenings of the videos, which are mediated by

service providers from the community.8


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It is already operating in the states of 9ndhra Fradesh, 2ihar, Charhand,

;arnataa, 6adhya Fradesh, "rissa and Ettar Fradesh. They claim that their approach

has been, ten times as effective for the money spent, in converting farmers to better

farming practices than classical approaches to agricultural e)tension. 9nd this *B" is

woring in partnership with various governments.

Intra-Generation and Inter-Generation !uity"

=ere is one more crucial element of governance. It is the government alone that

can tae care of intra-generation and inter-generation euity. The word euity is

sometimes misunderstood as euality. !uality will never happen as Bod did not

bestow eual amount of Talent and intelligence among all of us. =owever, can it be

accepted that crores of our citi$ens should remain under-nourished and do not have

access to reasonable standard of healthcare, sanitation and education. @ertainly not.

Inter-generation euity has along term perspective. Is it acceptable that current

pursuit of growth and profiteering by some can be allowed to degenerate our

environment , to the detriment of the generations to come. In fact a good chun of the

wealth generated must be invested in research and proects for this purpose. The

essence is to balance this in a pragmatic manner so that growth of our economy, the

engine of wealth generation, does not suffer.

-1//-

In Conclusion

The theme of this boo is 7 India on the 6ove 7.

That India could have moved faster, that India should have moved faster is

conceded.

That India could have had 5 should have had better facilities, better law ?

order, better security for women, better education, less corruption, much less poverty by

now, is conceded.

2ut what has been in fact been achieved on the ground over the last si)

decades, is not marginal, is not negligible.


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It is s!methin& t! (e pr!$d a(!$t)

oo at the figures below D

C!mpared t! ?@A? #ee# 6

"ur B:F has multiplied +3/ timesat

current prices

1' timesat

constant prices

"ur B:F per head has multiplied (.3 times at constant prices

"ur Loreign !)change >eserves have multiplied 1( times

Installed capacity for power generation has multiplied 1+1 times

compared to 1'KJ

Linished steel production has multiplied +3 times

"ur Lood Brain Froduction has multiplied ( times

"ur Fopulation has multiplied 3.3( times

"ur 9verage ife !)pectancy has multiplied /.1/ times

"ur Foverty reduction Lrom about G in 1'+0 to about //

9nd can we forget that the beginning si) decades ago was not normal %

=ere are a few lines from a letter the Frime 6inister Cawahar al *ehru wrote to all the

@hief 6inisters, soon after partition.

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A 6y dearOOOO 1(.10.1'K

OO I doubt if people reali$e & particularly in those provinces which fortunately

have not felt the impact of the Funab tragedy & the gravity and full significance of

recent events. If the disturbances had not been halted in the western part of EF Ettar

FradeshJ, they would eventually have spread east wards right up to 2ihar and #est

2engal and whole of *orthern India would have been in chaos. *or could the forces of


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disorder have , in that case, been confined to *orth India. #e would then have faced,

uite apart from the butchery of innocent lives and the destruction of property,

wholesale disruption of communications, disorgani$ation of food supply and the spread

of epidemic diseases. #e would, in fact, faced complete chaos in the country and the

destruction of all constitutional governments.

#e have overcome the danger. Enceasing vigilance is still necessary . #e have

still many grave problems confronting us, but I feel I can tell you that we have turned the

corner and are in a position to face the future with confidence. A

#e then had the momentous challenges of settling down lacs of refugees, who

had gone through horrendous e)periences, conseuent to the partition of the country

and ensuring that after many centuries India with its multifarious diversities in terms of

languages 5 ethnicity 5 food habits 5 religions 5 caste system etc stays as one united

nation.

*ot 6any gave India a chance of survival as one nation.

7 Sihs may try to set up a separate regime. I thin they probably will and that will

only be a start of a general decentrali$ation and breaup of the idea that India is a

country, whereas it is a sub-continent as varied as !urope. The Funabi is as different

from a 6adrassi as a Scot is from an Italian. The 2ritish tried to consolidate it butachieved nothing permanent. *o one can mae a nation out of a continent of many

nations.8

Beneral Sir @laude 9uchinle, e) Indian army, @ In @, 1'+J 3/J

-1/-

7 The Indianness outlined in the first two decades after 1'K was an e)tempori$ed

performance, trying to hold together divergent considerations and interests. O. It tried to

accommodate within the form of a new nation-state significant internal diversities to

resist bending to the democratic pressures of religion and to loo outwardsO. It did not

reassure itself by relying on a settled image of the culture, nor did it try to impose one.

That was its most important traitD it did not monopoli$e or simplify the definitions of

Indianness . Lor all the political ve)ations visited upon it, it could claim a success D India,

an ungainly, unliely, inelegant concatenation of differences, after fifty years still e)ists


23/31

as a single political unity. This would be unimaginable without *ehru8s improvisation.

1(J

There was also that big challenge to nurture the delicate plant of "ur :emocratic

System, eeping in mind that the same plant in some of our neighboring countries is not

in good health. 9nother letter from the Frime 6inister to the @hief 6inisters throws

interesting light on this.

A 6y dearOOOO. 1(.0G.1'(/

OOO.. 9s the strength of the opposition in the Farliament has increased and

there are representatives of different schools of thought, the debates are a little more

lively than they used to be. I thin we should welcome this. Indeed an effective

opposition is desirable from many points of view. It may and it does , delay in disposalof matters. It may occasionally prove somewhat irritating. 2ut nevertheless, it tends to

eep the government and the maority party wide awaeOOO

@ Buha is very much worth a serious loo through D

7ie Indian democracy, Indian secularism is also a story that combines success

with failure. 6embership of a minority religion is no bar to advancement in business or

the professions. The richest industrialist in India is a 6uslim. Some of the most film

stars are 6uslims. 9t least three Fresidents ? three chief ustices have been 6uslims.

In /00K the Fresident is a 6uslim, the prime minister a Sih, and the leader of the ruling


24/31

party a catholic born in Italy. 6any of the country8s most prominent lawyers ? doctors

have been @hristians ? FarsisOOO

Some western observers & usually 9mericans & believed that this profusion of

tongues would be the undoing of India. 2ased on their own e)perience , where !nglish

had been a glue binding different waves of immigrationO.. inguistic states in India

have been in e)istence for (0 yrs now. In that time they have deepened ? consolidated

Indian unityOO=owever pride in one8s language has rarely been in conflict with

broader identification with the nation as a wholeO. =ad =indi been imposed on the

whole of India, the lesson might well have beenD one language. Twenty two

nationsOOO..

In India the sapling was planted by the nation8s founders, who lived long ?

wored hard enough to nurture it to adulthood. Those who came afterwards could

disturb and degrade the tree of democracy but try, as they might, could not destroy or

uproot itOOOO. The economic integration of India is the result of its political

integration. They act in a mutually reinforcing loop. The greater the movement of goods

? capital ? people across India , the greater the sense that this is, after all, one

countryOO 6ore recently, it has been the private sector, if with less intent, that has

furthered the process of national integration. Lirms headuartered in Tamilnadu set up

cement plants in =aryana, doctors born ? educated in 9ssam set up clinics in 2ombay.6any of the engineers in =yderabad8s IT industry come from 2iharOO

In 1+++ Cohn Strachey wrote that he could never imagine that Funab and

6adras could ever form part of a single political entity. 2ut they didOOO

-1/G-

There is one more state in this country , and that is =indi cinema , says Caved 9htar.

This is a stunning insight which ass to be developed further. ines from film songs and

snatches from film dialogues are ubiuitously used in conversations in schools,

colleges, homes and offices and on the street. =indi cinema speas its own language

that is understood by all others OO..


25/31


26/31

"ver 10,000 years ago there were fewer than 10 million people on the planet.

Today there are more than G billion, '' per cent of whom are better fed, better

sheltered, better entertained and better protected against disease than their Stone 9ge

ancestors. The availability of almost everything a person could want or need has been

going erratically upwards for 10,000 years and has rapidly accelerated over the last /00

yearsD calories vitamins clean water machines privacy the means to travel

faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we

can shout.

idley puts forward his surprisingly simple

answer to how humans progress, arguing that we progress when we trade and we only

really trade productively when we trust each other.The >ational "ptimistwill do

for economics what Benomedid for genomics and will show that the answer to our

problems, imagined or real, is to eep on doing what we8ve been doing for 10,000 years

& to eep on changing. 6att >idley8s The >ational "ptimist is a history of progress

based on a simple but unpopular ideaD that speciali$ation and marets are the prime

movers of progress. A 33J

So let us regulate marets, :o not fear them. :o not try to do without them, since

they are the engine of growth. *othing better has been found yet.

-1/+-

Shri >amchandra Buha, on page /+ of his latest publication , 7 Fatriots ? Fartisans

7 says, 7 The maret can promote efficiency and productivity, but not ecological

sustainability and social ustice. The maret does not value the needs of poor people

who have no money it does not value the future and it does not value the right of other


27/31

species to e)ist. It is thus in the rational interest of the miners and industrialists to

e)ternali$e the costs of degradation and pollution. The laws to prevent this e)ist on the

statute boos , but with a few spectacular e)ceptions, are not implementedJ.8 3(J

"nly partly true. =owever, as we have stressed in the earlier pages maret and

competition based approaches are a must for generating wealth for the country, for the

society deploying that wealth for various purposes including taing care of the poor

as well as the environment is the ob of the government.

Secondly, there is a bit of e)aggeration in the above view of Shri Buha. oo at

what the 1stof the eight 7Lundamental @oncepts of !)cellence8 in the !LH6 !uropean

Loundation for Huality 6anagementJ 6odel of 2usiness !)cellence has to say, which is

being promoted actively by @II @onfederation of Indian IndustryJ through the annual

@II-!WI6 9ward on 2usiness !)cellence for now more than a do$en years in India .

A Creatin& a S$staina(#e 3$t$re- !)cellent organi$ations have a positive impact on the

world around them by enhancing their performance whilst simultaneously advancing the

economic, environmental and social conditions within the communities they touch.R

It is, therefore, important that we do not paint the maret and competition in

negative light for the general public. They have a very crucial role to play that the

government run organi$ations have failed to perform as detailed earlier any where in the

world.

@an you imagine what would have been the situation today if in the telecom sector

was a government monopoly and there was no c!mpetiti!n % *ot only the prices

would have stayed at the roof top level first charge for a call on the mobile was >s 15- per minute,

but it would have provided opportunity to many to indulge in corruption

-129-

by promising to get you the connection uic for a price.


28/31

#e have discussed earlier that the basic nature of us human beings is that we are

all primarily motivated by self-interest and it is the ob of the government to regulate it to

see that it does not degenerate into greed and cause harm to the public at large. 2ut

illing the pursuit of self-interest has not wored looing at the massive seven decade

long e)periment covering crores of population and many nationalities, that collapsed in

1'+' & the collapse of the mighty ESS>

#e saw how decades of high class indoctrination could not change this

fundamental and substitute the same with collective interest in ESS> and other socialist

economies.

So dear reader, we are fortunate to be there today when India is marching on a

rare ourney of progress after many centuries of subugation and misery. et us do our

bit, the opportunity is beconing all.

7 #e have seen how India has moved on from grievance to aspiration, from mere

roti, apda and maaan to food, clothing and shelterJto bili, sada and paani power, roads, waterJ

and now to padhayee, sehat and nauri education , health and obsJ.#e have seen how

leaders seeing the favour of these voters have altered their appeal and message

accordingly.8

Shri Shehar Bupta in The Indian !)press on 6ay 10, /013, under head & Lor :emocracy ? bili, uninterrupted

power supplyJ

Lorget despondency, @heer up. Spread "ptimism. India is on the move. India is

not about to sin.

6ove out of the cities and observe as to what is happening in the suburbs.

6assive investments taing place in real estate, droves of people are moving into new

flats. "bserve hundreds of youngsters finding employment cleaning endless lines of

cars early each morning.

:rive out in the interior rural hinterland and observe what is going on. I have had

the opportunity to do so in the villages of 6ysore, Tamilnadu, >aasthan, 9ndhra

Fradesh and Ettar Fradesh in connection with coordinating an 9dult iteracy initiative

-130-


29/31

of the C ; Broup of companies. 9nd what does one observe. The roads that were dirt

tracs full of pot holes , slush and mud are today having smooth blac macadam

surface, under 7Fradhan 6antri Brameen sada yoana8. Inside the villages and town

mohallas, in spite of corruption , good chun of 6F 9: funds are helping turning our

slushy streets into pucca cement concrete surfaces with drainage channels on the

sides.

#e have not done badly at all so far. #hat we have achieved so far is worth

being proud of, without denying that it could have been done faster and without denying

that a great lot remains to be done. The dip in our affairs is temporary and will correct

sooner than later. :o not tae every thing media proects too seriously. They

are not always hundred percent correct and obective. :o not allow yourself to be

inundated by the flood of denunciations. Ese your udgment.

#e the people are going through a massive churn, once in a rare while

transformation, moving from focus on 7swadharam weighted down by age old liabilities

of a#-"aeda of Shri >a 6ohan Bandhi to focus on Sadharan dharma as outlined

by Shri Bur @haran :as. ot of Bood is going to come out of this churning.

et us forget, the toenism of 7dha&a samarpa'ami and offer the needed full

piece of cloth to whatever professional Bod we are serving & be it intelligence , be itmanufacturing, be it > ? :, be it policing, be it the service of supplying water to the

public, be it maing policy decisions in the government and erect the temple of your

choice on the solid foundation of , 7 +i&h T!#erance t! 3r$strati!n and De"erment !"

2rati"icati!n)

Such are the people who are going to become the firm regulators needed in

various spheres of our economy, such are the people who should be able to change

the functioning of our state , our institutions , it won8t happen by blaming or by merely

wishing for it.

Bood luc to us. #ith #isdom and 9ction, some uc is also needed.

* * * * * * *

2ibliography D


30/31

1J - 7 India grows at *ight 7 by Burcharan :as

/J - 7The 9rgumentative Indian 7 by 9martya Sen

3J - 79ssault on >eason8 by 6r 9l Bore who fought election for Fresident of ES9

against Beorge # 2ush

J - 7 #hy I uit media 7 by S al, published in 1(thanniversary issue of "utloo in /010

(J - 7 !mpire 7 by *iall Lergusaon & published /00/

GJ - 7!ssays on Tradition, >ecovery ? Lreedom, by :haram Fa , 4ol 4

KJ - 7 6aing =istory8 by @laude 9lvares in the preface of 7 Indian Science and technology inthe eighteenth century8 by :haram Fal

+J - 74ishnu8s @rowded Temple D India since the Breat >ebellion8 by 6aria 6isra

'J - 7 Indian Science and technology in the eighteenth century8 by :haram Fal

[10]- Imagining India & Ideas for the new century 7 by *andan *ileani, /00+

[11J - 7*ew >ealities 7& by Feter :rucer - a 1'+' publication

1/J - 7>igvedic 9ryans8 by >ahul Sansrityayan.

13J - 7=istory of ancient India8 by 4 : 6ahaan

1J - 7=istory of medieval India8 by 4 : 6ahaan

1(J - 7The Idea of India8 & by Sunil ;hilnani, & thedition in /00

1GJ - 7=istory of Sihs8 by =ari >am Bupta

1+J - 7The crimson throneV by Sudhir ;aar

1'J - 7Lighting @orruption and >estructuring government8 by Shri * 4ittal,

/0J - 7The Shade of Swords8 by 6 C 9bar

/1J - 7 and of The Seven >ivers 7 by Saneev Sanyal

//J - 7The :iscovery of India 7 by Cawahar al *ehru

/3J - 7 Lranlin :elano >oosevelt8 by >obert S 6c !vaine

/J - 7 9le)is :e Tocueville & :emocracy8s guide 7 by Coseph !pstein , published in /00G/(J - 7The end of =istory and the last man8 2y Lrancis LuuyamaJ

/GJ - 7The Indian !lections 7 *ew esource 6anagement & The !volution and the @hallenges 9head 8

by 4 ; Sharma, /01/, 3rdedition

/+J - 7 6odern "rgani$ations 7 by 9mitai !t$ioni


31/31

/'J - 7The ruins of empireD The revolt against the west and the remaing of 9sia8 by Fana

6ishra , published in the "utloo of 9ug 13, /01/.

30J - - 7:angers of al- Laeda8 &=industan Times of 30.0K./011, by Bopal ;rishan Bandhi

31J - - 7Feople8s >epublicsV by Cohn ee, :irector, Loreign Folicy, @entre for independentstudies,Sydney

. - Ind! !"#$% &!nd'( ) >am @handra Buha, published in /00K

33J - 7 The >ational "ptimist 7 by 6att >idley

3J - T'$ R+$ !nd ! " #'$ #'%d R$/'( ) W L S'%$%

05 - P!#%#+ !nd P!%#+!n+( ) R!3/'!nd%! &'!, 212 6)/!#n

07 - T'$ %+$ !nd "! " %$!# 6$%+( ) 6! :$nn$d

Documents

India on the Move - The Way Forward (Sl 7 Last Instlmt