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India
Developed Dream the Change! Be the Change!
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Dream, Dream, Dream
Dreams transform into thoughts
And thoughts result in action.
Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us.
In this world, fear has no place.
Only strength respects strength.
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Preface
Ignited young minds, we feel, are a powerful resource. We must all
work together to transform our ‘developing India’ into a ‘developed
India’, and the revolution required for this effort must start in our minds.
This report will hopefully be the source for igniting many minds.
We have written this report as an expression of our faith in the
potential of India and our countrymen. We have all resources we need,
whether it be people, talent, natural bounty or other assets. Scarcity of
resources is not the cause of our problems. Our problems originate in
our approach towards them. With our resources and the money we
spend we could easily accomplish three times what we do, in half time
we normally take, if we operate in mission mode with a vision for the
nation.
We want to live in a prosperous India without poverty, an India strong
in trade and commerce, an India strong in many fields of science and
technology, an India with innovative industry and with health and
education for all.
We are ready to Dream the Change. We are ready to Be the Change.
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Acknowledgement
We would like to mention two books whose ideas we found especially
relevant to our theme. They were Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power
within India and India 2020: A Vision for the new millennium, both by
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. We would like to thank Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam for
igniting our minds.
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Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgement
Methodology
Summary
1. What do we mean by developed India?
1.1 What makes a country developed?
1.2 The Total Development
1.3 The Development in terms of a Common Man
2. Awaking the Generation
2.1 What History says?
2.1.1 The Liberation of India
2.1.2 The Foundation Of Israel
2.1.3 The Reunification of Germany
2.1.4 The Rise of Japan
2.2 Igniting the Minds
2.3 Being Proud, Being Confident, Being Focused
2.4 Thinking, Analyzing and Making People Understand
3. Where do we stand?
3.1 The Knowledge Society
3.2 The Fast-Growing Economy
3.3 The Largest Democracy
3.4 Corruption Everywhere
3.5 The Second Largest Population
3.6 The Widespread Poverty
3.7 The Illiterate Section
3.8 The National Security
3.9 We Are Changing
4. Dream the Change! Be the Change!
4.1 Changing the Education System
4.2 Changing Habits to Change Future
4.3 Modifying The Reservation System
4.4 Terrorism has No Religion
4.5 The Technology Vision
Conclusion
Song of Youth
Bibliography
Webliography
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Methodology
We were inspired to prepare this report and the lot of data was
needed. The sources of our data collection were as follows:
Books
Magazine Archives
TV Channel Archives
Newspaper Archives
Internet Blogs
National Portal of India
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Summary
India Developed is not just a report; it’s something we want to
achieve desperately. A nation’s wealth is the young generation of the
country. We want the Indian Youth to realize the current situation of
India. We want them to step ahead to change it. We hope to ignite the
minds of the Indian Youth through this report. We have tried to
configure a pathway to developed India. We want every Indian to Dream
the Change and Be the Change!
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1
What do we mean by Developed India?
Only when we have wiped the tears from the faces of all, have we truly arrived as a nation.
-Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 What makes a Country Developed?
The obvious indicators are the wealth of the nation, the prosperity
of its people and its standing in the international forum. There are many
indicators regarding the wealth of a nation: the Gross National Product
(GNP), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the balance of payments,
foreign exchange reserves, rate of economical growth, per capita
income, etc. In addition, the volume of trade, the share in international
trade (both imports and exports) and rate of growth in both of these
also provides an idea about the strength of economy and its ability to
sustain the wealth created and to create more.
Economic indicators are important, but they provide only a part of the
picture. Per capita income can indicate the wealth in the hands of
people. Per capita income does not indicate that they all have the same
amount of money .It is the average of the rich and poor. The same per
capita figure also does not indicate the amount of well being within a
country or even within a state or region. For purposes of global
comparisons, a new parameter, such as purchasing power parity, is
nowadays being used. Complex models are also being discussed,
debated and used as indices of human development. All of them only
present certain facets of living conditions. These statistics do not
indicate the long term sustainability of the quality of life achieved by
people.
1.2 The Total Development
It's not just about economic development, but more importantly
social & technical development, which will automatically lead to
economical growth. Many parameters are utilized to indicate how well
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people are fed; their overall nutritional status; the availability of good
nutrition during various phases of their growth and lives; the average life
expectancy; the infant mortality rate; the availability of sanitation; the
availability of drinking water and its quality; the quantum of living space;
broad categories of human habitat; the incidence of various diseases,
dysfunctions, disorders or disabilities; the access to medical facilities;
literacy; the availability of schools and educational facilities; various
levels of skills to cope with fast changing economic and social demands;
and so on.
It does not make sense to achieve a ‘developed’ status without a
major and continuing upliftment of all Indians who exist today and of the
many more millions who would be added in the years to come. They
should all have a secure and enjoyable ’present’ and also be in a position
to look forward to a better ‘future’. Such a developed India is what we
are looking for.
1.3 The Development in terms of the Common Man
What does the developed nation status mean in terms of the
common man? It means the major transformation of our national
economy to make it one of the largest economies in the world; where
the country men live well above the poverty line, their education and
health is of high standard; national security reasonably assured, and the
core competence in certain major areas gets enhanced significantly so
that the production 28 of quality goods, including exports, is rising and
thereby bringing all round prosperity for the countrymen. What is the
common link needed to realize these sub goals? It is the technological
strength of the nation, which is the key to reach this developed status.
In this quest of being a superpower, we should not miss the bonding
between the people. Hence when we talk of developing India, we mean
developing the thinking process of the people of India. We expect the
people of India to be gelled together with the common link of being the
Indians.
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2
Awaking the Generation
Think, Dream, Innovate & Change
Nations are built by the imagination and untiring enthusiastic efforts
of generations. One generation transfers the fruits of its toil to another
which then takes forward the mission. As the coming generation also has
its dreams and aspirations for the nation’s future, it therefore adds
something from its side to the national vision; which the next generation
strives hard to achieve. This process goes on and the nation climbs steps
of glory and gains higher strengths.
2.1 What the History says?
In the past whenever a revolution has occurred, the whole generation
has participated.
2.1.1 The Liberation of India
Any organization, society or even a nation without a vision is like a
ship cruising on the high seas without any aim or direction .It is clarity of
national vision which constantly drives the people towards the goal.
The glorious generation of freedom fighters, led by Mahatma
Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, and many others set for the
nation a vision of free India. This was the first vision, set by the
people for the nation. It, therefore, went deep into the
minds and the hearts of the masses and soon became the
great inspiring and driving force for the people to
collectively plunge into the struggle for freedom movement.
The unified dedicated efforts of the people from every walk of life won
freedom for the country.
In the pre-Independence days, India had many dreamers;
many capable women and men thinking of a strong and
modern India. Many of them took the initiative in various
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fields, political, social, economic, industrial, educational,
literary, scientific, engineering, and the religious. They
enriched India by their actions, and reflected different
facets of our independence struggle. Independent India
was enriched by this Inheritance.
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2.1.2 The Foundation of Israel
Israel was born as a nation in 1948, under very difficult circumstances.
Israelis were not just satisfied with having a home of their own. They
had a further vision: to be able to meet not only their immediate food
and water requirements, but also those of the future. They wanted food
and water security, in a place which was a desert. Water was scarce.
They were surrounded by hostile nations, and had very little by way of
natural resources. They were a small country too. Yet they not only had
a vision for food security, but also aimed to become a leader in agrofood
products and set standards in terms of productivity, yield or even in
absolute production in many items of food, be it milk or fruit or other
commodities. They did deploy a larger amount of technology in this
venture, leading to Israel being today a leader in agriculture and
agrofood related technologies.
Israel did not stop merely at food security
in food and agriculture. It needed defense.
They have remarkable capability in defense
and military equipment, including missiles.
They sought nuclear, space and electronics
capability, and no have several excellent
products and technologies. Israel is globally
acknowledged as a technological, military and
economic power. That is due to its long term
vision and sustained action.
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2.1.3 The Reunification of Germany
It existed for 184 years, the German Question. It arose on August 6,
1806 when Franz II, the last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation, bowed down to an ultimatum from Napoleon, laid
down his crown, relieved the Estates of their duties and thereby
dissolved the “Old Empire”. In terms of the old demand for “unity in
freedom”, the German Question was resolved on October 3, 1990, with
the approval of the four former occupying powers, when the German
Democratic Republic acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. At a
state act in the Berlin Philharmonie Richard von Weizsäcker, the German
President, described the historical importance of reunification in a
sentence that has gone down in the annals of German history: “The day
has come on which for the first time in history the whole of Germany
takes a permanent place among Western democracies.”
For united Germany, a new era of exceptional challenges began. They
had lost everything in the past, but now they were up for the challenges.
They were inspired for change. Now, Germany is renowned for the
quality of its products with the trademark “made in Germany”. Germany
is the largest economy in the European Union and the third largest in the
world. Germany is Europe’s no. 1 in terms of patent registrations.
Together with Japan and the United States, Germany, with its 11,188
triad patent registrations, is among the world’s three most innovative
countries. Thanks to its six renowned manufacturers VW, Audi, BMW,
Daimler, Porsche and Opel (General Motors), Germany takes its place
alongside Japan and the USA as one of the top three automobile
manufacturers in the world. They are undoubtedly the technological
power house of the world.
After the Second World War, Germany was twice all but destroyed.
And yet its people’s sense of destiny never dimmed. From the ashes of
the Second World War, it has emerged as a nation economically
powerful and politically assertive. If Germany can be a great nation, why
can’t India?
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2.1.4 The Rise of Japan
In the sixties, the Japanese were not technological leaders. In fact,
Japanese products during that period were known more for their poor
quality. The country had to import technologies in a major way. But the
Japanese made it a point, mostly through voluntary action by their
industries and government agencies, to invest about four times more
towards their own technology development for every unit of money
they spent in importing technology. This was meant to develop internal
technological core competencies in their industries and institutions.
Over a period of about two decades they have reached the status of a
net exporter of technology and become one of the world’s great
economic powers, though their own natural resources are practically
negligible in most sectors.
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In many ways, Japan can be considered the country that has
pioneered the systematization of a long term technological vision of the
country as whole, and translated its vision into reality through trading
agencies, industry, laboratories, universities, financial institutions and
government agencies. How did Japan achieve this status? Not overnight,
but over about two decades, with large team in industries, laboratories,
government, financial institutions, users, and consumers holding
steadfast to their vision of a developed Japan and working hard to
ensure that the vision was realized.
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This vision was shared by politicians, administrators, diplomats,
businessmen, scientists, engineers, technicians, bankers and people
from several other occupations. Whenever a Japanese agency or
industry imported a technology, they did not rest in peace. They worked
hard to understand it and to improve upon it. In the process they spent
almost four times as much as the value of imported technology in
generating their own technologies, because they knew that a developed
Japan could become a reality only when it was technologically
component and when it could develop its designs. The results are before
us: a country divested by war and two nuclear bombs, and subjected to
humiliating conditions after the Second World War, is now accepted as
one of the world’s seven most powerful countries. Japan has very
limited natural resources and was restricted in its attempts to acquire
military strength. It has won through a technological race, inspired by a
vision. The Japanese are proud of being one people, having one culture,
and because of that they could transform a humiliating military defeat
into a triumphant economic victory.
It is good to read, hear and see what others have done. However, the
conclusions regarding what is good for our country are to be shaped by
our own people.
2.2 Igniting the Minds
Nations consist of people. And with their effort a nation can
accomplish all it could ever want. Every nation has struggled to achieve
its goals. Generations have given their best to make life better for their
offspring. There is nothing mysterious or hidden about this, no
alternative to effort. The previous generation has put India strongly on
the path of economic, agricultural and technological development. And
yet we fail to follow the winning track. India has stood too long in the
line of developing nations. More than the problems outside –
globalization, recession, inflation, insurgency, instability and so on – it’s
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the inertia that has gripped the national psyche, the mindset of defeat.
When we will begin to believe in our goals, what we dream of will start
becoming a reality and the results will begin to follow. We need to
motivate the Youth of India. As the first step towards developed India,
we must ignite the minds of this generation with the vision of developed
India.
It’s very difficult to change those who are already having a wrong
mindset, but we can change ourselves & the next generations. Every kid
follows its parents. If parents, for example, throw wastes at public
places, then the kid would do the same & this is the way it's been
happening so far. Whatever things the previous generations did, we
have been following them without evaluating whether they were right
or wrong. We need to avoid the mistakes they did & which we may do,
in due course of time.
2.3 Being Proud, Being Confident, Being Focused
We must change our mindset. We need to be proud of ourselves.
And we can be so, only when we will ensure that we do only such things
which we can be proud of. We can be proud of ourselves only when we
are fully convinced that, we have not done anything which will adversely
affect our society and have tried our best to help others.
We need to think over everything we do. We have to analyze any
activity, we do, with respect to all possible effects it can have, as many
small things, we do in our day to day life, matter most to our country.
We need to be confident about our decisions & we can be so, only when
we take our decisions after looking at all aspects of the situation. To
cover each & every aspect we have to remain focused. Our Decisions will
take us either towards the development or towards the downfall & we
have to ensure they take us to developed India.
Decisions, what we take, make our mindset. As whenever we have
done something, which we feel should not have, we feel deprived of
ourselves. Hence being proud of ourselves means to try to avoid any
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such activity. Being proud does not mean being rude. Being proud does
not mean being satisfied about what we are or where we are, but it's all
about having faith in ourselves to overcome whatever challenges we
may face. This is what we lack in our society and that's why we are still
developing. We need to change this as quickly as possible. As mindset of
individuals in society collectively becomes the mindset of the society.
2.4 Thinking, Analyzing and Making People Understand
We should always try to think about each & everything happening
around us. We must make our own opinion about it, no matter whether
it is right or wrong. We need to speak about it with others. We should
compare our opinion with the others, this would help us developing our
opinion accordingly. Most importantly, we should be always ready to
accept that, our opinion might be wrong. We must respect opinions of
others. Until we are not sure about whether we are right or wrong, we
should keep on discussing the issue with as many people as we can, as
they might come up with something better than what we have thought.
This way we can come closer to a definite opinion about that particular
issue.
Now, that's half job done. As an individual we have the proper
opinion about that particular issue, but that's not enough at all. We must
make people understand, what we have analyzed. To convince people
with some previous misconceptions is the most difficult job to be done.
Making people understand & conveying the proper message is an art.
We need to be confident that our opinion is nearly right, so that we can
remain firm with our opinion. While explaining our views to others, we
must listen to what they are saying. If we come across any good point
we should add it to ours, but not before we analyze it in all aspects. If we
clear each & every confusion of the people, then they will accept our
views. These people should try to convince others. This way, if we
change the mindset of people of India, a generation will rise to
transform India into a developed nation. As the generation will awake,
country will rise to its actual capabilities.
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3
Where do We stand?
If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed
with all the wealth, power & beauty that nature can bestow - in some parts a very
paradise on earth – I should point to India.
-F. Max Mueller
3.1 The Knowledge Society
Ancient India was an advanced knowledge society. Invasions and
colonial rule destroyed its institutions and robbed it of its core
competence. We have been systematically degraded to lower levels of
existence. By the time British left, our youth had lowered their aims and
we were satisfied earning an ordinary livelihood. India is essentially a
land of knowledge and it must rediscover itself in this aspect. Once this
discovery is done, it will not require much struggle to achieve the quality
of life, strength and sovereignty of a developed nation.
Still, Indians are most sought after for innovative solutions. Is our
education system capable of sustaining this trend? We don’t think so.
Things have started going other way with the Indian students having lack
of practical knowledge to survive on the global platform. This is wasting
the money and the time of our industry to train them according to the
job requirement. India is essentially a land of knowledge and it must
rediscover itself in this aspect. Once this discovery is done, it will not
require much struggle to achieve the quality of life, strength and
sovereignty of a developed nation.
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3.2 The Fast-Growing Economy
The idea that India is a poor country is a relatively recent one.
Historically, South Asia was always famous as the richest region of the
globe. Ever since Alexander the Great first penetrated the Hindu Kush,
Europeans fantasized about the wealth of these lands where the Greek
geographers said that gold was dug by up by gigantic ants and guarded
by griffins, and where precious jewels were said to lie scattered on the
ground like dust.
What changed was the advent of European colonialism. Following
Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to the East in 1498,
European colonial traders — first the Portuguese, then the Dutch and
finally the British — slowly wrecked the old trading network and
imposed with their cannons and caravels a Western imperial system of
command economics. It was only at the very end of the 18th century,
after the East India Company began to cash in on the Mughal Empire's
riches, which Europe had for the first time in history a favorable balance
of trade with Asia. The era of Indian economic decline had begun, and it
was precipitous. In 1600, when the East India Company was founded,
Britain was generating 1.8% of the world's GDP, while India was
producing 22.5%. By 1870, at the peak of the Raj, Britain was generating
9.1%, while India had been reduced for the first time to the epitome of a
Third World nation, a symbol across the globe of famine, poverty and
deprivation.
Looking back at the role Europeans have played in South Asia until
their departure in August 1947, there is certainly much that the West
can be said to have contributed to Indian life: the Portuguese brought
the chili pepper, while the British brought that other essential staple, tea
— as well as the arguably more important innovations including
democracy and the rule of law, railways, cricket and the English
language. All contributed to India's economic resurrection. But the
British should keep their nostalgia and self-satisfaction surrounding the
colonial period within strict limits. For all the irrigation projects, the
great engineering achievements and the famous imperviousness to
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bribes of the officers of the Indian Civil Service, the Raj nevertheless
presided over the destruction of India's political, cultural and artistic
self-confidence as well as the impoverishment of the Indian economy.
Sixty years after independence, India is
beginning to deliver on its promise. Over
the past few years the world's biggest and
rowdiest democracy has matched its
political freedoms with economic ones,
unleashing a torrent of growth and wealth
creation that is transforming the lives of
millions. India's economic clout is
beginning to make itself felt on the
international stage, as the nation retakes
the place it held as a global-trade giant
long before colonial powers ever arrived
there.
India is a fast-growing economy; with large, skilled workforce but
widespread poverty. Our country has a burgeoning urban middle class
and has made great strides in fields such as information technology. Its
large, skilled workforce makes it a popular choice for international
companies seeking to outsource work.
It is worth remembering
this as India aspires to
superpower status.
Economic futurologists all
agree that China and India
during the 21st century will
come to dominate the
global economy. Various
intelligence agencies
estimate that China will
overtake the U.S. between 2030 and 2040 and India will overtake the
U.S. by roughly 2050, as measured in dollar terms. Measured by
purchasing-power parity, India is already on the verge of overtaking
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Japan to become the third largest economy in the world. It is worth
remembering this as India aspires to superpower status. Economic
futurologists all agree that China and India during the 21st century will
come to dominate the global economy. Various intelligence agencies
estimate that China will overtake the U.S. between 2030 and 2040 and
India will overtake the U.S. by roughly 2050, as measured in dollar
terms. Measured by purchasing-power parity, India is already on the
verge of overtaking Japan to become the third largest economy in the
world.
Today, things are slowly returning to historical norms. Last year the
richest man in the U.K. was for the first time an ethnic Indian, Lakshmi
Mittal, and Britain's largest steel manufacturer, Corus, has been bought
by an Indian company, Mittal Steel. Extraordinary as it is, the rise of India
and China is nothing more than a return to the ancient equilibrium of
world trade, with Europeans
no longer appearing as gun-
toting, gunboat-riding
colonial masters but instead
reverting to their traditional
role: that of eager
consumers of the much
celebrated manufactures,
luxuries and services of the
East.
Indian corporations are proving to be
formidable competitors in the global,
information-driven economy. That's possible
because India--the second most populous
nation in the world, and projected to be by
2015 the most populous--is itself being
transformed. Writers like to attach catchy tags
to nations, which is why you have read plenty about the rise of Asian
tigers and the Chinese dragon. Now here comes the elephant. India's
economy is growing more than 8% a year.
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Not so long ago, there was any surer way to get rich in a hurry than to
bet on Indian stocks. Millions of Indians were finally clawing their way
into the middle class, creating a new domestic consumer market, while
companies in Mumbai and Bangalore emerged as global players in
everything from outsourcing to pharmaceuticals. Investors went crazy.
India's main stock index, the Sensex, has more than tripled in the past
three years. Foreign institutional investors poured $30 billion into the
Indian market in three years--double the amount they had invested in
the previous decade. Firms like JP Morgan and Fidelity raced to set up
India-focused mutual funds. Though the Indian market still looks as risky
as it is tempting, the long-term picture remains sunny.
A new word has appeared during water-cooler conversations in
offices across the U.S. The term is Bangalored. It refers to India's high-
tech hub, and it means your job has just moved to India without you. But
in the shifting global labor market, vernacular can quickly become
outdated. What is the term for a job that is outsourced to India only to
be relayed to China or Romania?
There is none--but one may soon be needed.
That's because India, which virtually invented
offshore outsourcing, is becoming a victim of its
own success. Such companies as Infosys, Wipro
and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) grew into billion-dollar behemoths
by tapping armies of quick-coding, English-speaking, low-wage techies to
do the software programming and back-office tasks
that US companies used to perform in-house. But
Indian salaries are rising--the median annual wage for
a software engineer jumped 11%, from $6,313 in
2004 to $7,010 in 2005, according to India's National Association of
Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM)--and the country's
technical colleges aren't producing highly skilled workers quickly
enough. Foreign companies are turning to low-cost markets outside
India, like China, the Philippines and Eastern Europe, to do more of their
grunt work. China has much the same resources as us: great pools of
talent and a young workforce--and better schools, airports and roads.
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3.3 The Largest Democracy
A generation of extraordinary revolutionaries cemented democracy
in India. Mahatma Gandhi planted the spirit of an inclusive, secular
nationalism at the grass roots. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru, and his contemporaries nurtured it following independence,
building democratic institutions and a system of checks and balances
that remain entrenched to this day, while neighbors Pakistan and later
Bangladesh routinely threw out constitutions and fell under bouts of
military rule.
Visitors always seem to be astonished by the cacophony of the Indian
street and the vibrant mix of ethnicities, cultures and religions that gives
it life. With a sixth of humanity living within its borders, India is more
linguistically diverse than Europe. But, apart from a few hiccups along
the way, it remains one of the most stable and unified societies in all of
Asia. India has proven once and for all that countries which are poor and
diverse can be democratic. The hurly-burly of India's politics is not for
everyone. Elsewhere in Asia, many rulers have favored an orderly,
sternly run society over a boisterous, democratic one. Taiwan, South
Korea and Singapore all grew their economies while keeping politics
under a short leash. Today, China, the Asian giant whose shadow looms
largest over India, tightly monitors public opinion and swiftly quashes
dissent. The Chinese leadership vaunts harmony over all else, and points
to the hundreds of millions it lifted out of poverty in just two decades as
a vindication of its development-first policies.
It's an argument not easily dismissed. Even the fiercest supporters of
Indian democracy cannot ignore its dark underbelly. We saw in recent
elections dozens of candidates run despite holding criminal records;
some of them even coordinated their campaigns using mobile phones
while detained in prison. It's one thing if such behavior was an
aberration, but, in India, this is par for the course. And as graft stifles the
poor, separatist insurgencies in Kashmir and the country's troubled
northeast continue to simmer, asking tough questions of a nation that
values popular sovereignty and self-determination.
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A trade-off between development and democracy can prove
damaging. While China's economy soars, hundreds of millions of migrant
workers and rural peasants have been left on the outside looking in. In
India growth may have been slow, but over a period of time it is more
certain and sustainable because of its democracy. Some would dispute
that assertion, but there's no arguing that economic policies and
commercial decisions in India rope in a greater number of stakeholders
than in many other places in Asia.
True, India, a noisy nation of over 1 billion voices, can't match the
hyper-affluence of Singapore or China's titanic boom, but it shows that
hearing those voices is the best long-term strategy. The future of the
world is not just about growth rates. It's about the principle of human
equality. Sixty years of freedom have bound all Indians, rich and poor, to
a single commitment: democracy. India is neither east nor west as
Rudyard Kipling saw it, but in its diversity and exuberance a reflection of
something universal.
3.4 Corruption Everywhere
Corruption pervades all strata of society — Transparency
International ranks India worse than countries like El Salvador and
Bulgaria in the corruption stakes — mostly because the nation's bloated,
unwieldy bureaucracies encourage it. India ranks 83 in the list of least-
corrupt countries.
It is no mystery that underdevelopment and high degrees of
corruption are highly correlated. There are causal links between the two
and most likely these are bi-directional. Corruption is endogenous in
most systems and clearly reflects the dominant cultural traits. In India,
the web of corruption probably has a bureaucratic core. A vast
bureaucracy that is instituted to control every aspect of economic life
creates the incentives for individual and institutionalized corruption.
Then the “democratic” political system uses that bureaucracy to extract
rents that are used for fueling the vast political machinery.
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The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is
the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government
machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the
society at every level. The most of the Indians are involved in corrupt
practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called
compulsion. In any case, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not
getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence
amongst the most.
The costs of corruption are manifest in various parts of the economy.
Inadequate infrastructure, of course, is widely recognized as a serious
impediment to India's advancement. Producing valuable goods is of
limited utility if they cannot be transported in a timely fashion, for
example. Transparency International estimates that Indian truckers pay
something in the neighborhood of $5 billion annually in bribes to keep
freight flowing. Corruption also cripples the effort to ameliorate poverty
in India and to improve the country's stock of "human capital."
3.5 The Second Largest Population
India's population of approximately 1.13 billion people (estimate for
March 10, 2008) comprises approximately one-sixth of the world's
population. Population in India density has risen concomitantly with the
massive increases in population. In 1901 India counted some seventy-
seven persons per square kilometer; in 1981 there were 216 persons per
square kilometer; by 1991 there were 267 persons per square kilometer-
-up almost 25 percent from the 1981 population density. India's average
population density is higher than that of any other nation of comparable
size. The highest densities are not only in heavily urbanized regions but
also in areas that are mostly agricultural.
Population of India growth in the years between 1950 and 1970
centered on areas of new irrigation projects, areas subject to refugee
resettlement, and regions of urban expansion. Areas where population
did not increase at a rate approaching the national average were those
31
facing the most severe economic hardships, overpopulated rural areas,
and regions with low levels of urbanization.
The results of the 1991 census revealed that around 221 million, or
26.1 percent, of Indian's population lived in urban areas. Of this total,
about 138 million people, or 16 percent, lived in the 299 urban
agglomerations. In 1991 the twenty-four metropolitan cities accounted
for 51 percent of India's total population living in Class I urban centers,
with Mumbai the largest at 12.6 million. In the early 1990s, growth was
the most dramatic in the cities of central and southern India. About
twenty cities in those two regions experienced a growth rate of more
than 100 percent between 1981 and 1991. Areas subject to an influx of
refugees also experienced noticeable demographic changes. Refugees
from Bangladesh, Burma, and Sri Lanka contributed substantially to
population growth in the regions in which they settled. Less dramatic
population increases occurred in areas where Tibetan refugee
settlements were founded after the Chinese annexation of Tibet in the
1950s.
3.6 The Widespread Poverty
Beneath the glitz of India's ebullient film
industry or the sheen of chrome-and-glass IT
centers, a vast, confusing and poor India
lurches onward. It shares little with the
country's jet-setting globalists, high-powered
intellectuals or high-rolling industrialists. It
knows more about enduring hardship than enhancing hardware. Yet,
again in India, the twain do meet.
A significant fact which stands out is that those parts of India which
have been longest under British rule are the poorest today. The Indian
economy was purposely and severely deindustrialized through colonial
privatizations, regulations, tariffs on manufactured or refined Indian
goods, taxes, and direct seizures. India accounted for 17.6% of global
32
industrial production against Britain's 9.5%, but by 1900 India's share
was down to 1.7% against Britain's 18.5%. Not only was Indian industry
losing out, but consumers were forced to rely on expensive British
manufactured goods, especially as barter, local crafts and subsistence
agriculture was discouraged by law. The agricultural raw materials
exported by Indians were subject to massive price swings and declining
terms of trade.
British policies in India exacerbated weather conditions to lead to
mass famines which, when taken together, led to between 30 to 60
million deaths from starvation in the Indian colonies. Community grain
banks were forcibly disabled; land was converted from food crops for
local consumption to cotton, opium, tea, and grain for export, largely for
animal feed. In summary, deindustrialization, declining terms of trade,
and the periodic mass misery of man-made famines are the major ways
in which colonial government destroyed development in India and held
it back for centuries. About 60% of the population depends on
agriculture whereas the
contribution of agriculture to the
GDP is about 18%. High population
growth rate, although
demographers generally agree that
this is a symptom rather than
cause of poverty.
Eradication of poverty in
India can only be a long-term goal.
Poverty alleviation is expected to
make better progress in the next
50 years than in the past, as a
trickle-down effect of the growing
middle class. Increasing stress on
education, and the empowerment of women and the economically
weaker sections of society, is also expected to contribute to the
alleviation of poverty. It is incorrect to say that all poverty reduction
programs have failed. The growth of the middle class indicates that
33
economic prosperity has indeed been very impressive in India, but the
distribution of wealth is not at all even.
After the liberalization process
and moving away from the socialist
model, India is adding 60-70 million
people to its middle class every year.
India is an economic miracle. With
growth rates of nearly 10% a year the
country is becoming richer than ever
before. But while the burgeoning
middle class has more money to
spend, most Indians still live in
desperate poverty. UN statistics
show that 700 million Indians live on
less that $2 a day and a fifth of
children doesn’t go to school. Although some of these people are
benefiting from the boom, income gaps are widening fast. And with a
rapidly growing population, the economy has to keep growing for
society to simply stand still.
3.7 The Illiterate Section
About 35% of Indians are illiterate, which has a significant impact on
the national economy, as well as on the lives of individual people. Due to
various social and economic problems India's education program
continues to be undercut. The biggest victims of the poor educational
system are those living in rural areas. The attitudes of the children and
teachers also affect the quality of the schools. Allocation of government
funds and the conditions of the destitute rural schools contribute to the
low quality of education by rural children. While there are many rural
area school systems which are operating in poor conditions there is one
in particular whose schools outperform most other rural schools and
also those located in wealthy areas of India. Consequently, Kerala, a
rural state of India remains a puzzle to many educators. Its illiteracy rate
does not follow the trend of most rural schools.
34
Many children living in rural areas receive a level of education which
is very poor. Overall enrollment in primary and middle schools are very
low. Fifty percent of children living in these areas leave school before
the fifth grade. These children leave school for variety of reasons: some
leave because of lack of interest; most leave so that they can work in the
fields, where the hours are long and the pay is low. A large percent of
the dropouts are females. Forced by their parents, most girls perform
chores and tend the family at home. These are some of the reasons why
sixty percent of all females in India are illiterate, a figure much higher
than those of males. As these children grow into adults, many are still
illiterate by the age of forty. These uneducated adults are also reluctant
to send their own children to school because of their failure in the
education system. This in turn creates a problem for the next
generation.
While the children living in rural
areas continue to be deprived of a
quality education, part of the reason
why is due to their teachers. A large
number of teachers refuse to teach in
rural areas and those that do are
usually under qualified. Those that refuse to teach in rural areas cite
distance and lack of interest by students as problems. Many of the
teachers also lack the enthusiasm to teach because of their meager
salary. Another obstacle faced by the schools is that obtaining more
teachers for rural schools is difficult because of state guidelines that
approve of high student-to-teacher ratios.
As the lack of teachers creates many obstacles for children in rural
schools, another setback is the lack of resources which becomes
detrimental to the learning process. Lack of books and other reading
materials seem to be a widespread problem. The use of computers is
very rare. Some schools are located in warehouses while others in small
houses. Many of the rural schools operate without electricity. While
many rural schools search for the proper resources, the distribution of
government funds is major hindrance to the educational system.
35
According to a recent study done by the World Bank, thirty percent of
the total educational funding goes toward higher educational
institutions. This is an important issue because the number of students
enrolled in these types of institutions represent such a small percent of
India's students. Other examples of the government's plans to
undermine rural education can be found in the Constitution of India. In
the Constitution it stated that the primary education of rural area
children was a low priority in budget outlays. Though rural children
continue to be deprived of a formal education, the education system of
Kerala, India is an exception. Located in the southern peninsula of the
country, Kerala's illiteracy rates are lower than most other rural areas in
India. Because of its immense population of twenty nine million and high
unemployment rate, a large number of its inhabitants are forced to work
outside of Kerala. Many of the people of Kerala who work in a different
country send lots of donations back to Kerala. These people believe that
it is responsibility of them to donate back to their hometown. It is these
donations which have funded many of the programs that make Kerala
stand out from other rural states. Coupled with the government and
private donations the education system has been able to benefit. More
schools are being built and more teachers are willing to work there.
Although its economy is only growing slowly and unemployment rate is
high, its illiteracy rates, mortality rates and life expectancy are
comparable to richer regions of the country. Other rural areas can learn
from Kerala so that its success can be duplicated. Receiving more private
donations and government support is essential for those rural areas
needing to improve the general lifestyle of its people.
3.8 The National Security
Our Armed Forces and Paramilitary Forces, day or night, are awake
guarding our borders on the land, in the air and at sea and remain
vigilant to counter any threat and facilitate unhindered progress of
national development. However, our internal security services are not
capable enough to handle problems of such a huge population.
36
Terrorist Attacks in last 3 years
Date Incident
March 7, 2006
At least 21 people killed in three synchronized
terrorist attacks in Varanasi in Shri Sankatmochan
Mandir and Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station.
July 11, 2006
At least 200 people killed in a series of 7 train-
bombings during the evening rush hour near
Mumbai.
September 8, 2006
At least 37 people killed and 125 injured in a
series of bomb blasts in the vicinity of a mosque in
Malegaon, Maharashtra.
May 18, 2007
At least 13 people were killed, including 4 killed by
the Indian police in the rioting that followed, in
the bombing at Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad that
took place during the Friday prayers.
August 25, 2007
At least 42 people were killed in two blasts in
Hyderabad's Lumbini park and a restaurant. The
police reportedly managed to find and defuse
another bomb in the same area.
May 13, 2008
At least 63 were killed in 9 bomb blasts along 6
areas in Jaipur.
July 25, 2008
At least 2 were killed and 20 injured in 8 low
intensity bomb blasts in Bangalore.
37
July 26, 2008
At least 29 were killed and over 110 injured in 17
serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad.
September 13, 2008
At least 15 were killed and over 110 injured in 5
bomb blasts in Dehli markets.
As of today, we are prone to every terrorist attack
and it’s becoming just impossible for the police to stop
any such well-planned activity. We need to increase
number of dedicated security personals, as it will
reduce the work load and the metal stress on these
officers. These officers should be selected carefully and
they should undergo enhanced military training. They should be forced
to remain physically fit. Strict action should be taken on corrupt officers.
In this world, only strength respects strength. The only way to
show the strength of the country is the might to defend it. Here, the
Strength means the military might and economic prosperity. The
decisions and policies of the United Nations Security Council are dictated
by the countries that possess nuclear weapons. Issues of national
security are no longer simple considerations of defense but are closely
intertwined with many aspects of trade, commerce, investment as well
as creation and use of a knowledge base. What appears to be emerging
is a new kind of warfare. If a country does not learn to master these new
realities of life, all our aspirations to ensure the prosperity of our people
may come to naught. This does not mean that the advocacy of isolation
or going back to concepts of a nuts and bolts form of self reliance. We
need to address newer and more sophisticated concepts of protecting
our strategic interests.
38
3.9 We Are Changing
Most Indians recognize that the next big challenge will be to bridge
the widening divide between the country's middle class and the poor.
The pessimists worry that social unrest will rise if that does not happen;
the optimists say the process may be slow, but growth will trickle down.
We are changing. And the signs of this change can be sensed in some
fields. Tata has overtaken Jaguar and Land Rover from
Ford. India’s Moon mission is on its way. The new
method has been developed by
researchers at the company
Tata Consultancy Services to improve literacy
rates. It works by teaching people whole words
rather than individual letters, and the scientists
who developed it say it costs about $2 for each
adult. So far some 40,000 adults have learned
to read this way. The Times Of India has started its campaign Teach India
making knowledge open to all. The Jago
Party, founded by ex-IITians & IIM
students is ready to enter the Indian
politics. The Films like Swades, Rang De Basanti, Lagaan, Taare Zammen
Par, and Mumbai Meri Jaan etc. are being produced by the Indian film
industry. We are the world champions of the ICC World T20. Recently,
we had the most inspiring Olympics. But this change is just not enough;
we need to change a lot if we want our dream of a developed India to
become a reality.
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4
Dream the Change! Be the Change!
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments...
My Father, let my country awake.
-Rabindranath Tagore
The power of the imagination lies at the heart of the creative process
and is the very substance of life, allied as it is to the power to attract to
us what we most desire. This power makes all the difference between
winners and the losers.
We would like to in next twenty years a literate and poverty-free
India. We dream of an India governed by noble leaders. We dream of a
system where the work of scientists and technologists is focused on
specific missions driven by goals relevant to common man. How to turn
this dream into a reality? We need to realize that missions are always
bigger than organizations, just as organizations are always bigger than
those who run them. Missions need effort and the mind provides the
purpose. It is a power that arises from deep within you. This power is the
basis for the movement towards the excellence we saw at the time of
independence.
Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata brought the steel industry to India even
though the British rulers were not favorably disposed to the idea.
Acharya P. C. Ray nurtured the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
We saw the birth of many great institutions like the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore, stared by J. N. Tata, the Banaras Hindu University
established by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Aligarh Muslim
University set up by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. There are many examples. In
all these cases, the motivation was to see India come up in the world, to
demonstrate that ‘India can do it ’.
40
Are we in a position to continue that work, revive that spirit of
enterprise? Shall we ever see cars designed and manufactured in India
dotting the roads in Frankfurt or Seoul? Or Indian satellite launch
vehicles place communication, weather and remote sensing satellites of
other nations in orbit? Or see India build power stations for the USA,
Japan and China? The possibility will remain remote if we stay with the
present trend of low aim.
Today we are witnessing good progress in the software sector but
almost all of the hardware is imported. Can we rise higher on the value
scale there? Can India design an operating system that will become
household name in the world of computers? Our exports consist to a
large extent of low-value raw material such as iron ore and alumina. Can
we not convert these into wide range products that find an international
market? We have hundreds of defense production industries but why
does India not manufacture and market the main Battle Tanks, missiles,
aircraft, guns and other defense equipment? We have the most
important core competence in the form of our multifaceted manpower
and basic infrastructure. Then what is that we don’t have?
Let us think what prevents us in undertaking such challenges. We
have to analyze how we can give a new dimension to our style of
functioning, by cutting across the individual interests of various
ministries and even industries and institutions, to follow an integrated
action plan. The motive force has to be love for the country. We need a
vision that is shared by the entire nation.
In the drive for development, some states are faring better than
others in the country. Bright young entrepreneurs have energized the
national technology scene. Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, and
Hyderabad are hubs of business activity. But even though the IT sector is
a very visible area of success and has brought in some capital
investment, in terms of overall development this is not enough. Even if
you take up the IT area as a mission, manpower is the most important
need. Those living away from the cities must also have access to a good
education to join the talent pool. And this should happen fast. The poor
have the urge and the willingness to work hard. But because of the lack
41
of education they are unable to utilize the available opportunities for
better employment or to improve their standard of living.
Our intellectual forums, political platforms, academic institutions and
chambers of commerce are full of discussion and debate. There is noise,
a lot of it in fact. There are endless debates, arguments, hypotheses, and
theories, and yet there is little progress. However, the theme of a
developed India is not discussed in board rooms and technology
conferences. We should stop blaming others for the circumstances we
find ourselves in. Taking responsibility also means a willingness to
exercise our abilities to the fullest. This will make us worthy of enjoying
the benefits that come with effort.
The needs of a nation’s people are bigger and much more important
than any other considerations. The mission of the Parliament is that it
has to be alive and dynamic over issues vital to the existence of our very
nationhood. Our freedom did not come as a gift. The whole country
struggled for decades to achieve this vision of independence, so we have
to protect it. To preserve this freedom from intruders and others who
would compromise it is our bounden duty and not a matter of choice
and convenience. No ideology is above the security and prosperity of
our country. No agenda is more important than harmony among the
people.
4.1 Changing The Education System
Primary Education is the most important part of any individual's life. It
decides our mindset. It decides how we look at our life. Quality of
Primary Education in India is reaching its worst. It just makes the
students mug up everything they see without understanding a word and
still they score heavily in exams.
"Thinking rather than thought should be taught."
In schools, students should be exposed to real world problems. Let
them create their own opinions, we should get them thinking. Primary
42
Educators should be selected carefully. They should be paid higher. In
Japan, Primary Educators are highest paid employees. . The delivery of
quality education is possible only through quality teachers. The teacher
has to be a committed teacher who loves teaching and children. The
teacher also has to be equipped with all the knowledge required for
effective teaching. The self-esteem of the teacher must be high and the
teacher must have the quality to become a role model for
children.
" An Investment in Knowledge always pays the best interest "
Suggesting to do good things in life is different from motivating to do
so. We agree that, every school always tells students to do good things,
but generally they don't motivate them to do so. We also agree that,
Parents have larger impact on children's mindset, but no school has ever
dared to tell their children that their parents can also make mistakes and
they should learn from those to avoid them.
One way of motivating the students could be having discussion
sessions in the class. Let them express what they think, let them debate
out their point. They might be wrong, but through this they will learn
why they were wrong & will never make those mistakes in their life. We
can expose our students to some innovative competitions in which there
will be groups of 4-5 students, everyone in the class must participate,
they will be given some issues like reservations, corruption, etc. They
have to come up with the solution not necessarily the perfect one, but
they have to discuss about it in their groups, talk about it with their
parents and teachers and finally they have to present their solution in
front of others, best of these will be awarded prizes. When this is
implemented successfully at intra-school level then it can be promoted
to inter-school level.
What we are providing the Indian students is not at all education.
Education does not mean producing doctors & engineers etc., but it's
about teaching people what they like in a proper manner so that they
can implement it to achieve their goals and earnings automatically
come.
43
“The great aim of education is not only knowledge but action.
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one."
This is nowhere in our education system. We agree that, everyone will
not be able to teach these things, but those, who can, are staying away
from this field. Obviously, everyone wants to earn back from what they
have paid for their education, but those who have the ability can come
back to teaching profession may be after 10-15 years, just to increase
the quality of education. As what we, the students, are getting today is
worst. If we will not try to get it back to level where it was previously,
there will not be a single person who could mould the mindset of
students.
Children who belong to weaker sections of our society are
undernourished and only a small percentage of them manage to
complete eight years of satisfactory education. We need to think
specifically about them. Education is indeed a fundamental right of every
Indian child. Can we allow the situation to continue in which millions of
these children are forced into life-long poverty? The requirement is that
the parents should be able to go to any school nearby and admit their
children and happily come back home with the confidence that their
children will get a good and value based quality education in that school.
The conditions of differently-abled children require equally important
attention. In view of such critical issues and their importance and also to
break out of our historical mindset, an effective and self-renewing
education system is therefore fundamental to the survival and growth of
civilizations.
Clearly public expenditure alone from governments at the Centre and
in the States might not be able to meet the challenge of mobilizing an
additional 2 to 3 per cent of GDP for the mission of education. It is here
that we have to generate additional resources for this noble mission.
Expenditure on education, whether in the Centre or in the States, can no
longer be provided only by respective Ministries or Departments for
human resource development. Indeed, every Department of the
Government must play a significant role as a partner in human resource
44
development organization and contribute resources in terms of budget
and infrastructure for implementing the mission of providing quality
education to the whole nation.
To augment Government resources, we appeal to the entire
corporate sector to emulate the example set by some corporate leaders
who have focused on education to make a national difference. Different
regions of the country may be adopted by the corporate sector within an
overall national mission for education. The mechanism should enable
persons to have freedom to innovate and deliver directly.
The primary focus of the students should be to excel in their studies.
This is their first contribution to the development of the nation. The
education system should instill in the minds of students capacities of
inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership. If
we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce
“Autonomous Learner” a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner,
who will have the capacity to both respect authority and at the same
time is capable of questioning authority, in an appropriate manner.
These are the leaders who would work together as a “Self-organizing
Network” and transform India into a developed nation in a time bound
manner.
4.2 Changing the Habits to Change the Future
Small things, which we do in our day to day life matter most to us
and to our country's future. Everyone does small mistakes and that
collectively emerges as a bigger problem. At first, when we look at the
public places in our country, what we notice immediately is garbage
thrown everywhere. Now we start saying that government has not done
its job properly & we may be right to some extent, but who's the actual
culprit? WE. How many of us restrict ourselves from throwing garbage at
the public places? We know the truth and we can’t deny it , but would
we do the same at our home ? Definitely not. We should feel from the
bottom our heart that, our country is our home and at home we are
45
bound to use the dustbin. First, we need to restrict ourselves, and then
only we get the right to tell others to do the same.
Secondly, when we are at public places, we should try to respect
people around us otherwise we will end up in quarrels, ultimately
affecting our day's performance. People think that this is a very common
thing and such things happen, but when such things start happening
more frequently, they need attention. This is not really that difficult
once we make up our mind, they will automatically stop happening.
4.3 Modifying The Reservation System
The only way in which reservation system in India could help it
becoming developed is when it will be truly based on economic
background of students and not on their cast or religion. Those who
have scored well in the entrance exams should be given financial
support so that they are not admitted to the course they like just
because they can't pay the fees.
The first step towards modifying the reservation system would be
making people, who are enjoying [Are they really? We don't think so]
the benefits of reservations, understand how reservations are spoiling
their children's future. If the students know, that there are reserved
seats waiting for them, no matter they study well or not then, would
they ever put extra efforts in studies? No, not at all and this is what is
happening to those who are enjoying the reservations. Due to this the
gap between those who are having reservation and those who are not, is
further increasing.
As these people who have got reserved seats for education in India,
they will not have so on the global platform and in private sectors, there
they will suffer. This needs to be explained to them by us, as their
leaders are engaged only in grabbing votes by misleading them.
46
4.4 Terrorism has No Religion
Our mindset is decided by people around us in early days of ours in
this world. Every religion guides its followers how to live a better life,
that's all nothing more than that. As we don't have a chance to choose
our religion immediately after our birth, we don't have right to blame
people of any religion.
Nowadays, Terrorism has become a business! Lords of this business are
running terrorist factories to brainwash weak minded people and to
train them for destruction. More people they kill, more funds they
receive. This is how these lords are getting richer.
Some suicide bombers do it for their poor families. They get paid for
their life and most importantly for the lives they take way with them.
People with improper childhood education get into this. Some suicide
bombers get easily brainwashed due to lack of proper value education at
home.
Some say, "Every Muslim is not a Terrorist, but Every Terrorist is a
Muslim!" Why? No One is ready to think over it. Lack of value education
& high poverty levels make a Muslim individual a soft target for these
Lords. This situation can be changed. To do that Muslims must realize
that this is not to blame their religion, but its fact that needs to be
changed. Hindu Extremists should also stop blaming every Muslim, just
because some other Muslims are terrorists.
Answer to this problem lies in a powerful primary education system,
which makes the students mentally strong and determined. Education
gives us the power to think and analyze. Students should be taught to
fight against mental attacks of extremists, who can well be their parents
also.
47
4.5 The Technology Vision
Technology can help transform multiple areas such as education and
training, agriculture and food processing, strategic industries and
infrastructure in various fields. India’s human resource base is one of its
great competencies. It is India’s strength. If we can train unskilled Indian,
if we can impart better skills to a skilled India and if we create a more
challenging environment for the educated , as well as build avenues for
economic activity in agriculture , industry and the service sectors , these
Indians will not only meet the targets but excel them . The technology
vision documents advocate the formation of a human resource cadre
that will be the foundation of the action packages for the country in the
near future. Such a cadre will lead us to technological and economic
achievements.
In India, a certain amount of crop (transgenic) biotechnology is being
put to use. Major efforts are being undertaken to make cotton pest
resistant. Most readers would be aware of the spate of suicides by
cotton farmers recently. Let us hope there will be scientific and
technologies breakthroughs in pest resistant transgenic cotton seeds. Till
48
we achieve success in this on a commercial sale we cannot be sure that
we will have enough supplies to plan large scale operations. No doubt
such researches should be encouraged, but we should look at other
fronts too. It is necessary for research on crop biotechnology in India to
be focused on our important crops, especially those related to food
security.
Photonics will dominate all walks of life in the twenty first century. It
will penetrate into several areas traditionally covered by electronics such
as communications, computation, memories etc. It will have far reaching
effects in several critical areas such as information technology, fiber
optics based telecommunication, diagnostics and therapeutic
applications in health care, pollution control, life sciences, besides
others.
If we were to pause for a moment to thing about the growth of
human civilization, we would find that the pace of social and economic
growth has been closely linked to the proficiency with which people
have been able to use and shape materials. Today this proficiency has
become the bedrock of a country’s development. Lightweight high
performance materials and alloys have helped us in building aircraft,
satellite, launch vehicles and missiles. Our houses are full of modern
materials: stainless steel vessels, shaving blades with special coatings,
special non-sticking and slow-heating frying pans; plastic and fiber-glass
products.
The benefits of modern science may not have reached all parts of the
world but there is a far greater awareness of these among people.
People are now demanding more equitable Share of the fruits of modern
knowledge and skills. In India too, the benefits of scientific and
technological breakthroughs have not reached all segments of our
society. Until this happens, we cannot claim that India is truly a
developed society.
We believe that there are many ignited minds in different parts of
India, in different age groups. The Technology Vision will generate multi-
missions and each mission in turn hundreds of projects. This ambience
49
will make the nation achieve the status of a developed nation. The
vision, we believe therefore, can be realized: the vision of a developed
India, which can see Indian products, services and technologies emerge
as World Class!
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Conclusion
India is a nation of a billion people. A nation’s progress depends upon
how its people think. It is thoughts which are transformed into actions.
India has to think as a nation of a billion people. Let the young minds
blossom – full of thoughts, the thoughts of prosperity. Developed India
has to be the mission of every Indian Mind. In this mission, every one of
us has a role to play. It will be a reality if we give whatever we can
through individual, societal and nationwide participation in a national
movement “India Developed “.
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Song of Youth
Me and My Nation - India
As a young citizen of India,
armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,
I realize, small aim is a crime.
I will work and sweat for a great vision,
the vision of transforming India into a developed nation
powered by economic strength with value system.
I am one of the citizens of a billion,
only the vision will ignite the billion souls.
It has entered into me,
the ignited soul compared to any resource,
is the most powerful resource
on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.
I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning
to achieve the vision - Developed India.
By Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
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Bibliography
1. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Ignited Minds : Unleashing the Power within
India, 2002
2. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, India 2020 : A Vision for the New
Millennium, 1998
3. TIFAC Reports
4. Time Magazine Archives
5. BBC Archives
6. The Times Of India Archives
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Webliography
1. Wikipedia
2. Google
3. National Portal of India
4. www.indiannanodevices.spaces.live.com
5. www.apjabdulkalam.com