India Rising - Oh Really?

As I sit down to plan my 50th column for BW Businessworld, my first concern is about the topic. Although, majority of my columns have been on the ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Inclusivity’ themes, I have often written on other subjects too. In fact, my very first column (BW 19 November 2022) was titled ‘India Continues to March Ahead’ and later I did two more on this difficult subject; ‘Soft Sheen to India Shining’ (13 January 2024) and ‘India Continues its Steady March towards Holistic Growth’ (9 March 2024). 

I call it “difficult” because our country’s complexities and paradoxes are mind-boggling and unique. A very large democracy treading the path of growth virtually from scratch after 200 years of being colonised by the British and total demolition of our industry, commerce, agriculture, education system and even heritage was never easy.

Thanks to the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated work of successive governments including huge achievements and some inevitable failures today we sit on the cusp of an era of sustained rapid growth, higher than any other country in the world! And if we can maintain the pace, we can look forward to achieving, as the prime minister says, a ‘Viksit Bharat’; joining the league of developed countries by 2047, when we celebrate the first century of our Independence.

‘Where to Start’ was another issue but what better than the PM’s “clarion call” at the ‘ET World Leaders Forum’ in end August. He called it “A Lift-Off Decade for India” leaving no doubt about the government’s resolve to ensure that all gains so far are consolidated and private sector energised to be equal partners in growth. He has set his eyes on making the country a “global manufacturing hub”; and assured that the “government will continue to modernise and expand physical as well as social infrastructure and steadily advancing reforms”. He also added that “A prosperous India can pave the way for global prosperity”.

We Have Arrived At The Global High Table

That “” is beyond doubt. Despite our humble per capita GDP of $2,730 ($10,120 in PPP terms) we command huge respect and admiration of the international community. When both Putin and Zelensky ask India to mediate for ending the prolonged war, do we need any other proof of our status? Notwithstanding the intransigence of China to blockour permanent seat on the UN Security Council, we do command respect from almost all nations.

Whether it is due to the charisma of our PM or enviable diplomacy of the EAM or the ‘best brains produced by our IITs and IIMs – their alumni head every second Fortune 500 corporation – or achievements of our brilliant startups or a combination of all these factors; we are no longer derided in global fora. That speaks well of our achievements like the rapid infrastructure build up, holding top international meets with aplomb, no defaults on any loan repayments, safe deficit financing and public borrowing, stable currency, strong banks, fine and fair institutions like the EC, Higher Judiciary, food security, sizable exports, handling of crises like the dreaded Covid, fastest digitisation in the world, 200 GW of non-fossil energy, good telecom services, forever rising GST collections, rapidly improving civil aviation, highways and rail network, surge in private capex etc.

We have made amazing progress on the economic front – fastest growing economy in the world! Our stock markets are the envy of the top first world countries; with Sensex nudging 85k and Nifty at 26,000, there’s a rush of FPI. On a single day (20 September) FPIs reportedly bought USD 1.7 billion worth of Indian equities.

We have the guts to challenge the might of EU,  we have threatened to retaliate against their safeguard import duties in June 2024 by imposing duty on products imported from EU countries. We have also challenged China (without naming them) from the QUAD Security Alliance platform.

All this is heartening and every Indian must rejoice and revel in the glory but frankly, for this article, I am more inclined to flag areas where we need soul searching introspection, greater caution and radical changes to make sure that we continue to move forward towards our avowed goal of becoming a developed country by 2047.

How can we call ourselves a developed country?

When a rogue speeding in an SUV, on the wrong side, collides head on with a 23-year-old youngster on his bike, driving in the right lane, wearing proper helmet and other security gear?

Biker is flung at a distance and dies by the time his friends take him to the hospital. This happened on the prestigious Golf Course Road, Gurgaon, at 5.25 am, Sunday 15 September. The culprit makes a call for legal help, admits that he was speeding on the wrong side to save time, does not have a driving licence and yet gets bail very quickly! The case will now be in the courts for years, maybe decades, while parents and family of the victim – possibly the sole bread earner – grieve in helpless anguish and may even have to resort to living on charity; a sister or a brother may have to discontinue studies … all because an irresponsible, reckless brat – a serial offender it seems as he paid a fine last month also and is reportedly in touch with a tout to get a backdated licence. 

This is no accident; it is a murder/homicide and the perpetrator deserves exemplary penalty – life sentence or long imprisonment! Any civilised society will not let him get away but, I’m worried that we will. Cases of wrong-side driving are rampant in the NCR. In 2023 alone, in Delhi 60,000 were prosecuted/challaned and in the first eight months of the current year 77,000 more have already joined this dishonour list.

Notwithstanding all this, wrong-side-driving continues and no one seems to take a serious note of the crime. At the very least, these morons should be put on along term ‘no drive’ list. With all our digitisation and Aadhar linkages, this kind of action should not be difficult.

The person’s passport should also be impounded to make sure he does not rush to another country to get a new driving licence. I believe the current fine for wrong side driving is just Rs 5,000 (it was Rs 500 till recently) which is no deterrent. We should start with ‘permanent impounding’ of the vehicle and the driver’s licence in all such cases. Impounded vehicles can be auctioned by the police every month.

When The NCR Annual Air Pollution Fiasco Continues For The Last 10 Yrs Or More?

The ritual of GRAP – banning all sorts of vehicles into the capital city –continues. So does the wrangling and blame game between Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, but we just can’t stop the stubble burning. Air purifiers in every home have become a necessity. We continue to count good, satisfactory, moderate, bad, severe and critical days and rejoice if the satisfactory ones are more than two or three in any month. Meanwhile our children and the elderly and sick continue to suffer. Various studies have shown that residents of the NCR lose five years of their life due to air pollution!

Our Primary Education, Especially In Rural Areas Is Pathetic.

The 2023 ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) came up with damning findings like “14 to 18 year-olds not being able to read class 2 texts fluently” and “We don’t see much improvement in the last 10 years”. Cases of rapes, including that of doctors in their own hospitals, have become routine. There’s a definite connection between poor education and such dastardly crimes.

Every Second Adult Leads A Sedentary Lifestyle Which Affects Their Health Seriously.

Already being the ‘diabetes capital’ of the world, we now seem to be heading for yet another dubious distinction of being the ‘cancer capital of the world’.

Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad Get Submerged Under Water Whenever There's A Heavy Rainfall?

At times people lose their lives by drowning in flooded underpasses; there are huge craters on the roads recently repaired, stray cattle everywhere along with the usual muck and puddles that breed mosquitos and we have to fight dengue and malaria every year. Gurgaon has spent an estimated Rs 1000 crores on flood check plans (following the horrible 2016 ‘Guru jam’) and yet goes under water. Three young IAS aspirants drown in the basement of a coaching centre in New Delhi and the only guy we blame is a poor taxi driver trying to negotiate the flooded road outside saying “His reckless driving caused ripples that led to flooding of the basement”.

Residential Buildings Continue To Collapse With Regularity Because

(a) these, including basements, are openly used illegally for factories

(b) No one bothers about any kind of permissions/licensing, fire safety, lifts maintenance etc. and unfortunate people continue to die.

Rs 100 crores are spent– after an 11-year-long High Court battle between ‘Manushi Sangathan’ and the Delhi government for pedestrianisation of the old heritage Chandni Chowk into a magical looking walking street and within three years there are overflowing litter bins, garbage outside shops, broken tiles, drain covers and bollards, electricity cables hanging over the roads and homeless people sleeping on the central verge. And all through this PWD and MCD keep fighting over ‘who is responsible for the upkeep’. Fifteen years down the line, municipal authorities of the ‘Millennium City’ Gurgaon continue to fight over dues while ugly and smelly mountains at Bandhwari continue to rise ever higher and leachate continues to pollute the subsoil water that the residents drink.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) – An Act Promulgated In 1942 To Deal With The ‘Quit India Movement’ Continues To Be Allegedly Misused In Places Like J&K, Nagaland And Others? Why Can’t We Tweak And Rationalise It?

In all fairness, many of the points mentioned above are not due to neglect of the government and civic authorities. Residents are equally if not more responsible for the sorry state of affairs. We just don’t have the civic sense and ‘concern for others’ without which things cannot improve. We indulge in wrong-side-driving with impunity knowing very well about deaths due to this. We do not segregate our home garbage before handing it over to the collection teams. We pay scant attention to the fact that any plastic bags thrown on the roadside mostly end up choking the drains. We are callous about wasting water and electricity and often burning bonfires with cow dung cakes and wood with no care about the air pollution it causes … and many such acts that we do every day.

I want to end this story with another issue that too needs serious attention of the government. Today – with wheat and rice rotting in our full silos – we are smug about our food security. Grudgingly, we also keep paying ransom prices for pulses and edible oils. Let’s not forget that with the way climate is changing,major droughts can strike anytime and our billion and a half people may not have enough to eat. We are aware that warming also reduces crop yields and the nutrient content of the crops. We must intensify our efforts at a major crop diversification mission which includes hardy drought resistant, low-water-consuming crops like millets and also include oilseeds in our new food basket. The government has indeed initiated several measures, but we need more very urgently.