In world’s view India is the emerging power. In the background of high GDP growth rate of about 8 % to 9 % over the last decade and still projected to be so in coming years for a considerable time, this appears to be an impressive picture. But, the sad part is that the development outreach has not been able to address the economic and social disparities to a great extent. Inequality, regional imbalances, rural-urban divide and other similar issues have been key features of this story.
Mr. Vijay Mahajan, the noted social entrepreneur, while delivering his keynote address titled “Bringing India to the Next Level” at the ‘NASSCOM Diversity & Inclusion Happening 2011′ at Hyderabad observes that the development model in place today in the country is not inclusive and must be re-oriented to ensure true welfare of the citizenry at large.
The idea of development is to bring about better well being for the people. With various economic reform measures in place, there has been exponential growth in people’s aspirations. But, the outcome is growth with high level of inequality which doesn’t seem sustainable for longer duration. Ministry of Home Affairs (Govt. of India) website states that one fourth of districts in India are facing severe law and order problems. Further, most of these districts are not along the border lines but are very much situated in the heartland of the nation. Recent move of the government to deal with the Maoist affected areas with military forces doesn’t appear to be a feasible solution. To add further, the noted economist Late Arjun Sengupta reported in his ‘Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector (2007)’ that 77 % of the population is vulnerable to poverty. Early childhood poverty situation is also a matter of great concern. 45 % of the children don’t get full meal. A vast majority of 8th class failed children migrate to towns and cities for their livelihood every year. There is not enough budgetary outlay per head on vocational training and higher education. The largely inefficient public delivery system and fiscal unsustainability are other key issues. Recently, Andhra Pradesh had to take a loan from RBI to pay the salary to its employees. Biodiversity and environmental concerns are being compromised which is not a desired outcome.
Certainly, this situation needs to be changed. India is the nation of diversity in various aspects. There must be practical approach to channelize all sections of the society to support the nation’s progress. It requires a combined effort to attain inclusive growth. Citizens should pressurize govt. to channelize the expenditure and focus on sustainable development. Again this means a lot to achieve. The segment of highly educated people, who can really make a difference, are those whose political participation is very less. For example, although, through various constitutional amendments, citizens have been empowered to participate in local level governance at the city and town level, not a good number of people turn up to utilise such avenues.
21st century mostly dealt with models of profit maximization and cost minimization but, current problems are multivariate and are complex in nature. It’s crucial to adopt institutional reforms to check these issues. Opening up of government for various inputs from entrepreneurial successes has been a welcome step and needs to be explored further.
There is an immediate need of using bottom to top approach in the development model which can accommodate micro-level planning and can satisfy diversified potential of the country. There have been many efforts for executing resource transfer through macro level planning but they are far from expected outcome. Each region of the country faces situational factors unique to it and needs a specialized solution. Planning at the local level can significantly help in re-adjusting the resources for optimal use to achieve higher pace of development.
In the background of the recent demographic dividend debate in Indian context, this people centric approach of economic growth and development is need of the hour to ensure that the prevailing situations can be transformed into the golden phase.
References:
- Altbach, P. G. (2010, Decemner 1). Can India Garner the Demographic Dividend? Retrieved July 18, 2011, from The Hindu Website: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article924112.ece
- Mahajan, V. (2011, July 15). Bringing India to the Next Level. Keynote Address at NASSCOM Diversity and Inclusion Happenings . Hyderabad.
- Ministry of Home Affairs Website (http://www.mha.nic.in/)
- National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, GoI. (2007). Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector. New Delhi: National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, GoI.
