Traversing through the incredibly wonderful landscapes and
meeting over 10000 people across 15 states we tried to discover India in past
few months. We sought to explore the country to understand the current social,
political and economic milieu.
What we found was quite reveling though not completely
surprising. The primary learning was that after 65years of becoming a political
union, India is perhaps still merely the one. We have made little progress in
becoming social and economic union. Consequently, a national approach to
anything was conspicuous by its complete absence in general public discourse.
This state of affair is clearly reflected in diverse socio-economic conditions
of different states and in many cases of various regions within a state.
In our view, therefore, any program, policy, or strategy that is
formulated purely from a national viewpoint has little chance of successful
implementation in India. To be successful, the programs, policies and
strategies have to be formulated and implemented at the smallest administrative
unit level, e.g., village panchayat or town municipality.
We also discovered that why Mahatama Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
was the best politician, administrator and entrepreneur in India. His model of
Su-raj, self-reliance, village economy, fully decentralized political system,
and austerity etc. are not only relevant today but desperately needed to
sustain India as a socio-economic unit.
In our view, the whole debate over the potential economic growth
of India is misdirected. 5% or 8% or 10% are just meaningless numbers. What we
experienced is that the current rate of growth is largely given. With current
level of poverty, hunger, destitute, exclusion and youth – if everyone has to
earn one meal a day this level of growth would happen notwithstanding
non-governance and fractured polity.
More important, this level of growth is sustainable and
desirable provided we could make it inclusive. The higher rate of growth, in
the current circumstances, is totally unsustainable and therefore undesirable.
We found abundance of evidence how the five years of higher
growth has led the economy and society to burst at all seams. Our roads,
factories, hospitals, schools, society, families, towns, villages, drains,
mountains, rivers, forests, mines, politicians, managers, labor, legal and
regulatory framework – nothing is ready for higher growth.
Uttrakhand tragedy is just a small example. Other evidence could
be found in numerous ruins of abandoned projects, unmanageable financial and
mental stress, CAD, labor unrest, garbage dumps in the city centers, young cardiac
and diabetic patients, unemployable graduates & post graduates, corruption,
poor corporate balance sheets, inflation, power and water shortages etc.
A successful investment strategy has therefore to be based on
sustainable 4-5% growth assumption. As we said in an earlier note - Shampoo,
detergent, noodles, motor cycles are fine.
Read our discover India series
Thought for the day
“Wandering one gathers honey.”
Word of the day
obsequious (Adj):
Servilely attentive; compliant to excess; fawning.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Shri Nārada Uvāca
One could understand the Congress rush to get Food Security Ordinance passed. But what about the President?
Was it not appropriate that he asked the government “why it cannot wait for another 2weeks?” Especially, when the government is in minority.
Moreover, the former FM in the President might have wanted to know from where the money is going to come, especially when the government is in default in complying with FRBM Act.
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