As I highlighted yesterday, "Self Reliance" may be
mostly a political slogan at this point in time; as not many people in the
government, legislature and administration appear to be adequately clear about
the concept itself. It would be a great idea if the government comes out with a
white paper on the issue.
In my view it is important to assimilate the following
considerations, if we truly want to evolve into a 'Self Reliant" economy.
First of all, we need to accept that "self reliance"
is primarily a philosophical concept. Its economic implications are mostly
incidental. The flow of "self reliance" therefore begins from the
core of society, i.e., the individual, and moves outward toward the community
and the State. For a State to be self reliant, all its constituents, i.e.,
individuals, communities, traditions, customs, culture, etc need to commit
unconditionally to the objective of self reliance. Any incongruence amongst
various constituents will defeat the purpose. A few individuals or communities
aspiring to be globally competitive, wealthy, and famous, and therefore placing
their lives relative to the others, may not allow the State to become self
reliant.
Secondly, it is to be understood that the traditional Indian
tenet of "contentment" is quintessential to the concept of self
reliance. The individuals and communities must work to limit their needs,
desires and aspirations to the spiritual goal of realizing the greatest truth, and
designate the material pursuits only as a mean of subsistence.
As Gandhi ji stated, the western life style of chasing material
and financial wealth cannot lead to self sufficiency, swaraj or self reliance.
In fact the whole idea of economic development, as we are pursuing today
focuses on centralization of power - political and economic.
Third, the pseudo socialist and quasi feudal nature of our
democracy often leads to wasteful expenditure, policies and plans focused on
winning elections rather than achieving sustainable economic growth and
development, serious misallocation of capital and sub-optimal use of resources.
We have seen politicians creating undue demand for color televisions, smart
phones, laptop computers etc. by manipulating the process of democracy. In
rural and semi-urban areas, motor cycle has replaced bicycle as a mandatory
dowry item. These days, it is almost impossible to marry your daughter if you
cannot afford a motorcycle in dowry. Smart phones also find place in most
‘demand lists’. It is clear that our society is defying the classic McGregor's
evolutionary pyramid and moving directly from sustenance to aspirational
consumption. The demand thus created is neither desirable nor sustainable.
Fourth, self reliance shall essentially result in material
disengagement from the global economy. In the modern day context when geopolitical
and cultural relations have essentially become a subset of economic relations,
this disengagement may not be limited to trade and commerce issues.
Having these considerations will essentially bring us to the
Bhutanese model of development, where the focus is on the individuals'
happiness and spiritual elevation rather than the length of the roads &
railways, strength of the armies, and other meaningless economic statistics.
The governance then will have to be modeled on the traditional
concept of Ram Rajya - where the socio-economic equality & justice is prime
consideration for the King, who is always subservient to the subjects.
Obviously, not many people
think in these terms when swearing by self reliance. So, what are the
implications for self reliance as being understood popularly?....to be continued
tomorrow
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