INDIA, that is BHARAT, and WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, are facing a multitude of problems. Many of these problems have their genesis in the (i) Gradual degeneration of social customs & traditions, cultural practices, and religious rituals; (ii) exploitation and oppression by the colonial rulers, and (iii) inadequate & flawed policies adopted by the successive governments post-independence in 1947. Some more recent problems have arisen from (a) the attempts to accelerate growth through, for example, unsustainable means, and (b) extreme political opportunism.
These problems could be classified into three broad categories – (1) Political Problems, (2) Economic Problems, and (3) Social problems.
Political problem
The political problem in India is to develop a political ecosystem that fully assimilates the aspirations of the people, addresses specific local problems, promotes mutual trust & harmony, bars incompetence and knavery from public office, and ensures that the best is selected and prepared to rule for the common good.
In the past 75 years, we have mostly failed to adequately address the political problem. This failure reflects in widespread regional, social, and economic disparities; frequent demand for the reorganization of states and
Economic Problem
Despite showing resilience to many external shocks; many rounds of liberalization, stable democratic administration, and a consistent and positively evolving policy framework, the Indian economy has not been able to enter the orbit of sustainable high growth.
Though many things have changed dramatically in the past two decades, still we are far from rising above the colonial setup - in which we supply cheap resources (now notably skilled workers and manufacturing capacities) to the global markets and provide a large captive market for their final produce. We welcome polluting industries of developed nations and are not too hesitant in lowering our compliance standards for a few dollars more.
The issues concerning the common man, like price stability and unemployment, are a constant problem for the past many decades. The issues concerning businessmen and markets like excessive compliance burden, lack of adequate skilled workforce, inadequate investment in science and technology, and slow pace of economic reforms especially in relation to disinvestment and foreign trade also need rather urgent attention. The issues concerning farmers, like poor productivity, land reforms, adequate food processing infrastructure etc., are also begging for a sustainable solution for long.
The young demography, which is inarguably the core strength of the Indian economy, if not managed properly may as well prove to be the nemesis of the fabled India story.
Social problem
A lot of economic and political problems in India could be directly connected to social issues. The disproportionate rise in aspirational consumption; distortion of social customs (especially marriage, death, birth) for the sake of vanity, ignorance, and misguidance; rise in crime and litigation expenses; rise in cases of chronic diseases and hence prohibitive healthcare expenses form an overwhelming part of "farmers' debt". This debt usually has nothing to do with farming activity. This is in fact true for a large majority of urban poor and lower middle-class people also. To cure this problem on a sustainable basis, it is important that economic reforms are implemented with social reforms.
The social initiatives like focus on cleanliness, cooking gas connection to BPL families, medical insurance, etc. are commendable. But what we need is a social renaissance. Small corrections and incremental improvement might not be enough given the serious nature of the problem.
To be specific, in my view, the following problems need to be addressed immediately.
1. Equitable/Equal opportunity – particularly in areas like Education, profession (including political career), and credit access.
2. Judicial reforms to ensure speedy and fair justice at a reasonable cost.
3. Agriculture reforms to increase productivity and improve the food value chain.
4. Compliance reforms including taxation and enterprise management; and promoting mutual trust between regulators and the public.
5. Public finance to put an end to fiscal profligacy.
6. Current account improvement.
7. Federal restructuring, including redrawing state boundaries, redefining state-center relationships, promoting interstate relationships, resolving river disputes, etc.
8. Sustainability
9. Social renaissance
10. Improving the labor intensity of GDP and developing the youth.
In the next couple of weeks, I shall share my thoughts regarding the solutions for these problems.
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