The Hindu Business Line : <I>`Rising India' under attack </I>

In recent days, there have been reports stating that the "Rising India" concept (slogan) sold by votaries of the Manmohan Singh Government means nothing to the vast bulk of the rural populace and that, dangerously, it may have backfired, if the results of recent State Assembly elections are any indication. In fact, in the course of discussions in the Lok Sabha on the Finance Bill, an RJD member is quoted as saying: "People in the villages do not understand (what is meant by) 9 per cent growth rate. They only talk about the spiralling prices of essential commodities."

This MP is not alone in publicising such a point of view. Reports say that some UPA MPs have reminded the Government that the "rising India" story is restricted to "enclaves" and that there was general "uneasiness" among the peasantry, workers and the middle-class about what was happening on the ground regarding the distribution and subsequent enjoyment of the actual fruits of "economic growth".

A former Union Petroleum Minister hailing from the Congress Party, who now adorns a Ministerial chair of apparently less consequence and who has, refreshingly, gone public with his credentials for being an effective External Affairs Minister, is currently the darling of this crowd.

Among other things, he has been quoted on this specific subject as follows: "Industry has been enormously benefited by the process of economic reform that we have seen in this country over the last 15 years or so. But the benefits of these reforms have gone so disproportionately to those who are the most passionate advocates of reform that every five years we are given a slap in the face for having done what the Confederation of Indian Industry regards as self-evidently the right thing for this country".

Old Debate

The first thing that needs to be said about this bit of "conventional" wisdom is that, by definition, the debate is not new. Very briefly, the aam aadmi needs help to be pulled up to a certain level of economic well-being. The question is: who provides that assistance?

Should a poor society grasp the ugly and evil hand extended greedily and gleefully (albeit indirectly) by fawning Big Capital, or should it clasp the weak and emaciated hand of public authority which is guided by high principle but which is strongly impeded in its operation by Hydra-headed corruption and a pathetic inadequacy of the wherewithal of such assistance?

Second, the world being as imperfect as it is, do we persist with the direct approach to "pull up" the aam aadmi — which has been in operation till 1991 and which has produced precious little by way of meaningful results (even regarding the most basic parameters of daily life), or do we take recourse to the much-maligned "trickle-down" approach to economic development which (as recently indicated by NSSO figures) has produced far more impressive results in the same sphere?

So what if industrialists who are investing the funds make money at a faster rate than the rate of dissemination of increased income to the rural people affected, directly or indirectly, by specific projects? Clearly, what should matter is improving the living standards of the poor, and if that happens (keeping the law of the land intact) everything else should take second place.

Incidentally, Nandigram is an aberration and ought not to be cited in this discussion because what is happening there today is totally independent of any economic projects planned involving land acquisition. It has today become a purely law and order problem with rival political parties trying to get the better of the other, in the process even resulting in the loss of precious lives.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

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