The Hindu Business Line : ‘We must not only act, but also dream’

Economists are predicting that India will be a superpower in the next 15 years, with a growth rate of 10 per cent. This is not impossible. Despite the din and noise of our chaotic democracy, our economy is on a roll.

T. C. A. Ramanujam

As we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of our Independence, the thought uppermost in the minds of people is likely to be: Are we better off as free citizens? Have we achieved something to boast of? Or have we failed to realise the dreams set forth for us by the founding fathers of the Republic?

A look at the Table leaves one in no doubt that independent India has made economic progress. We no longer hear of massive famines in large tracts of the country. The mobile phone has revolutionised our economy; very shortly we will surpass the US in the number of mobile phones in the country.

For the first time, India can also boast of billionaires who walk on equal terms with their counterparts in the US, sitting on wealth worth trillions of dollars. Pranab Mukherjee recalls September 1974 when our inflation rate was 24 per cent and Government attempted to freeze dividends and dearness allowances. Today, we have stable inflation rates at about 5 per cent and the rupee challenges the almighty dollar in value.

Other Side of Coin

We would, however, be deceiving ourselves if we believed everything was hunky-dory in the path of economic development the country has chosen. True, we have world-class billionaires for the first time in history. But the gap between the rich and the poor is wide and economists believe that the gap is widening.

American writer Robert Frank in his latest book Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich. delves into the world of the super-rich. Houses in Mumbai are sold from amounts ranging from Rs 5- 10 crore. Indian industrialists, like their American counterparts, are forming their own virtual world, where entry is possible only for billionaires. Their lifestyle is different from that of the ordinary Indian.

Contrast this with the state of affairs in rural India. Farmers lead a wretched life and are often driven to suicide. The rural-urban divide is glaring. There are still towns and villages where human heads carry the night soil, and we boast of free India. Our former President, Mr Abdul Kalam, rightly enunciated the concept of PURA, to Provide Urban amenities in Rural Areas. We have a long way to go in this direction.

Growth and Prosperity

The internationally reputed thinker, 85-year-old William Beaumol, has focused attention on the underlying structures that shape the relative effectiveness of different sorts of capitalism. In his latest work Good Capitalism, Bad Capitali sm, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity (Yale University Press), he identifies four main varieties of capitalism.

First, State-Guided capitalism, in which government tries to guide the market by supporting certain industries that it expects will become “winners”.

Second, oligarchic capitalism, in which the bulk of the power and wealth is held by a small group of individuals and families.

Third, big firm capitalism, in which the main economic activities are carried out by established giant enterprises.

Fourth, entrepreneurial capitalism, in which a major role is played by small, innovative firms (see The Economist, July 7, 2007).

In the 1950s and 1960s, critics of the Nehruvian model of development were trying to show that India was following what can be described as State-guided capitalism. Today, with socialism on the retreat, we have moved into an era of oligarchic capitalism and big-firm capitalism. Small innovative firms are struggling to survive. Do we have a remedy in this era of globalisation?

Authors like David Landes (Wealth and Poverty of Nations) and Jared Diamond (Guns, Jerome’s and Steel) suggest that growth rates of economies are largely predestined by culture or geography. This may or may not be true. The debate on growth requires that we should chalk out our own developmental path in the decades ahead.
Three G-s and Three K-s

Look at the contemporary world around us. Pakistan was born when India became free. It is a society where women are not allowed to play their true role in society. Sri Lanka and Nepal are fighting their own internal wars.

Bangladesh has descended into military despotism, like Myanmar. In this vast desert of autocratic failed states, secular India remains the solitary bastion of people’s democracy in this part of the world. We have to thank our founding fathers. Gandhi and Nehru firmly planted the idea of secular democracy among the masses of India. That has sustained us these 60 years.

A reputed journalist has described the past 60 years as the era of the three Gs — Gandhi, Ganga and Gavaskar. But this may be an old-fashioned description. Gandhi is forgotten. Ganga is polluted. And Gavaskar overtaken. It would be more appropriate to call this the era of the three Ks — Kasturba, who typified the axiom “behind every successful man there is a woman”.

She is the inspiration for the ideas of empowerment of women in India. Kapil Dev, who won for us an enduring World Cup title in 1983 that gave us a proud place among the cricketing nations. And who can forget Kalam, our people’s President who wanted us to dream big.

There was a time when India was considered the Hellas of Asia. Economists the world over are predicting that India will be a superpower in the next 15 years, with a growth rate of 10 per cent. This is not impossible. Despite the din and noise of our chaotic democracy, our economy is on a roll. It was Anatole France who said:

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
(The author is a former Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax.)

More Stories on : Economy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
India-Asean FTA glitches

‘We must not only act, but also dream’

Representative of US ethos?

In the right?

The changing flavour of tea

Shylocks of Urban India

Averting the sub-prime crisis

Titanium dioxide project