India 2020: Can we achieve Kalam's dream?

Another December passed and we entered into yet another new year. This year bought with it a new and much anticipated decade. The decade, most of us were looking forward to. For it is at the end of this very decade that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had dreamt of India as a developed country. The question is whether we Indians have the potential to realize his dream?

The first thing that one considers is the economic growth of a country. With economy currently growing at 7% pa and projected rates of close to 9-10%, India along with China is expected to be the source of 34% of world’s wealth by 2020. Though it is far from the 50% of the world’s wealth that India and China had till 1775, but it still gives us hope. Today, India is second in IT, next only to USA. This is an important development factor considering that growth is driven by technology in today’s world. Indians working in MNCs enjoy a heavy pay with ever increasing packages. Indian stock markets are paying high dividends to investors. Indian consumer has now the potential to buy expensive and sometimes elusive items. This has forced global players to invest in India and thus helping the economy grow.

Indian infrastructure is also growing at a rapid pace with ambitious Governmental projects like Ganga Expressway, connecting Delhi to Baliya in East UP through a 4 lane highway, being implemented. With the historic RTE (Right to Education) Bill passed, we can expect an increase in no. of children going school. India has a good level of control over its banking system which is the key to any economy. With 20 nationalized bank, the government guarantees that our banking system would not fail. This is important in long term as a bankrupt bank can cause a national economic crisis, like in Ireland. This ensures that Indians can keep their hard earned money in safe hands. This also means that Indians can afford to buy homes and send their children for higher studies with the loan that these banks offer.

With vulnerable borders that we share with Pakistan and China, strong defense would also play a major role in development of country. India has 3^rd largest army, 5^th largest air force and 7^th largest navy. We have some of the world’s best defense systems and equipments. We are capable of striking missiles as far as 7000 kms with a nuclear war-head. We have world class fighter planes as Sukhoi MKI. Our navy has nuclear sub marines and our army can survive in the world’s highest war post in Siachen. So we can say that we have world class defense in place.

Thus we can conclude that India is growing fast. But does that mean that we can become developed by decade end? Let me share a story to answer this. It’s a true story of 13 year old boy named Anil. Anil lives in Ferozabad, UP. He lost his father few years ago and is survived by his mother and 5 younger siblings. Because of his father’s illness, they had to sell their house. Now Anil makes bangles for a living. He is the lone earner for his family of 7. He says that his hands burn sometimes, but he has no other option then to go on. He dreams of living in England where he is free from work and can go to school and play cricket. He also used to go to school, but had to drop out.

Welcome to the other half of the country, still known as Bharat!

The question of being a developed India cannot be answered without addressing the concerns of Bharat. In Bharat, nearly 80 million children are out of school, 700 million people live at less than 2$/day, nearly 380 million people are living below poverty line, 100 million youth are unemployed, 640 million don’t have permanent toilets, 170 million don’t have access to safe drinking water and 290 million don’t have access to basic health care, not even to medical stores. More than 600 million still have agriculture as their primary occupation and most of them don’t own land. New Year is just another day for them. Just like Anil, their day starts early in the morning and ends at 10:00-11:00 pm after toiling their bodies for whole day. And still they sleep hungry! (An estimated 250 million people in India sleep hungry).

There is a huge divide between the rich and poor in our country. There are Indians featuring in the Forbes and Times on one hand, and marginalized farmers living on a HDI (Human Development Index) less than the African countries on the other. Rich kids are becoming obese on one hand and poor children are forced to work as laborers on the other. Only 3% of Indian population invests in share markets and more than 35% live below poverty line!

Being a developed nation would remain a dream if we cannot bridge this gap. Development cannot happen without the inclusive growth of each individual in country. Sometimes I wonder that if all the governmental policies are properly implemented, we would be out of the shackles of poverty in maximum a decade. We have RTE and Mid-Day meal schemes, which can take care of both education and mal nutrition. Then, there is NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), which can take care of unemployment. We have Rajiv Gandhi Avas Yojna that can take care of homeless. And in a matter of years, all this combined with the efforts of common people can eradicate poverty completely. Our nation could once again become a “golden sparrow”!

But, due to the unwillingness of both government and common people, all these policies do not reach the poor. The benefits of a developing India do not trickle down to Bharat. Thus, we remain poor and developing. I sometimes contrast India to Japan, a country devastated by war. But, in the same duration of 60 years Japan not only developed but also became a leader of the world in technology. Why can’t we achieve the same? The answer lies perhaps in the mindset of Indian people. While Japanese worked collectively with a sense of nationalism, Indians became invidualists with nationalism diminishing. Most of the Indians simply do not care about the society and country as a whole, and hence don’t act. Others think that nothing can be changed and lack motivation to act.

It thus becomes a duty for people like us, the empowered (privileged) youth of India to take initiative to make Kalam’s dream true. All it requires is a little time and effort. As someone has rightly said that we can change the world by doing a small act of random kindness (ARK) everyday. So Indians, celebrate New Year with full zeal, but at least spare a thought for Bharat as well. Jai Hind!