overview of important issues in india

8/10/2019 Overview of Important Issues in India

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Overview of Important Issues in India

Indiathe biggest democracy in the world is going through a lot of changes and turmoil, both from

within and due to forces outside. As a country, it is unparalleled in its diversity cultural,

religious, social, and economical as well as political. The way India has evolved since departure of

colonial British in 1947 is not at all inspiring. Despite the celebration of August 15 as Independence Day

and January 26 as Republic Day for past six decades, it does not appear that India has really shaken off

its colonial past. Contrary to the expectation that Indians would rule themselves with their own thinkingit turned out that Nehru and his colleagues largely followed the demeanor of the White British and failed

to look at larger issues faced by the newly free state.

Today, India is known for just three things: high population, high poverty, and high corruption. India has

the largest number of poor in the world and is set to become the most populous country by around 2028

beating China. Doing business honestly in India is as tough as winning an Olympic medal, may be even

harder!

In confusion people generally ask: Is India a Poor Nation or Emerging Superpower. The answer is

beyond my brain capacity! If I say something it would only confuse you more!! So, please help yourself.

THE LEGACY OF PARTITION

The biggest strength of India has been the respect for democracy which has remained intact since 1947,

except for the brief 2 year period in the mid 1970s when Indira Gandhi took away peoples freedom after

a court verdict went against her. Her dictatorial brain produced the slogan Indira is India, India is

Indira. Leaving aside this 25 month dark period of Indian democracy, Indians have always enjoyed

political freedom. This is in stark contrast with Pakistan which repeatedly fell for military dictatorships

since its creation in 1947. The partition of India was largely a result of personal ambitions of a few

Muslim leaders, fueled by the colonial powers. By all means it was a ill founded decision as far as

Indians were concerned and yet another manifestation of the usual divide-and-rule mindset of the

British. It only promoted religious divide between Hindus and Muslims leading to massive blood bath

and mass migration of both Hindus and Muslims. If Pakistan was created in the name of Islam, the faith

failed to keep the country intact beyond 1971 when a dispute over results of a general election

precipitated a civil war in the East Pakistan. Indian military intervention due to refugee pressure resulted

in defeat and surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troops and birth of a new nation, Bangladesh. It is perhaps

the most shameful military defeat after the WW-2!

In 2010, India had around 176 million Muslims in India similar to Pakistans population forming

about 14% of the Indian population. It is also the second largest Muslim population in the world after

Indonesia. Thanks to the amalgamating influence of 80% Hindus, they enjoy a rare degree of social and

political freedom; especially when compared with Islamic Pakistan which has preference for military

dictatorship, and now radical Islam showing up as various terrorist organizations such as the Taliban and

Al Qaida.

Today what remains as Pakistan was West Pakistan until 1971. It has now emerged as a terrorist

breeding center of the world, despite its decade long fight against terror alongside American forces! As

NATO forces are leaving Afghanistan, the out-of-job well-trained and well-armed terrorists are

reorganizing and focusing their attention towards Pakistan society and nuclear weapons; of course, their

next big enemy is, as usual, India. It helps to remind that the idea of promoting religious fundamentalism

originated when the US wanted to use them to oppose the soviet occupation of Afghanistan over two

decades ago. (They only turned bad after the 9/11 terror attack on the US soil!) How long the Pakistan

society will endure the sabotaging impact of their home-cultivated Jehadi groups is a question in the

minds of all concerned people of the region and the world.

The reason for this short historical perspective is that it helps to understand the current social and

political structure and problems created them.

THE UNFINISHED AGENDA OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION
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THE KASHMIR ISSUE

When the British left after 190 years of plunder of the country, the political scene was that of chaos

there were over 550 small and big Rajas and Nawabs having their own tiny empires inside India. It was

Sardar Patels iron hand that forced them to get absorbed in the democratic India. However, a few

tactical mistakes left Kashmir as a disputed issue between India and Pakistan. After shameful defeat anddivision of the country in 1971, Pakistani leadership sees Kashmir dispute as a political issue to create

problems through itsJehadfactories. The special status through article 370 appears a major road block

in todays changed political realities. This article has prevented private investment in the valley and

hampered its economic growth as well as integration into the mainstream society. This needs serious

debate and an amicable solution so that all Kashmiris including Kashmiri Pandits begin to enjoy normal

life as rest of the countrymen.

Prime Minister Modis handling of the devastating floods of September 2014 that submerged practically

the whole Valley, offers a superb opportunity to help all suffering people of the J&K. It is time that the

Center takes a proactive role to rebuild their lives and integrate them into national mainstream by

creating better infrastructure to improve their connectivity with rest of the country.

THE NORTH EASTERN STATES

Yet another major unfinished business of national integration relates to the diversities cultural,

linguistic, and traditional which are integral parts of Indian social fabric. In diversity India is more

colorful than any other country or even continent. But it is ironical that a typical north Indian knows very

little about the realities of south and vice-versa, and most Indian know precious little about the north

eastern states, their people, culture and tradition. It is a shame that even in the capital Delhi there are

ignorant people who consider their brothers and sisters from the North east as foreigners. This is

frightening. Economic activities have significantly bridged the north-south gap but the north-east must

be integrated with all the care and dignity. Perhaps the best way to do it is to hold regular cultural

festivals across India so that people of one state know about others.

The ways to go about assimilating them into national mainstream are improving connectivity of the

north eastern region by developing better infrastructure all the way up to Arunachal Pradesh and

organize cultural festivals of the north eastern states in rest of the country at regular intervals.

You may like to explore:Birth and Spirit of the Sixth Schedule

NAXAL VIOLENCETHE BIGGEST INTERNAL SECURITY THREAT

Indian government is solely responsible if the left wing extremists (Naxal movement) are now

recognized as the biggest internal security risk for the country (as described by Dr Manmohan Singh).

Foolishly the tribal regions, usually far and remote, were left ignored and these areas never felt the

presence of protective governance machinery since 1947. Why?

The British left these areas isolated by labeling them excluded from governance (for their own

convenience). The brown English rulers after 1947 never bothered to take care of their fellow

countrymen living is isolated conditions in remote hills and forests, leaving them to the mercy of forest

officials who acted as if they were still employed by the agents of the British East India Company. The

vacuum was filled by left-wing extremiststhey exploited the isolation and exploitation of the tribals by

state officials and money lenders to strengthen their cadre. Their aim is to destroy the Indian State and

replace it with a communist state following the Maoist ideology. Through all these decades the Indian

government kept pretending that it was mere law-and-order problem.

The Red Corridorand Maoist Violence

Over the years, they carved out a vast territory covering 92,000 sq km area, called Red Corridorby the

media. It has grown dramatically in last two decades along the East coast right from Nepal to Tamil
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Nadu. In the early 1990s the number of districts affected by varying degrees of Maoist violence stood at

just 15 in four states. This rose to 55 districts in nine states by the end of 2003 and to 156 districts in 13

states in 2004.

Maoists are currently believed to be operating in around 200 districts (of a total of 604 districts in the

country) in 17 states. The worst affected states are Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa. The

poverty and backwardness of people in these forest covered areas has provided a fertile ground for the

growth of Naxals/Maoists who have been gaining strength at every neglect of these people on the part ofthe governments.

Download the full report on Naxal/Maoist Violence:NAXAL_Report

Why the Tribal and Naxal Issue become Important NOW?

The reason Indian government was forced to pay attention to Naxal Violence is the corporate interest in

the natural resources, mineral mines, and water reservoirs located in these areas for developmental

activities under the economic reforms started in 1991. Over 75 percent natural resources, mineral mines,

water reservoirs are located in the remote areas populated by the poorest of poor Adivasis (tribals).

After neglecting these areas for decades and allowing them to become the den of Naxal violence, the

State and Central governments suddenly became interested in them in the post-reform era.

However, rather than appreciating the eco-friendly lifestyle of the tribals and rewarding them for

preserving the natural wealth, our rulers are throwing them out so that the rich and greedy corporations

can setup industries and grow the GDP of the country.

[No one wants to think about the scenario after say 20 years when all the resources have been consumed

by the corporates and their bottom-lines fattened? Yes, they will sell-off their businesses leaving behind

the trail of ecological mess in the areas which have been kept lush green and preserved by the illiterate

tribals since ages. Isnt it pathetic?]

Deploying security forces ostensibly in the name of fighting Naxals is the usual trick employed by thegovernments. The real reason is to secure the resources for the corporate houses and help evicting the

local tribals. But if the government is sincere about tribal welfare, it should strengthen implementation of

the PESA Act of 1996 [Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996]. The Act extends the

Panchayat Raj system to the Fifth Schedule areas and allows the tribal communities grass-root

democracy by activating the Gram Sabhas (village assemblies). The Act empowers the Gram Sabhas to

take authority over local natural resources also.

If the Act is honestly implemented, it will also render the Maoists baseless by allowing the rule of the

law that protects the tribals. Once the tribal people get connected to the Panchayat system, they will have

platforms to raise their issues and develop themselves. Unfortunately, so far the implementation of the

PESA Act has been pathetic because no one (state government, forest officials, or politicians) wants toallow the poor tribals to rule themselves through their Gram Sabhas. They are more comfortable

nurturing the interests of rich corporate houses.

PSEUDO-SECULARISTS AND VOTE BANK POLITICS

We strongly disagree with Dr Manmohan Singh with his statement that Left wing naxal violence is the

biggest internal security threat for India. Their ideology is known and can be dealt with politically and

militarily. But more deceptive is the highly influential intelligentsia of the academia and media and their

political clones who either degrade Hindu culture or keep mum when some misguided elements of the

minority communities foment hate against the majority Hindu community. All communal violence in

India can be traced to actions or reactions of their activities.

Pseudo-seculars in the country can be identified by their bias against Hindus and their culture to appease

some minority community. Having roots in the British tactics of divide, fragment and rule, this mindset

was unfortunately nurtured very well by the Brown English rulers of the Congress Party after 1947; and
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they get uncomfortable when Hindus want to glorify their worriers against the Mughal and British

occupiers.

As long as the two major vote banks Muslims and dalits and other smaller regional communities

remain isolated from the mainstream society, India will never progress to its full potential. Fortunately,

now Indian Muslims have realized how low level politicians have been exploiting their sentiments just

for political gains. Now they want to be part of the issue based politics and are joining the broader

national mainstream.

Yet, as long as Mulayam, Laloo, Nitish, and Dignvijay brand of politicians are around and thriving the

social fabric in India will remain weak. Paswan has done the right thing by joining hands with the BJP

a serious threat to the politics and well-being of pseudo-secularists; Mayawati has also realized the

limitations of narrow caste-oriented political base by now and is talking of Brahmin-Dalit unity. This is

half way progress; an aspirant of PM post like her should go all the way and stop playing caste politics

and openly embrace all Indians into her fold.

Pseudo-secularist Nitish Kumar turned out to be among the most unreliable, unprincipled and

opportunist politician in India, as exposed by the 2014 Loksabha polls. Lets hope hypocrisy of others of

his ilk would be also exposed in near future and are sent to oblivion for good.

Can anyone tell me why the Sikhs dont demand reservation despite being much smaller minority than

the Muslims? Probably because they believe in being masters of their own fate and have confidence in

their abilities. Whenever I am around Sikhs I am highly inspired by their enterprise and culture.

POVERTY IN INDIA

Poverty is a human development issue

India, the largest democracy of 1.25 billion people, is also the biggest center of poverty in the world it

is both widespread and intense. Today India has officially 269 million(or 22 percent) people under the

poverty line, as against 407 million in 2004-05. This is latest claim of Indias Planning Commission inJuly 2013. In 2011, it fixed the poverty line at Rs 32 per day in urban areas and Rs 26 in the rural areas.

It was reduced to rupees 26.80 and rupees 22.40 in March 2012. As a result, only 21.9% people are

officially poor. A brilliant game of counting the poor! And a sick comedy as well. When the poverty

estimate was severely criticized, the government appointed yet another committee, the Rangarajan

committee, to look into the poverty-line philosophy. It sure is a sick joke people of India are quite used

to.

The comprehensiveMultidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of UK based Oxford Poverty and Human

Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gives a better

insight into the extent and nature of poverty. The MPI puts Indian poverty at about 53% (650 million

poor).

While no one believes the official poverty data of the Indian government, it is fair to say that about 400

600 million people are poor in India. While there can never be agreement on poverty numbers, compare

these numbers with the European Union and US populations of 500 millionand 310 million,

respectively. These are huge numbers, by any standard.

India holds the distinction of having the most number of poor of the world a super poor nation!

Consequently, South Asia has become the worlds biggest center of extreme poverty. On the World

Banks extreme poverty line of 1.25 dollars a day, there are roughly 500 million extreme poorin South

Asiamost of it in India. The only other comparable pocket of poverty is the sub Saharan Africa, with

400 million people in extreme poverty.

HOW TO COUNT THE POOR

Poverty is much more than lack of income.
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Counting poor on some arbitrary income line is an artificial number game. Poverty must be looked,

beyond income. Research of past few decades has firmly established that poverty cannot be properly

understood in economic terms alonedivorced of social, cultural and political perspectives. People are

social beings; processes and activities of the society affect their state of well-being. Studies of the

problems of poor people and their communities have led to an understanding of poverty as a situation of

several simultaneous deprivations, feeding one another. The new perspective sees poverty as a human

condition that reflects failures in many aspects of human life related to nourishment, employment,

shelter, health, education, social and political participation, etc.

Therefore, the right way to view poverty is to see all its manifestations and its multidimensional nature.

This makes the MPI very attractive and useful tool for policy planners. Several nations like Brazil and

Mexico have adopted variations of the MPI technique for estimating poverty. The most interesting case

is that of Bhutan which measures its progress by what it calledgross national happiness index which is

calculated by the same Alkire-Foster methodology that goes behind the MPI. Bhutans case will be

commented upon later when we talk about sustainable development.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH GDP?

Money cant measure human well-being

The West and Western thinkers have traditionally seen economic growth as development. Thats the

reason why everyone talks about GDP growth. But the truth is: the GDP is just an economic number

total market value of all goods and services produced during a specified time interval. It cant distinguish

economic activities which are beneficial to people, society and the environment. Highly expensive

celebrity parties and expenditure on charitable work among the poor communities are treated the same

way.

Further, consider these oddities of GDP: Polluting activities increase the GDP because of the expenses

involved in the clean up. Crimes boost the GDP due to expenses on police, security, jails, are legalprocedures. Wars and conflicts increase expenditure on weapons. None of these are healthy expenditure.

Moreover, as people tend to become self-reliant, the GDP goes down. If a community decides to grow

fruits and vegetables together and share or if community members decide to help each other at times of

financial crisis, the GDP decreases.

Ironically, all wasteful or unnecessary or avoidable expenditures boost the GDP. It thus promotes

consumption and consumerism. It doesnt even consider people or focus on them. Yet, when people see

it as the primary indicator of development andpeoples well-being, reality gets blurred and the dialog go

in the wrong directions. Today, countries are obsessed with expansion of GDP year-after-year till

eternity! It sound like insanity to me.

So, what is development?

Development should focus on people, not economy.

Poverty is Multidimensional, So should be Development

Since 1990, the annual Human Development Reports (HDR) of the UNDP have been promoting the idea

of human development (HD) which is a people focused comprehensive development model.

Commonsense also demands that people and their well-being should be the focus of development, not

economy.

The HD perspective put people at the center of development. The idea of human development revolvesaround the basic theme: People are the real wealth of a nation.Thus, the prime objective of

development is to create an enabling environment for people to live long, healthy and creative life. This
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was stated in the first HDR published in 1990. This is a remarkable paradigm shift in thinking about the

poor; it sees poverty as lack of development.

Incidentally, the foundation of the HD perspective came from Amartya Sens capability theory of

development. Sen argues that the purpose of development is to enrich human lives, not richness of

economy which is only a part of it.

WHY INDIA SHOULD LEARN FROM BHUTAN?

GDP must be replaced.

Bhutan is the only country in the world that does not use GDP as a measure of progress; instead it uses

what it calls the gross national happiness (GNH). Way back in the 1970s its king declared that Gross

National Happiness (GNH) is more important than Gross National Product (GDP). The GNH is

holistic and gives importance to other dimensions of human life such as cultural, spiritual and social as

well as health of the environment. Therefore, the state policies are not made only from the monetary or

economic angle.

While rest of the world is still shying away from taking responsibility of the environment, despite

increasing threats of climatic and ecological disasters, this tiny country of only 750,000 people isdrawing global attention. While experts keep talking of environmental conservation and sustainable

development and people agree with them, but this tiny kingdom is already doing it; it is doing so

mandated by its Constitution!

Indian citizens need to question the wisdom of the trickle down economic model initiated by

Manmohan Singh in the name of globalization, liberalization and economic reforms in 1991. It is ideal if

the country has to be governed by the rich elites and powerful corporations. India needs a development

system that attack poverty and is people and labor-oriented. The HD model is the right medicine for a

poor country with large population base; Bhutan, whose major source of income is export of hydropower

to India, also gives us the ideal recipe. Will the Indian government show courage and stop following the

West?

FAULTY ECONOMIC REFORMS

MODERNIZATION OR MERELY CORPORATIZATION?

New face of Modern India

Since 1991, the Indian government is occupied with economic liberalization, privatization and

globalization, but in the process it has only deepened the divide between the rich (hence powerful) and

the poor. By design, the process is geared towards industrialization and corporatization of India in line

with how the Western nations developed, disregarding the ground realities of the country. Consequently,

there has been 6-8 percent growth in GDP for over a decade and yet no meaningful impact on poverty.

For all practical purposes, the new economic policies remain directed to the 25 percent population living

in the urban areas. Rest of the larger India is expected to benefit only from the trickle-down effect.

Americans are particularly proud of this Reagan- Thatcher philosophy which wants to hand over

everything to the rich elites and run the country. This is also driving rural to urban migration into cities

that are already overcrowded. It is height of insanity to think that 125 crore Indian can be herded into

towns where they will slave the corporate houses and drive Altos, eat pizzas and buy grocery from air-

conditioned Malls like the Americans do.

In the reform era, natural resources, minerals, water and land are all being given to corporate houses at

throw away prices so that they can setup industries and modern facilities that will generate employmentfor ordinary Indians and India will develop. This approach, though dictated by the IMF and the WB, is

not suitable for a populous and poor country like India. First, this corporate led economic growth can not

generate enough employment India needsaround 1 crore new jobsper year mostly for the unskilled or
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semi-skilled people. Whats the ground reality: Between 2005 and 2010, Indian economy only created

around 30 lakh jobs!!

Second, promoting urbanization is absurd for a country where cities are already overcrowded. The core

idea behind the current policies is to transfer people from the agriculture sector to industry or service

sector, just as the West has done. Due to their rather smaller populations and mechanized farming

practices they need fewer people in agriculture to produce food grains; the rest survive catering to the

industrial sector, around which their lifestyle revolves.

Why our culture and lifestyle is not respected?

Unfortunately, currently India is ruled by US educated technocrats who know India and its people

through books written by American authors. Text book understanding is fine for lecturing; solving real

life problems is totally another thing. Perhaps their only Indian connections are passports and birth

certificates. Who else but people cut off from reality could say that rupees 26.80 in urban India

and rupees 22.40 in rural India per day decide the poverty line. Else, suicides of thousands of poor

farmers would have stirred some corner of humanity in their hearts.

It is a shame that we are displacing innocent and naive tribals from their ancestral lands (where they also

act as natural custodians of resources) and forcing them to migrate to cities to become manual labors for

the industry. And we are doing it in the name of development.

How about displacing people from New Delhi and Mumbai and forcing them to repair the ecological

mess of mining activities of Vedantas, Tatas, Essars, JPs, and Ruias and clean the pollution of mega

thermal power plants? I think consumers must pay rule should be changed to consumers must

clean!!

WHAT WOULD BE RIGHT ECONOMY FOR INDIA

Ideally India should only focus on simplifying and reducing the government procedures that stifle

business and enterprise. Corruption is another discouraging reality of peoples lives in India which goeshand in hand with complicated procedures and formalities. An ideal development approach for India

could be:

Discard GDP as a measure of progress: India should adopt a holistic development model, learning

from Bhutan where aspects of life other than economic are equally important. To start with, adopting

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) might be a good idea. It modifies the GDP calculation to focus on the

useful expenditures that enhance peoples well-being. Theonline investopedia defines GPI as

A metric used to measure the economic growth of a country. It is often considered as a replacement to

the more well known gross domestic product (GDP) economic indicator. The GPI indicator takes

everything the GDP uses into account, but also adds other figures that represent the cost of the negative

effects related to economic activity (such as the cost of crime, cost of ozone depletion and cost of

resource depletion, among others). The GPI nets the positive and negative results of economic growth to

examine whether or not it has benefited people overall.

The GPI might be convenient for the Western trained brains, but for real sustainable development India

has to opt for Bhutans more comprehensive GNH framework. This is not limited to mere material

development as promoted by the West nut includes psychological, cultural and spiritual well-being also;

therefore, it vibes well with Indian psyche.

Promote micro and small enterprises: Given the need for livelihood opportunities for the poor,

particularly rural poor it makes sense to focus on promoting small and micro enterprises; only they can

generate employment on the scale India needs. India needs around 1 crore new employmentopportunities every year, given its annual population growth of 1.8 crore. Large and mechanized

industries and imports should not be allowed for goods and services that can be produced in these

smaller units.
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The microcredit revolution of Bangladeshs Grameen Bank is an ideal concept for Indian conditions. It is

truly remarkable how Nobel laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank initiative have

revolutionized anti-poverty efforts across the world. Prof. Yunus idea of promoting social businesses

is another wonderful idea Indian government should consider seriously. It will also strengthen the

cooperative movement particularly in the rural areas.

Replace the Shareholder capitalism with Stakeholder capitalism: The business world today follows

the shareholder capitalism which is too narrowly focused to maximize profits only for investors. Itlargely excludes the well-being of all other stakeholders: employees, society, customers, and

environment. This has made people mere tools to achieve maximum profits for the tiny minority the

investors of the company. This promotes greed which leads to disruptive competition or cartelization.

The alternative is the stakeholder capitalism which is rather broad-based and has bigger potential to

enhance peoples well-being for the same economic growth.

POPULATION STABILIZATION

Is Population a Monster?

Why population of India does not stop growingis a question everyone wants to ask. It is growing not

because people are having large families, but simply because there are too many people in the

reproductive age grouppopulation momentum.The sterilization camps are no more the right place to

tackle the population issue; the family planning battle must be now fought on the social plane. The

correct anti-dotes to population growth due to momentum are: late marriage, delayed pregnancies and

spacing among children. An important factor contributing to population growth is unwanted pregnancies

(accounting for one-fourth births), it requires making a variety of contraceptives easily available to

people, particularly in rural areas.

There are manypopular myths around population of India. At the core of it, lies the issue ofwomen

empowerment, which itself is powerful contraceptive.

Indian family planning officials will do themselves as well as the country favor, it they educatethemselves on the issues of population momentum and also pay attention to what the International

Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo, 1994 laid down on the population question.

For an historical perspective, please read

History and Politics of Population Phobia

The British way to control population of India?!: You may also like to know how the British

ignoredfamines in the colonial India as a weapon (instrument) for population management. During the

shameful British Raj 3050 million Indians have been estimated to have died in famines in 200 years of

colonial plunder.

The good news is the birthrates are falling all over the world, not only in India. The Malthusian fear of

overpopulation has gone bust already and the global population should stabilize around 2100, in the

range 11 13 billion. Currently, people are debatinghow to curtail global population from reaching 9

billion by 2050,as has been predicted by some experts.

Child marriages have played a big role in propagating poverty through population growth throughout the

world. In India 47% girls are already married before the legal age of 18 and a significant proportion has

already given births.

KERALA: POPULATION CONTROL THROUGH PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT

The tiny state,Kerala, is a unique example of the power of people development; the whole worldacknowledges and admires the wonderful culture and society of Kerala. It is also unique in the respect

for women; it has the best female/male ratio in the country 1084 femalefor every 1000 male as per the

2011 census (highest in the Kunnur District 1136 and the lowest in Idukki district, 1006). Compare it

with the national average of 940 females. The next best is way behind; it is Tamil Nadu, 996
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femalefollowed closely by Andhra Pradeshwith 993 femaleper 1000 male. Interestingly, the

economically prosperous Haryanahas the lowest sex ratio, 879 females. What stops our foreign trained

scholars of New Delhi to learn from Kerala? In fact,Kerala can teach a lot, both to India and

China about how to look after its people and control the population.

GOVERNANCE REFORMS

Every patriotic Indian is feeling the pain looking at the way politician-corporate-bureaucrat nexus hastaken control over policy making and distributing countrys resources among themselves. Recent 2G and

Coal Scam are the most glaring example how countrys natural wealth can be looted. This loot was done

in the business-as-usual fashion; therefore no one is ashamed of it. This is how the corporate world

operates across nationsundermining laws of the land or even by creating laws that suit their business

interests. India is among the worst governed countries in the world whose leaders rely on foreign

dictates more than local sane voices. This slave mentality has not died even 65 years after the colonial

British left India; on the contrary it has only strengthened. All ills of the nation can be traced only to one

thing: Bad Governance.

In fact, lack of accountability at all levels is at the core of bad governance in India and every problem

emerges from it whether Naxal violence, corruption, poverty, or even population. On the GlobalIntegrity Index that measures governance and anti-corruption of nations,India fairs badly.It also points

to weak governance due to lack of accountability of politicians and bureaucrats.

The most important governance reforms relate to the electoral processes, police and judiciary,

bureaucratic and judicial accountability, and also strengthening grass-root democracy by seriously

implementing the PRI and PESA Acts and making caste-based reservations history.

Political reforms and transparency in political funding is at the root of all corruption and bad

governance. It particularly creates corruption at the top of the State hierarchy. Simultaneously, two

urgent reforms are Police and Judicial Reforms. The police force is still operating in the colonial mindset

and sees itself as a protector of rulers from the citizens! Poor and ordinary citizens are particularly

vulnerable when they have to deal with the police and seek justice. Indian courts are atrociously slow

that makes a mockery of justice. Rich can exploit loopholes in the laws and procedural aspects and can

get by with practically anything.

MNREGA AND FOOD SECURITY

Passed in 2005, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is the Biggest Anti-poverty

Program in the World! In spirit, the developmental projects under the NREGA (now renamed

MGNREGA; MG for Mahatma Gandhi) are supposed to be designed, planned and implemented by the

gram Panchayats. Thus, this unique Act has the potential to revitalize the PRIs, giving impetus to the

grass-root democracy, and also create unskilled jobs in rural India. This scheme has become the darling

of the rural poor who can LEGALLY claim up to 100 days of unskilled work at the prescribed minimumwages. However,The real Potential of MGNREGA is yet to be Realized. Unfortunately, many states

have failed to appreciate the potentials of this program. If implemented in fairness and in coordination

with broader plans, MGNREGA can become the catalyst for transformation of rural India.

Poverty cannot be eliminated from the country without looking after the small farmers. Fascinated by

text book prescription of eliminating all subsidies by the Western lenders, the government is bent on

eliminating all forms of subsidies given to the farmers. This is simply disastrous: Western nations

indulge in all manners of protections for their farmers and subsidize basic food items to keep food prices

low and affordable. Their farming sector is not a major livelihood provider unlike in India. Offering ever

increasing minimum support price (MSP) to farmers is an inadequate and inefficient way to help the

farmers or to keep the food prices in control.Indian farmers need Income support, not just MSP.

THE FOOD SECURITY BILL

Under nourishment is a serious problem in India
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The ruling coalition at the Center passed the Food Security Bill weeks before the coming parliament

elections in order to gather votes in 2014 general elections. It is simply a matter of Center imposing its

arbitrary rules on the states who are the actual implementers. But for the immature thinking, the Center

should have only encouraged the states to make their own rules based on local realities. It also failed to

appreciate that thecountry might be heading towards water scarcity.Water shortage scenario might also

develop from another angle. Chinese water resources in its industrialized northern region are fast

becoming polluted and there appear to be plans to divert waters from the Tibetan region. The

mightyBrahmaputra seems to be on target of Chinese plans.If and when the Chinese go ahead with suchprojects, both India and Bangladesh have reasons to worry. The north-eastern Indian states as well as

Bangladesh are heavily dependent on the Brahmaputra waters. Melting Himalayan glaciers, due to

global warming, are cause of serious concern for the water security of Himalayan rivers that nourish

northern and north eastern plains.

SARVA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN AND THE RTE ACT, 2009

Lets go to School

Theright to education Act was put into force in 2010. It gave legal right of education to all kids in the

age group of 6 14. The vehicle for implementation of the RTE is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).Since 2010 necessary changes have been made in the rule of the SSA to conform to the RTE

requirements.

It is certainly a massive undertaking to cover children even in the remote habitations. But it must be

acknowledged that a lot of children began to see schools, they would have never dreamed off otherwise.

No doubt, shortage of teachers and quality of education is poor but shall we not celebrate over 96%

average enrollment across the country. If the government keeps its promise and raise expenditure on

education to the tune of 5-6% of GDP, it will have a long term impact on the future generations.

No doubt, critics will keep asking the question:Does Right to Education mean Right to Schooling Only?

However, in stead of cynicism it might be helpful if we also look at the positive side of elementaryeducation in India.

THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF 2014 LOKSABHA POLLS!

It was the Modi-wave that swept India in the 2014 polls. If the BJP emerged as the largest political party

with a clear majority, India is the biggest gainer as it got rid of the most incompetent and corrupt

government since independence. The 10 years of Manhoman (remote controlled by his party boss and

her son) at the helm has left practically every Indian feeling badly helpless and powerless. The biggest

loser is the pseudo-secular brigade that has gained menacingly high power in the Indian polity over the

decades. Created by the British and nurtured by the champions of the Indian National Congress after

1947 very religiously, this deadly virus has come to control the media almost completely by now. Allmanners of the vote bank politics can be traced back to it.

The others biggest losers are the political power brokers (again coming from the pseudo-secular brigade)

such as Mulayam Singh, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mayawati, Sharad Pawar and their likes. With just

handful of MPs they had been dictating the coalition governments fates for over 2 decades and the

common man and his interest has almost cease to matter, except of the words of party manifestoes.

With hardworking, rational and clear-headed Modi firmly at the driving wheel, now is the best time to

catapult India to new heights, given the superb brain power it has in its fold. It is the best time for all

communities to shun their parochial leaders and create a new national main-stream totally free of

appeasement and vote-bank politicians; their companions in the all forms of media also must now be

sent to their right placein oblivion!!
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Lets all celebrate and hope forfreedom from poverty, illusions and ignorance gathered in six

decades mostly by a parochial rule of party controlled by a single family. The privy of this family

should end now forever so that real democracy now begins to germinate.


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8 Reasons Why India is So Poor

The Super Poor India !

India has 269 million(or 22 percent) people under the poverty line, as against 407 million in 2004-05.

This is latest claim of Indias Planning Commission in July 2013. The more comprehensive

Multidimensional Poverty Index 2013 report of UK based Oxford Poverty and Human Development

Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) says there 53.7 percent (or650 million) people are poor. While there can never be agreement on poverty numbers, compare these

numbers with the European Union and US populations of 500 millionand 310 million, respectively.

India holds the distinction of having the most number of poor of the world a super poor nation!

Consequently, South Asia has become the worlds biggest center of extreme poverty. On the World

Banks extreme povertyline of 1.25 dollars a day, there are roughly 500 million and 400 million extreme

poor in South Asia and sub Saharan Africa, respectively. The chart below clearly shows the global

poverty trends since 1981.

Given the multitude of languages, customs, cultures and castes in India, the reasons for poverty are

also numerous and intertwined. Here an attempt is made to highlight 8 important reasons for highpoverty in India. However, one message is very clear: One has tolook at poverty, beyond income.

Global Poverty Trend since 1981

South Asia and sub Saharan Africa are Poorest regions in the world.

1. Social Inequality Leading to Exclusion and Marginalization

Societies cannot progress if certain sections of people are left-out simply because they happen to be from

the wrong class, caste, ethnic group, race or sex. If the virus of color and race based discrimination has

damaged the social set up of many countries in the West, the bacteria of caste division has undermined

the cohesive social fabric of India. Lower caste people have traditionally been excluded from the

mainstream society, governed by the so called upper caste communities. They have historically livedisolated in the periphery of the villages and townships and subsisted doing only those tasks considered

unfit for the other castes. Their un-touchability can be considered the worst form of rejection by the

mainstream society.
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While considerable change has taken place in peoples attitude since 1947, but the lower caste

communities are still not satisfactorily absorbed in the mainstream society. Rural India (where 70% of

the population lives) is still quite caste conscious compared with the urban society where education

and financial well-being has largely erased the caste divisions. Mahatma Gandhi tried to remove the

social stigma of un-touchability by coining the label "Harijan" (god's people) for them but with only

partial success. The official label for about 170 million unfortunate lower caste people is Scheduled

Caste (SC).

Another segment of society that is still very much detached from the mainstream is the tribal community

forming 8% of the population. These tribal people (called Scheduled Tribe (ST)) have historically lived

in secluded areas such as forests. The Colonial British designated their habitations as "excluded areas"

not as any special privilege but for convenience of the colonial policies. Unfortunately, the free

governments after 1947 never bothered to assimilate them into rest of the mainstream society and the

tribal communities continued to remain isolated and barely governed. As a result, besides the poverty

of the tribal communities, their backward due to lack of governance of their areas also gave rise to armed

Maoist movement. It, ideologically, wants to establish communist state based on Maos principles

through gun battle. Popularly calledNaxals,these Maoists now pose the biggest internal security threat

for the country.

Beside the SCs and STs, there are several other communities designated Other Backward Classes or

simply OBC they may or may not be Hindus. Their socioeconomic plight is also similar to SCs and

STs. The list of OBCs is dynamic and every now and then the government edits it (mostly for political

reasons); there is significant confusion about their exact proportion. However, most experts agree OBCs

to be in the range 2535% of the population.

Why this issue of marginalization is important can be guessed from the statistics: Indian population

consists of roughly 16% SC, 8% ST, and 35% OBC. Hence, combined together they form 60 65

percent India's population! So, the population of the so-called forward or upper class is less than one-

third, but who by and large control everything.

The policy of reservation in government jobs for the backward communities has certainly helped them to

rise up to some extent. But it is limited to the small fraction of the backward communities that somehow

managed to do well and gain education.

2. Illiteracy

High level of illiteracy, particularly in the rural areas and among women, has been a crucial factor not

only in perpetuating economic backwardness but also for high population growth. The persistence of

high illiteracy has created a situation where poverty and population are feeding each other. It is well

established that female literacy plays an important role in the well-being of the family in many ways.

When women are educated, they not only contribute economically but also raise healthier kids and keep

the family size small.Early marriage of girls and early child bearing is closely related with their low

literacy; it feeds poverty.

In 2010 only 26.6% women above 25 years found to have received secondary education, as opposed to

50.4% men. In comparison, in China 54.8% women and 70.4% men had secondary education; in the US,

this figure was 94.7% for women and 94.3% for men.

3. Population

While the growth rate of population has decreased significantly over the decades and India's population

is currently growing annually at the rate of about 1.5 percent. It is largely driven by population

momentum (large base of people in the fertile age); not because people want large families. Around 18million people are added to population each year. However, not that many people are lifted out of

poverty every year. Early marriage of girls and lack of awareness about reproductive healthcare,

particularly in the rural areas, are major factors behind current population growth. Population is clearly a

factor contributing to, and sustaining, high levels of poverty. But the Chinese population control through
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one-child model would be a bad example to follow for the democratic India. (Dark Side of One Child

Policy of China)

4. Gender Inequality

Gender equality is both a core concern and an essential part of human development. Indian social fabric

is highly patriarchal which has left women significantly exploited and discriminated. If caste basedbiases work only outside home in the open society, the discrimination against women operates both in

and out of homes. Not only men always get preference in every walk of life, women have always been

restricted in freedom.

Their weak status, particularly in the rural areas, is at the root of most chronic problems. It is their lack

of awareness or access to family planning tools and early marriage of girls and their early child bearing,

which ultimately have led to high population; lack of awareness of health issues related to pregnancy and

child upbringing has resulted in high mortality rate, under-nutrition and malnutrition among children;

lower education and lack of freedom has resulted in low participation in societal processes. All these

factors are enough to feed and sustain poverty.

The gender inequality is especially tragic not only because it excludes women from participation in

democratic and social processes, but also because it gravely imperils the life prospects of future

generations. The extent of gender discrimination can be measured through the Gender Inequality Index

(GII), which captures the loss in a countrys progress due to gender inequality in three dimensions:

reproductive health, empowerment and labor market participation.

On the GII 2012, India was ranked at 132position among 148 countries. According to the report, all

countries in South Asia, with the exception of Afghanistan, were better places for women than India

with Sri Lanka (75th) topping them all; Nepal ranked 102ndand Bangladesh 111th. India ranks low partly

because of its skewed sex ratio, with only 914 females every 1000 males.

5. Unequal Distribution of Wealth

India happens to be a rich country inhabited by very poor people.Dr Manmohan Singh

Unfortunately, since departure of the colonial British in 1947 all economic development has taken place

in the cities when the majority of the population lives in the countryside. Thus, the rural India has always

remained neglected. Another peculiarity is the land holding pattern in India: most land has traditionally

been under the control of a few landlords, leaving the vast majority landless. This lopsided land

ownership can be traced back to the "Zamindari" system started by the colonial British. Handful

zamindars became legal owners of vast tracts of land and all others had to work for them to survive. This

rent seeking exploitative system has since kept a vast majority of people in the rural India poor. Land

reforms were debated noisily after independence but implementation lacked honest political will, despitethe famous "Bhoodan Andolan" of Vinoba Bhave. Unfortunately, land reforms are no more an issue of

public debates at present. All talks of poverty removal appear to center only around economic reforms,

imitating the unsuitable Western capitalism.
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6. Faulty Economic Reforms

The so called economic liberalization andmarket reforms started in the 1990s are nothing but an attempt

to replicate the Western capitalism that promotes "trickle down" economy. It serves to make the rich

richer and expand the economy. If the poor which form the majority in India gain anything, it more by

default than design.

It is a bad model for a populous country like India which has a large fraction of population that livesdisconnected from the mainstream economy. The vast majority of the poor of the country are from the

socially disadvantaged sections like the SCs/STs and OBCs. Due to their marginalization and seclusion,

practically nothing trickles down to them.

Given the huge population base and poverty, India needs an "employment centric" economy a lot of

micro, small and medium business units. Only they can employ the huge base of unskilled or semi-

skilled people. Large high-tech industrial units don't generate many jobs and certainly can't employ

unskilled or low skilled people whose numbers run well beyond 350 million. According to the NSSO

survey, the size of India's workforce is around 450 million. Of which only about 30 million work in the

formal or organized sector. The government recognizes only about 70 million as unemployed or

underemployed. Thus, there are 350 million unrecognized by the government as unemployed.Government surveys list them as "self employed" but they barely survive and live chronically in poverty.

Who are these "self employed" people, more in numbers than the population of United States, and how

do they survive?

They milk the cows, become seasonal farm workers, run small shops or sell on the roadsides, make

incense sticks, match sticks and bidis, drive manual or auto rickshaws, work as domestic help, work as

unaccounted contract workers on daily wages, work as gardeners and watchmen, or work as plumbers,

carpenters or shoe repairers and so on. They have no safety net such as pension or healthcare benefits

enjoyed by the regular employees and hence, are the most vulnerable. They are also the first victim of

natural calamities, now becoming more frequent due to climate mess up. [It is fair to assume that most

casualties due to abrupt climatic events are of the poor. Of course, nothing changes for better after theirdeath-toll makes headline news.]

Jobless Economic Growth

The Indian economy created fewer than 3 million job between 2005 and 2010 !! Considering

population growth of 18 million every year, around 10 million new jobs are needed per year!!! The

current "follow West" economists of India haven't the slightest idea about what type of economic

reforms India and its poor people really need. Their thinking stops at inviting "foreign direct

investments" and vision fails to go beyond air conditioned corporate houses of the rich and wealthy.

I really wonder why Indian rulers don't look at the neighboring Himalayan kingdom Bhutan which

rejected GDP as measure of progress long ago and follows "gross national happiness" - a sustainablemodel of development that considers many things other than economic growth. Even the UN is showing

interest in it.

7. Corruption

Corruption and leakages in government schemes are widespread in India. Late Prime Minister Rajeev

Gandhi had famously admitted that only about 15% money actually reaches the ultimate beneficiaries.

Even if we discard this figure as highly pessimistic and assume that say 30-35% of the welfare funds

actually reach the designated beneficiaries, the rest is siphoned off by people connected to the

implementing government machinery. This is a common way for the people with connections to the

politicians and government bodies to acquire wealth of course at the cost of the poor who generallyhave no voice or ability to assert. Another common form of corruption in schemes designed for the poor

is inclusion of non-BPL people with political connections in the list of beneficiaries. The end result is

that the eligible poor are denied the benefits. Poor service delivery of government programs is a norm

rather than exception in India.
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From "Late Victorian Holocausts"

...When an El Nio drought destituted the farmers of the Deccan plateau in 1876 there was a net surplus

of rice and wheat in India. But the viceroy, Lord Lytton, insisted that nothing should prevent its export to

England. In 1877 and 1878, at the height of the famine, grain merchants exported a record 6.4m

hundredweight of wheat. As the peasants began to starve, officials were ordered "to discourage relief

works in every possible way". The Anti-Charitable Contributions Act of 1877 prohibited "at the pain of

imprisonment private relief donations that potentially interfered with the market fixing of grain prices"...

8. The Colonial Rule

"A significant fact which stands out is that those parts of India which have been longest under British

rule are the poorest today." Jawaharlal Nehru , Fi rst Prime M ini ster of I ndia

The colonial British rule laid the foundation for a long term and chronic poverty in India after they

departed. This is what Nehru is saying in different set of words. The tiny state of Kerala in the southern

India fortunately saw the least damaging influence of the British exploiters (there are many reasons for

that) and is at present a unique model (in the world) of improvement in the quality of life through social

and human development. It is something unthinkable for a Western brain which has been taught to seeeconomic growth alone as "development."

It was the traditional historic prosperity of India that attracted invaders from various parts of the world in

the last 2000 years. Prior to the British, India had been ruled by the foreigners like the Kushanas, Turko-

Afghans and Mughals. All of them gradually got assimilated into the Indian society and culture. They

not only became absorbed in India but also protected and promoted Indian society, culture and economy.

None of them systematically drained Indias wealth or resources to make another country prosperous.

Revenue collected or wealth acquired by them was spent within India. Whether spent on the public or for

personal luxury of the ruling elite, the wealth remained within the country. Thus, India remained

prosperous even in the Mughal era until the East India Company started acquiring "diwani" (right to

collect revenue) around 1760. It was the beginning of the legal "loot." The colonial rule was all aboutrobbing India to enrich Britain; other unfortunate colonized States were also bled to make Britain

prosperous.

The Battle of Plasssey in June 1757 marked the beginning of British dominance (and also the beginning

of end of the Mughal Empire): when a small force of the East India Company's professional troops,

defeated and killed the ruling Nawab of Bengal, Siraju-ud-daula. The outcome of the battle marked a

significant turning point in the history of Indian subcontinent. It allowed the English East India

Company foothold on the Indian soil, from which to undertake its future expansionist ventures within

and around India. Soon, after the Battle of Buxar it acquired the "diwani" in Bengal and in 1765 its rights

expanded to Bihar and Orissa.

Unlike their predecessors the British, however, consciously remained in India as foreign occupiers until

their departure in 1947. They remained isolated from the Indian society and culture and formed a

separate class of their own within India. The only reason for their presence in India (and in other

occupied regions) was to secure raw materials for British industries and other goods for the comforts of

their citizens. The vast population in India also provided market for goods manufactured back home.

They subordinated Indian economy to the British trade and industry. Their economic policies actively

favored non-Indians or made things difficult for Indian businessmen. As occupiers, they used Indian

wealth to pay for all their expansionist ventures and territory building both inside and outside India.

Moreover, the British policies forcibly disbanded community grain banks and promoted replacement of

food crops for local consumption to cash crops like cotton, opium, tea and grains for export to feed the

animals in England. This change in the cropping pattern left Indian farmers vulnerable to famines. There

are documentary evidence to suggest the colonial rulers chose to ignore the famine affected people. It is

estimated that during the two centuries of colonial rule, famines and the resulting epidemics caused over


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30 million deaths. The most recent Bengal Famine of 1943-44 led to about 1.5 million deaths from

starvation; 3.5 million if deaths from epidemics are also included.

In his masterpiece "Poverty and un-British Rule in India" Dadabhai Naoroji(popularly labeled as "The

Grand Old Man of India" and "The Father of Indian Nationalism" ) also categorically blamed "the

drain of wealth" for the poverty in India.

A Good Short Account of British Exploitation of India

Conclusion

India needs several types of reforms in order to really crush widespread poverty, not just the economic

liberalization imitating western economies. 1. The economic reforms need to be employment centric,

focused on the unorganized sector which supports over 300 million poor, 2.Electoral and administrative

reforms to root out deep rooted corruption that eats away major chunk of the welfare budget and

promotes dishonesty, 3.Police and judicial reforms so that the poor feel protected; at present they are

easily victimized by the rich and powerful, 4.Social and land reforms to eliminate all forms of caste or

community based discriminations and empower the poor. and 5.Finally, promote women empowerment

through education and healthcare; it will greatly help deal with poverty fed by the population growth.

Indian and also the global poverty experts need to learn from the tiny southern state, Kerala. It is a great

example of how societies can be transformed purely based on human development and women

empowerment.
http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/history/asia/news.php?q=1208918986http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2008/2008_10-19/2008-17/pdf/26-31_3517.pdfhttp://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2008/2008_10-19/2008-17/pdf/26-31_3517.pdfhttp://goodpal.hubpages.com/hub/Population-Development-What-Kerala-can-Teach-India-and-Chinahttp://goodpal.hubpages.com/hub/Population-Development-What-Kerala-can-Teach-India-and-Chinahttp://goodpal.hubpages.com/hub/Population-Development-What-Kerala-can-Teach-India-and-Chinahttp://goodpal.hubpages.com/hub/Population-Development-What-Kerala-can-Teach-India-and-Chinahttp://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2008/2008_10-19/2008-17/pdf/26-31_3517.pdfhttp://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/history/asia/news.php?q=1208918986

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