India will overtake China?
Indians are
feeling jubilant by IMF’s forecast that India’s growth will overtake China’s
this calendar year and the next. But India should try and outclass China in
every department. It is a fact that India is lagging behind China in certain
fields.
A quarter of
India’s households have no electricity, whereas China has full coverage.
India’s literacy level at 74 per cent is way below China’s 95 per cent. India must boost household savings by
improving employment and financial inclusion, and keep inflation in check. A
policy environment that encourages ‘Make in India’ can help.
It is true that
India is trying to become a manufacturing hub but it is important for India to
learn from China’s experience. China’s investment in human capital and
scientific research is what works here. India shares many of China’s
vulnerabilities but only few of its strengths. We should lift domestic demand,
go for a ‘growth-plus’ approach
We have lot of
challenges in this path and hope our current and coming generation will
effectively overcome all these. Though it's good to follow examples (China/USA
etc..), but India is very different at the base level as compared to these
countries and very much of different focus is required. Poverty, employment,
labor, corruption, education, ghar wapsi, ghar nikala, security, law, traffic
in big cities, water resources etc. etc... A feel of development will come to
all of us when above issues are resolved.
At the same time
it has also been predicted earlier that India will be the most populous country
in the World which seems to adversely affect the economic growth as well as
environmental sustainability. Therefore, there should be more emphasis on
checking the burgeoning population growth of India. Above all, we need a food
and nutritionally secured India which is only possible if we can check the
leakages in implementation of different policies meant for the poorest of the
poor. This Government should make a difference in our understanding and
approach and significantly contribute in making the country economically,
socially and environmentally secured.
When Politicians
speak they paint the rosy picture of the situation that we are a developing
country and comparing it with giant powers like USA and China. But the irony is
that hunger, poverty, unemployment and illiteracy is rampant. The
infrastructures available here are pathetic.
One of the reasons
why China has softened the phase of industrialization is because it is taking
into consideration the damage to environment.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's policy will help in the growth of economy. But this would not
be enough. Investing in human capital, research, education, reducing increasing
pollution levels, health care facilities, bringing down child mortality rate
are high priority issues that need to be tackled. The shocking revelation is a
quarter of India's households have no electricity.
Chinese could
never have achieved what they have achieved over a prolonged period without a
futuristic road map for decades and the political will at the helm. We, too,
can do it and certainly could do much much better than what they have. We have
the Power of Indian Democracy i.e. right to free speech and expression; which
empowers the weakest in the weaker section. In fact we are in better position
to propel growth prospect to the world economy.
Our Central and
State governments have to implement programmes policies which will ensure that
income levels of the poor families increase consistently and continuously over
the next few decades. Improved governance will also close minimize revenue
leakages and wasteful public expenditure. All these together with better
financial inclusion will make life meaningful for the poor and as a nation we
will emerge much stronger and healthier.
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