India has arisen and awakened, but the country must not rest till it has achieved its goals
The President’s address to the joint session of Parliament has taken place. It was predictably a middle of the road, straightforward elaboration. The options on foreign direct investment, social equity, inflation control and more are distinct areas of concern, and there is nothing much to choose. Indeed, the overall thrust of the new regime, beyond the concerns voiced in the presidential address, seems to be on enhancing administrative efficiency.
This is an approach which is overdue and nobody will grudge it. The impact of this kind of talk on the ground conditions is a separate matter altogether. Well-intentioned resolutions and directives have an ugly habit of lapsing into conventional patterns of conduct. The new year’s resolution, which many of us, make is a classical statement of intent which runs dry in practice.
A fact of the matter is, besides the intent, there has to be the capacity to keep it alive. The Cabinet Secretary, under extension himself, has been busy issuing what the media calls ‘commandments’. The Prime Minister himself, between exhorting his various audiences and attending to his regular work, will need to find time to usher in a credible, evolved, and perceptively new dispensation. That is going to need ingenuity beyond replicating the Gujarat model.
The Prime Minister seems to have begun well by recognising the role of tradition (where all successful innovation has to be embedded) and technology (which is a handy instrument of leveraging the world).
In the meantime, the number of people who are moving over from well-ensconced positions in a quasi-liberal westernised environment to new found enthusiasm for the Prime Minister’s past achievements, is growing. This is natural, and in a world full of stylised jargon, it is always possible to use phrases like ‘getting the country back on track’, as labels for writings.
This is a dangerous tribe because it is adept at finding logic for whatever propels its social climbing. This, however, is inevitable in the power lanes of the national capital. They cannot be eliminated but they certainly can be guarded against.
The Union Cabinet itself is yet to be fully formed, and there is wisdom in putting it on slow fire. There is something to be said about the intellectuals and the intellectual centers which have failed to generate policy options or contribute vigorously enough to the creation of a new dispensation for the country.
It is not amusing as to how, within the overall framework of debates and development, endless talk of diversity, richness of Indian natural resources and natural endowments, the discussion on the way forward is so repetitive. Endless jugglery with rates, GDPs, FDI figures, much of the dialogue is so grooved as to be almost predictable.
Consider a simple fact of the Indian coastline. Its vastness and richness is no news, yet in developmental planning, one is still to hear of ocean resources in a significant way. It makes no difference whether they deal with geological resources of minerals or edible resources of sea weeds and plants or marine resources. life of the average Indian does not seem to incorporate this perspective. The sea resource industry alone is capable of affecting the prosperity patterns of the inhabitants of the coastal hinterland exponentially. Yet, whereas there has been some talk of fisheries development, there remains so much more to be done for other sea resources. There are other treasures from the sea besides shrimps and prawns.
The Government has been talking of tourism, and in the entire coastal line of India it is difficult to find a major world class water sports resort. From snorkeling to being at peace in the observation of sea creatures remains an activity still to be born in this country.
There is a need not only to remove the blinkers but to widen our frameworks of reference. This has to be converted into a national movement of upliftment. Perhaps Swami Vivekananda in his inimitable style had foreseen such a day, when he gave the slogan “Uthishthta, jaagrata prapaya varan nibodhata” (Arise, Awake, Rest not till you have achieved!)
The Indian subcontinent is blessed with resources and talent. But these have to be galvanised through a focussed skill development programme with indigenous standards.