India : The Great Democrazic Nation
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Last month, businessweek ran a good article on How the India is building its economy on shaky grounds!This is a must read for every one who tend to be Indians and stay in India.As a person, I love to stay back in India, even the inflation goes beyond 10 or India loses the 2011 cricket world cup. I thought of sharing my thoughts over the same. India is one of the biggest democrazy.yes its driving the country into a bottomless pit.The self minded politicians with no interest on nation's growth,the awful Indian youth with no care for the nation and the left behind farmers (once who were the backbone of the Indian economy).Quoting the chief mentor of Infosys,the article points out India's exports total less than 1% of global trade,
compared with 7% for China.
Now-a-days,China and India had become synonymous in economic debates and market comparisons,due to the similarities in the population level, land stretch, continental market opportunities and and uhm, I cant find one more reason.Probably I don't know much, but I strongly disagree with comparing India and China.Now India is like how China was 10 years back.And ten years from now,there are lot of chances we will stay back at the same level,if not deteriorate to ground zero.
Without building a proper infrastructure and the logistic facilities,there is no upward journey for India after few years.China takes credit at this point and the article clearly points out "Beijing launched a massive upgrade initiative, building more than 25,000 miles of expressways that now crisscross the country and are as good as the best roads in the U.S. or Europe. India, by contrast, has just 3,700 miles of such highways. It's no wonder that when foreign companies weigh putting new plants in China vs. India to produce global exports, China more often wins out". Hey cmon,we are a democrazy and china is a communist republic.huh,who needs democracy.Freedom, they say, dont come for free.and many of us had forget this.And the uphill task needs lots of funds. And the article continues as " China's lead in infrastructure is likely to grow, too. Beijing plows about 9% of its GDP into public works, compared with New Delhi's 4%. And because of its authoritarian government, China gets faster results". Do you realize now, why I said that as "democrazy".
And they haven't pointed literacy, and I believe its the major building block for any Nation.Literate citizens are boon for every country.Literacy is an indispensable means for effective social and economic participation,contributing to human development and poverty reduction, says UNESCO.India has a youth literacy level of 70+%,a great achievement though, not when compared to china having a literacy rate of 98+%.Who needs schools, when we have hotels,match factories,cracker manufacturing hubs and quaries to where we send our youth to.
Now-a-days,all the news television channels and dailies blaring on a same slogan - "India has arrived". Where? and for Whom? It might be a good attraction for the retail giants trying to cope up with their loss in other markets, to make use of India's middle class,who are ready to spend upto 55 US$ for things which they don't necessarily need to have."India has arrived" for the Outsourcing giants, who are all making record profits and unstoppable growth(to all the day dreamers,Vietnam and China is coming to the software front and they will arrive soon).But not for the Indians whole together who still sweat everyday to earn 3 US$ and who take their wife and kids to work with them for additional income of 3$."India has arrived" for all the mobile operatiors who try to have a bite in the pie into the again cursed Indians who were paying twice as much for even the basic right of all,speech.ok,we make a call speak to person in a nearby town, but United States makes this call free for its citizens.And all those people who are blaring at India's coming should also think about the insurmountable disadvantages of the nation, atleast with the democrazy system we follow relegiously.
They clearly point out "The infrastructure deficit is so critical that it could prevent India from achieving the prosperity that finally seems to be within its grasp. Without reliable power and water and a modern transportation network, the chasm between India's moneyed elite and its 800 million poor will continue to widen, potentially destabilizing the country." According to the Press release by Indian Foreign trade, the trade deficit for April- February, 2007 was estimated at US $ 55858.54 million which was higher than the deficit of US $ 37575.61(P)
million during April- February, 2006. Hey wait I will search for China's trade deficit.(after a very lonnnnggg search),I can't find any defecit data for China and I found myself a dumbo.How come a country which is now the world's No. 3 trading nation, exporting and importing about $1.5 trillion worth of goods and services a year, can have trade defecit.Instead its global trade surplus hit $177 billion in 2006 and is on track to finish this year at more than $220 billion, says business week article on "China: One Hungry Industrial Dragon".I think its good to say, the dragon started roaring.
Ok. I want to complete this blog.Final words from the same article " And so it goes in India. Unless the nation shakes off its legacy of bureaucracy, politics, and corruption, its ability to build adequate infrastructure will remain in doubt. So will its economic destiny." And I doubt we will overcome this paralysis.
Image courtesy: Businessweek.
posted by Unknown @ 10:16 AM,
