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VIEWPOINT
Plans that fulfil people's aspirations
Posted on Aug 19, 2010 | Author: Arun Maira | View 264 | Comment : 21

India's economic growth must produce more jobs, and jobs that are considered good, more rapidly across the country for it to be socially and politically sustainable.

Confirming an observation Nandan Nilekani makes in Imagining India, Sunil Khilnani (author of An Idea of India) says, "The statistics of India’s new growth economy grip the popular imagination. Children who scavenge trash for a living report confidently and accurately that India is the second-fastest growing economy in the world".

Gurcharan Das, in his best-seller, India Unbound, recounts an encounter with a 14-year-old in South India who aspired to be as rich as Bill Gates. The deputy chairman of India’s Planning Commission recently met poor children in a school adjoining the Sriharikota Space Centre.

Having just witnessed the amazing launch of an Indian rocket, as must have the children, he asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, expecting at least one to say he wanted to be a space scientist. But all they wanted was ‘a job’. No amount of hinting shook them or their parents who also wanted just jobs for their children when they grew up.

Peter Drucker, the great management thought-leader, said that he never asked an executive for the facts. Rather, he would always ask for the executives’ opinion. Because he knew that any executive worth his salt could find facts to support his opinion. All three accounts of what Indian children said they aspire for are true.

Each served the purpose of proving a point about the best approach to economic development. Grow GDP rapidly. Open the market and unleash aspirations for wealth. Spread around opportunities for people to earn a living. These are not incompatible, but the emphasis matters.

India has the second fastest growing economy in the world, after China. The ‘unbinding’ of the Indian economy has enabled many Indians to grow very wealthy. India now has the second largest number of dollar billionaires per trillion dollars of GDP, after Russia. However, the Indian economy is not yet providing enough opportunities for young people in all parts of the country to earn a decent living.

At the recent meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), chief ministers of several states — J&K, the north-eastern states, the left wing extremism affected states, and even Punjab — said their states desperately needed more opportunities for young people to earn incomes through jobs or entrepreneurship.

Some went so far to say that it would be better if the economy grew at 7% and created more jobs, than if it grew 10% without creating enough jobs, thus creating conditions for social unrest and even violence. We need 10% and more jobs.

India’s growth story is at a critical juncture, as is China’s. Neither can sustain its growth without addressing issues of perception: of equity and inclusion in economic growth. Ideas of democracy and human rights are stronger within India than in China. Also information is more accessible across India through an open media. So strategies for economic growth must be more closely intertwined with the politics of change in India than in China.

In India, it is not only the pace of growth that will impress people, but also the pace of their inclusion in it. Those who are being left behind, including tribals, do not want to be mere passive beneficiaries of state handouts and corporate philanthropy. They want to be respected, earning their own incomes and growing their own wealth.

People need ‘skills’ to get jobs and earn incomes, and the goal of providing skills to 500 million Indians must be pursued. But there must be jobs for them. Manish Sabherwal, chairman of Teamlease Services, says, “We won’t get outcomes unless demand is king and we shift from having ‘30 kids for placement’ to ‘30 positions to fill’.

This needs the entire ecosystem to pray to one god: jobs”. Therefore the country’s challenge is to create the type of enterprises that will provide more jobs for a greater number of people.

The prime minister concluded his address to the NDC with a call for innovation in government institutions to reflect changing circumstances and expectations. Policymakers must rethink measures of national aspirations and approaches to realising them. “I do not want India to be an economic superpower”, J R D Tata had said, “I want us to be a happy people.”

Some would say that our people cannot be happy unless we are an economic superpower. Others say that the very process of becoming a superpower may cause misery: damaging the environment, disregarding human rights, and unleashing corruption in a mad scramble for power and wealth.

We need better measures of the quality of inclusion and sustainability. Leading corporations are adopting the concept of ‘ESG’ — measures of performance with respect to the environment, society, and governance — not only traditional financial measures of income, profits, and shareholder wealth.

National planners must consider not only the financial measures of a country’s performance, such as GDP, investments, and savings, but also better measures of the quality of its environment, society, and governance. The need for such measures is advocated by Joseph Stiglitz, Amartya Sen, and Jean-Paul Fitoussi in their report Mis-measuring our lives: Why GDP doesn’t add up.

Ultimately, what planners measure and monitor must matter to people. Therefore they must listen to people while making their plans. The youth of any country is its future. This is truer for India, with its large young population, than other countries.

Not only must India’s planners plan for India’s youth, they must use the energy and aspirations of India’s youth to make their plans. A year ago, the young CM of J&K warned that youth feel they are not being heard and included. When words are not heard and understood, he predicted, frustration with the way things are going will spill onto the streets, expressed in stones and sticks.

The Achilles heel of democratic India’s growth story is the crumbling of institutions in which dialogue and debate should take place, such as Parliament and state assemblies, and the weakness of processes in which those who are not included should be heard while preparing plans — at the Centre, in the states, and within their localities.

For India to be alarge economy, as well as a happy country, people must feel included in the planning. Therefore, we need innovations in the way plans are made for India to realise its people’s aspirations.

Comments (21)

If there re no jobs, there is very little income. if at all. Jobs do not fall from heaven. Jobs create income but jobs do not get create if there is no new demand for goods and services to be produced to meet demand. And, demand for goods and services do not increase if there is no increase in income. So, contrary to populatr belief, GDP grwoth does not decrease new job openings on its own. And, if GDP grows and still there is not adequate new jobs to put new job market entrants to productive work, the problem does not lie with GDP growth but with intereference of governments and laws and trade unions in the smooth operation of the market. The solution to more job creation lies in still higher growth of rate for GDP, flexible labour markets nd removal of government intervantions that ...See More impede new employment and new actvity. For eorty years from 1950, India at the dismal rate of 2%-4% economic growth, inflation rate of close to 8% per year and there was no social unrest, it is desirable that there is social unrest when GDP growth rate is 8%-(5 in the recent decade. At least this will lead to further economic reforms that free human beings from the clutches of the government and political parties and make 10%plus economic growth possible. Scavangers and jokers resisted the economic freedom being given to the individuals during 1947-1991. They were forced to allow some economic freedom to individuals and private enterprise when they brought the Indian economy to bankruptcy in 1990-91, Now they are resisting again to make the individuals and private enterprises to become freer through economic reforms. Another banruptcy or big social unrest will force them to yield.

Posted by Basudeb Sen | 30 Aug, 2010

The essence of this article and some of the comments could not have been better timed.

If the polity of the country does not wake up social unrest is not far off. One of the problems is "education". To be honest it is in a mess and Kapil Sibal has only done enough to do his PR exercise without any conclusion. Unless education is done right nothing can be achieved. The electorate needs to displace the "Jokers" and " scavengers" sitting in every state. I would say the the Union is still not to bad but the state is rotten apples - I would make an exception of Gujarat maybe.

You dont need GDP for a happier nation. If we plan cities, clean the garbage ( all ministers in the state govt should be entrusted this task - work is worship), protect our environment, build drainage with roads, man the police stations with civil society reps, teach children there are enough opportunities. All that the great Manmohan Singh needs to do is make his leadership - THE ENABLER - We need a leader who cannot be used as an instrument for a waiting in PM to be groomed. Hard reality. I was surprised at the press that they need to cover enough story to highlight the story of defence pensioners as against the MP's in a comparative. Everything is crumblling and this is manifesting in the state of an INDIAN in the form of commonwealth games - this is how we organise, this is how the ministers will say India's pride so let us not criticise, there is no introspection, and corruption thrives from Raja, judiciary, TN Polity, Mining, everywhere - There is stink everywhere. The RBI as a watchdog has failed - banks are doing what they want, IRDA does not know because they dont buy policies, illegal demolitions dont take place because all are related to politicians - But we are quick to make comparisons with countries like China , Pakistan , US and any other - but I think the people too need to introspect what do we want. Donkey's are represented by Donkey's, Terrorists by terrorists, corrupt by corrupt. And critics like me probably cannot be called nationals. This is the state of our country. Thanks

Posted by sanjay | 28 Aug, 2010

Yes Sir. Mere talk of inclusive growth does not help, unless followed by expansion of job opportunities particularly for the educated unemployed.It is well known that an idle man's brain is devil's workshop.Prolonged unenemployment of persons makes them even unemployables. Further misery generates hatread.The vulgar display of wealth and ostentatious extravagance of the neorich causes heart burn.That is the spirit of the ancient prayer-sahanavavtu sahanaubhunaktu sahaveeryankaravavhai---

Posted by Prof M L Kantha Rao | 28 Aug, 2010

Who will cross check what? Governments are vested with the powers to give permissions for this and that and for many things. These power centres are monopo;ies and absolutely non-transparent in their day to day functioning.and decision mking. So long as these decisions are concerning high amount of expediture by Government of private sector, corruption is very likely if the process of decision-makng is not transparent on a rea timebasis to the public at large. On the other hand, if the process of decision making is fully transparent to the public at large on a real-time basis, the scope of corruption will be less. The decisions may be right or wrong, but would never be deliberately wronng for reasons of corruption and dishonesty. The decision-makers can go wrong but they would not deliberately manipulate a decision due to the force of corruption or fear or gratification or greed.

Posted by Basudeb Sen | 23 Aug, 2010

I do agree with this analysis. Both the central and state governments are busy in signing MoUs with various MNCs for setting up of industries, plants, retail hubs etc. Even if they have allowed them to exploit our mineral resources. But never cared to rehabilitate the displaced people. Never cared for their jobs. This is not the end, exploitation of the natural resources at the cost of our future generation simply leads to development but not sustainable development. So whenever the centre or the state is planning for something then it should be checked and cross checked from the ground level but not in A/C rooms of the secretariates.

Posted by Fakir Mohan Nahak , News Producer at ETV News Oriya | 23 Aug, 2010

Yes, ET is very correct when it says "it is not only the pace of growth that will impress people, but also the pace of their inclusion in it. ..They want to be respected, earning their own incomes and growing their own wealth." But how? China had their "communes" which initiated and completed their development for whioch the Government provided all help. From that China has now made success through "Capitalis techniques" as Mao Zedong once called their process of nation building. India has now a well oiled capitalist machinery which should be allowed to prosper while the Government should pursue projects, especially agriculture and industries based in villages. Transfer of power, that is financial power to the village level should be the objective of the Government leaving alone ...See More private industry and commerce to itself with of course some regulation. Ministers, bureaucratsw, elected representatives should assist village development. There shuld be participation of "opposition" parties also lest they act negatively. Large number of schools should be started toimpart both skills and scientific knowledge. Best teachers should be selected on merit if they have to be useful in developing people. Projects should be developed by experts and bureaucrats should assist them. In India it is the reverse now. Let us start on an independent level in each cluster of villages.

Posted by Dr V Subramoni Iyer | 20 Aug, 2010

No democratic society can ,especially of India's size can survive long unless the nation can assure minimum three essentials .They include access to education ,health care ,opportunity for sustainable job. We have been blindly following the Western model of growth decided by the market forces .Markets move based on the need to provide profit to the share holders ! What moves them is the need to keep the quartrely profit figures healthy.How do we get the created wealth percolate to the bottom of the so called pyramid? We all know that historically wealthy never let wealth to percolate except in tricles.It is the job of the government to iron out these wild crinkles in the economic and societal firmament. People are the sovereign in a democracy. The people's representatives are the trustees to oversee the delivery of socio economic justice.

Unfortunately our system has not delivered .Identity poltics and the bureaucratic firewalls have kept our progress tardy ,leaky and previlege oriented.We need to have atwo pronged thrust to revamp the governace system . All local administration at district levels should be development based with total authority and strict accountability.The district heads should be like a CEO . At present all departments like the health,PWD .education ect have their deparmental channels dilutin the authority. ,Political interference makes the adminisration corruption ridden.Public corruption when proved should invite life time ban from public life.These will be effective only when the civil society has a major oversight at all levels.IT should make every aspect of administration transparent and open .

Job generation by companies should be encouraged by adequate tax concessons.Economic activities will get the biggest boost with the attendent job creation when infrastructure in rural areas become a reality.There is no alternative to increasing the employability with out the educational reforms. Secondary level education should impart vocationtional skill training to millions of youth and guide them in the job market through real time counseling. 3G spectrum based mobile access should be customised to speed up the mobility in the job market to reduce.

India need to shift millions out of dependency on agriculture and place them in to other sectors of economic activity especially in manufacturing in the next decade.This demands opening up the enterprenurial talents in small scale industries .Credit availabilty needs to be made adequate and easy. Biggesades wt challenge in the coming decade will be to produce employable individual suitable for productivity based activity.The key lies in revamping the accessabilty of the rural and the urban poor to quality health care and education.500 million is just not a statistical number but is the very life and future of India.275 million middle class may drive consumption based developed in the country , but 500 million if not reached out will render India a baggage too heavy to drag.

Posted by Mohan Kunnath | 20 Aug, 2010

Poblem is not with the race (competition) but with the rats that enter competition and intend to win by hook or crook and unfair practices. Fair and intense Competion or race is a test for persons to assess their real worth and get placed according to their merit. But Indian society enjoys unfair competion and win by cheating. If Public sector Airlines are not making profit due to corrution, they need to be allowed to exist . Why should we have public sector anywhere: let both public and private sctor companies compete and those who fail to make profit be auctioned to other managements by competitive bidding.

Posted by Basudeb Sen | 20 Aug, 2010

Indian government have so many factory's in its bucket. But not a single company doing well!!, everything corruption.. Inorder to remove these feuture students should think how to develop the country and not put companies into loss. private airlines are doing profit why Indian airlines not doing well? catch all the official peoples of these airline and industry's who accumulated weatlh , cease the asset and develop the industry. catch all the corrupt ministers like Mayavathi, Lallu, ministers who having the swiss bank account and get the money for development our Indian road and transportation, open the more industries from these funds automaticaly people gets job..

Posted by Jnaneshwara G K | 20 Aug, 2010

Planning Commission is again doing the same mistake of thinking that job creation alone will solve the problem.Or solving typical one or two issues.That is once again going back to compatmentalisation of totality and try for a holistic and comprehensive solution.As given feedback to the article on "Systems Reform for a better world" in the same ET, the leader should have a feel of Totality and then try for a holistic total solution as holistic totality is incomprehensible. If mere accummulation of material wealth is the criteria,the West and Communist world should have been very happy. Is that happening?

To through some light on the issues involved in creating a happy and sustainable society, the following article may be useful.
Subject: [iimb_hyderabad] WEF-New ways of global cooperation by Klaus Schwab-a feedback

Dear Friends,

Sub: WEF-New ways of global cooperation by Klaus Schwab- a Feedback.

It is mentioned in this article the core points as rethinking our values, redesigning our systems and rebuilding our institutions.

Materialist Spiritualist Mission Trust (MSMT) has been talking about these aspects since 2003. MSMT main stands is that there is a need for paradigm shift in our thinking, faiths, beliefs, attitudes and behivour for achieving synergy, peace, harmony, justice and development.

We seem to be living in a make -believe world. The systems and processes of all soceital parameters(Global/National) are designed in the name of people/public/society and for people/public/society. These aspects seem to be forgotten in the muddling confusion of various religious and systemic symbolisms. Just as humans or any metal has fatigue and become useless over a period of time, so are the systems and processes of various societal parameters including spirituality. In this context it is relevant to review the entire system of human social existence. They include:

1.Economic values-make-believe world.

Economic systems and processes.

Behavioural aspects.

2. Political values- purpose of power and influence in the society.

Political systems and processes-change-pain invoved-mitigating pain of change.

Openness and creativity.

Requirement for well thought out philosophy and road map.

3. Business-management, values and ethics.

Purpose of business-values.

Rethink and redefine.

4. Legal aspects-values-purpose of legal system.

Delivery of justice-ethics, philosophy, adaptation to changes, ultimately for human good with least tensions and turbulences.

Change-painful-allow creativity.

5. Governance and Administration.

Purpose of governance-values and ethics.

Old roots vs new views and challenges.

Efficacy of governance

The system of checks and balances in societal governance.

Legistature, Executive, Judiciary and press-checks and balances and providing instruments for smooth problem solving and governance delivering to the public/people on whose behalf all the systems are conceived and implemented.

6. Cultural- Values

- Processes and systems.

- Symbolisms.

- Acceptance of various symbolisms and harmony between them.

- There seems to be more worry about symbolisms than the essence of “Truth” about which all these symbolisms represent.

- Make people –the whole mass of people move towards understanding “Truth” in all its multiparameteral aspects including spiritual and materialist aspects and the to be conceived future parameters.

- Role for a vast number committed teachers to decipher,create and teach about emerging new aspects of “Truth”.

7. Science and Technology:

- Purpose and values.

- Adventurism verses conservatism. the balancing-like steering a car

- Ultimately it should help the overall human good and preservation of life on earth by “Effort”, always praying against cosmic and natural turbulances and calamities.

8. Spirituality – There should be at least some hazy concretization at the global level.

Some big picture. Starts some where for concretization at least at global level.

Start spiritual innovation-this is for the modern spiritualists.

I have been talking about these aspects since the late 90’s in a concret way and formalized by registering Materialist Spiritualist Mission Trust on 11-06-2003 as a public charitable trust.

please visit www.materialistspiritualist.org and also go through the material on “Talk on materialism spiritualism and Shrama dharma”on 9/11 of 2009 to senior IIM alumni at Hyderabad as given in the Speeches part of the website.

MSMT tried to give overall contours and paradigm consisting of philosophical basis, a vision and a hazy road map for achieving harmony, peace, synergy, justice and development.

Your Comments are welcome.

C.Venkataramanaiah B.E, MBA (IIM-B, 74-76)
Founder and Managing Trustee
Materialist Spiritualist Mission Trust.
Hyderabad, India
Email: cvr.msmt@gmail.com

--- On Fri, 29/1/10, Sanjay.Gadhalay wrote:

From: Sanjay.Gadhalay
Subject: [iimb_hyderabad] World Economic Forum-article..A iimpassioned call for cooperation and Collaboration in the worlds to rebuild the institutions that have decayed as we sy=tand on the brink
To:"Iimb.hyd.yahoogroup","Paniit.discussiongroup", "Paniithyd.yahoogroup"
Cc: "venu", "indians_for_sociopolitical_change", lyngdohjm@yahoo.com, "Shashi Tharoor", "manisha gadhalay" , apenvconnect@googlegroups.com, "Blog_CCEA_hyd", "Blog_ISB_SACHS_10kw", "Vijay Mehrotra", apj@abdulkalam.com
Date: Friday, 29 January, 2010, 11:44 AM
Printed from

New ways of global cooperation
25 Jan 2010, 0321 hrs IST, Klaus Schwab,

The economic and financial crisis of the past year underscored the extent to which, after experiencing the ‘globalisation of opportunities’ , we are now facing the ‘globalisation of problems’. This shift reflects the transformation of a world that has become much more interconnected, interdependent and complex, characterised by many new state and non-state players.

Today, although the impact of the crisis appears to be diminishing, an atmosphere of complacency has descended, even as the recovery process remains fragile. The momentum calling for comprehensive reforms has slowed and the compulsion for international cooperation has weakened, as demonstrated recently in Copenhagen.

As we continue to absorb lessons from the crisis, it is clear that this year will be an exceedingly challenging one. The fiscal and monetary prescriptions to ease the pain of global economic shocks are now fuelling anxieties about the creation of new economic bubbles.

Moreover, the demographic, behavioural and technological changes linked to the collapse in global demand, combined with the persistent overcapacity in many industries, are challenging basic assumptions about the nascent recovery. In addition, global risks such as climate change, nuclear proliferation and pandemics have reached unprecedented heights of urgency.

If we focus solely on crisis management, we will continue to fuel the downward spiral. Denial of unpleasant or politically- inconvenient truths, combined with the herd instinct, is what has caused us to rely on systems that were unrealistic and unsustainable in the first place.

Clearly, moments of crises create moments of opportunity to introduce better ideas and to inject positive change in the global system, drawing on the engagement of all stakeholders of global society. It is clear that 2010 represents a tipping point in global history, and that the management of our future requires us above all to do it in the framework of rethinking our values, redesigning our systems and rebuilding our institutions.

One of the fundamental pre-conditions in rethinking our values framework should not only be anchored on social responsibility and environmental sustainability, but also on increased equity. Rethinking our values provides the foundation for the necessary redesign of our systems, adapting them to the needs of society in the 21st century.

This redesign must take place at all levels, but particularly on the global level, comprising the necessary framework, for example, for global financial and trade flows.

These redesign efforts require a common vision, collaborative innovation and public-private partnerships for their long-term success.

Rethinking our values and redesigning our systems naturally leads to the rebuilding of our institutions — to make them more proactive and strategic; more inclusive, fostering greater multistakeholder engagement; more reflective of the new geo-political and geo-economic structures; and more inclusive of inter-generational accountability and responsibility.

The bricks we are using to build the post-crisis world can be found in new concepts that are based on greater citizen involvement and stronger government partnerships with other non-state actors. We have to incorporate much more expertise and knowledge into our global decision-making processes; we have to use social networking as an empowerment tool and more effectively harness our digital capital; we have to listen more intensively to the next generation.

While there are many existing institutions that are well placed to look at discrete aspects of the challenges facing the world, none have the mandate to examine the global situation in an integrated and holistic manner, nor do they have the range of stakeholders and constituencies that would enable them to perform such a task adequately.

It is clear that what the world needs most today is integration and cooperation. We will never meet the challenges if we do it alone. We must reach beyond our own silos, building links with other people and organisations.

The basis of any progress made in the complex and fast-moving world of the 21st century is the capability to understand the motivations of all the different stakeholders of society and to gain true insights into the nature of the issues. This can only be achieved through dialogue amongst those who have responsibility for shaping the global agenda. Such a discourse is the pre-condition for sound and enlightened decision-making.

To provide the platform for such a comprehensive and authentic dialogue is the unique contribution that Davos — at the beginning of each year — can make to the world.

(The author is founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, whose annual summit at Davos takes place over January 27-31)

Posted by Venkataramanaiah Chekuru,CEO at CVR SYNERGY MANAGEMENT SERVICES|20 Aug, 2010

Problem of India is more due to Indians attitude towards work.Society unnecessarily grants status to the jobs.All jobs are important and respectful;wheather IAS or Sweeper. No country can provide white colored jobs to such a large population.No body wants to do hard work.even if they work personal productivity is lowest in the world.On the one hand there is unemployment Steel Sector,Manufacturing sector and Construction sector are facing acute manpower shortage.We have so many so called engineers from fake private engg colleges but no draftmen to develop drawings,for which all projects are suffering.Rat race can't solve problem.Every mother want their sons to go to IT Industry,which is not an industry at all.Everybody wants son-in-law from IT.Let society give equal respect to all jobs,problem will reduce.

Posted by Dr.Rajkumar P.Singh , Director (ALC) at Bharat Forge Ltd | 20 Aug, 2010

It is true that majority does not want to live on charity. They want to earn respectfully. We do not need schemes like Jawahar Rojgar Yojna where money is mostly distributed for some imaginary work, partly going to poor and partly to corrupt officials. What India needs is education for all, followed by training in various skills. Today we see acute shortage of skilled workers such as welders, carpenters, bar benders, masons etc. and all mega projects suffer due to lack of such manpower. It is easy to generate such manpower, provided money is diverted to basic education and skill training. No scheme can be successful unless we root out corruption. Are contractors depositing money into Provident Fund Account of labor in the unorganized sector ? How much money is fed by the contractors in getting clearance from statutory authorities.

Posted by RK Grover | 19 Aug, 2010

How can there be justified social growth when most of the service sectors and social sectors have been slipped into mediocre but stinkingly rich industrialists and corporates. Take the case of education. Now a days education means managerial education which is nearly controlled by business groups and corporate people. MBA degrees have become a bustling business in instituions run and controlled by business people. Commercialization of degress is one scenario in instituiopns under the controlled of corporates. There is a lot of injustice and corruption takes place behind the flambouncy of many of the prominent private educational instituions.

Posted by Dr. Sujata Menon , freelancer at education | 19 Aug, 2010

The ignorance and jealousy is as much a great constraint on India's economic growth and ful employment of Indian working age population. THE MPS want their salaries tyo be rised from Rs 16,000 to Rs 80,000 per month - a five fold increase. The Hohest bureacrat increased his salary from Rs40,000 to Rs80,000 per month. The problem is when corporate executives get manifold salary increase. Corporate executives at least produce some positive results: what is the contribution of bureacrats and MPs - wastage of time and energu and tax payers' money in agitations and deferrng legislations and reforms and sitting over files and red-tapism. Indians are only capabe of copying without understanding what they are copying. India will take centiuries get to the capapbilty to copy the Western Capitalist system or the Chinese style dictatorial state capitalism system. Copying effectively would have lifted the average Indian income to $22,ooo per year as many countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore and others have done copying the US while Indians stuill continue to have average Indian income of $2000 even now. Do not take the figures literraly. Just think how poor the Indians are even copying western capitalism as campared with japan, Korea, Singapore and even China. Better would have been to learn from those countries how to copy capitalism from the US or China.

Posted by Basudeb Sen | 19 Aug, 2010

First, democracy is installed all india and the States with bi-cameral legislative bodies. Then some states dissolve the second house and ensure the monopoy of elected representatives who will only have the right to discuss and debate leaving civil society and intellectuals out from debates. Then, the State decides to formulate Plans at the centre and the States by the elected legilators. So, the people are left out and not involved in the planning process. Next you have local elected bodies in municipalities , panchyats and districts. Then, these elected representatives of people get involved in planning. But the people are still not involved. So, we must go to each srteet to have elected representtves to formulate plans and finally of course each household has to get involved in planning so that no one feels left out. And, then ech member of the family wil not be involved in planning and 80% of the population would be left ut of socio-economic planning assuming an average household size of 6. And, also most or the corporate citizens, the NGOs and science and religious organisations will be left out as few of them will be consulted or heard with brief meetings.The blind faith and hope in State planning will probably last as long as that situation arises and the politicians merrily impose their preference on the 80% or more of the population. They neither begin from planning involving 100% of the population or the voting right population and tax-paying entities, nor will give up the hoax of State economic and social planning!! They are addicted to plnning for all the people but has no intellectual capacity to design systems to make all the people involved.

And, the great planners who are currently involved say that they prefer lower income growth if higher icome growth means lower employment growth. Where did they get the idea that higher income growth could mean lower employment growth? Why can't simply ask for a growth rate of employment that can absorb the entire population in the working age-group.? Because those wh are involved in economic plaanning do not know how and are not willing to make full employment a possibility. They do not want to recognize that new employment is generated by increased economic activity. Increased economic activity depends on the innovative and risktaking apptitude of the creative entrpreneurial insticnt of human beings and the utilization of this apptitude. The State planners have no means by wich they can significantly enhance this apptitude and its utilization so that full employment of working age population takes place.. For 63 years we ave gone on streamlining and strengthening planning by the State and has miserbably failed to make any significant impact on economic growth or employment generation. It is only since the strutural rforms were initiated in 1991 to curtail State's power and role in economic and employment growth, that both income and employment growth have substantially increaed. Had the politicians implemented the structural economic reforms that are still in the shelvs earlier ,output and employment growth woud have been much faster. The only way the State planners and policy makers can learn to innovate is first to give up their role of being drivers of economic and output growth and learn to know how to facilitate the flowering of talented scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs to flower on their own initiative in the market place instead of trying to create hurdles for them in their endeavour to enhance the pructivity and production in goods and services.

Posted by Basudeb Sen | 19 Aug, 2010

Excellent article. Responsible society and business leaders must wonder why the people in the upper echelons of the corporate world have their incomes increase manifold while the companies and the overall economy grow in the 7-15% range in most cases. Wouldn't that money be better spent in bringing about more equity in the income distribution. We are blindly aping the unfettered capitalist model the US followed for many years and that led to the economic crash of 2008-2009. Even they are questioning this model now. Open markets does not mean corporate excesses.

Posted by Rajit Anand,Vice President, Multisourcing, India Business Development at Pearson|19 Aug, 2010

The day we treat Indians as India, we would have crossed the hurdle. Just look at the CWG as example. We want to present the shining, incredible, fast developing India to the world through the Common Walth Games. Hundreds and millions of rupees are spent for that. But look at the salaries or wages paid to the workers involved in the various facilties that are coming up. Look at their way of living in tents and poor sanitary conditions like animals. This attitude and treatment is seen throughout our society in India. We are building India without Indians. The day we start loving our people, then the ways and means to provide them happy lives will start coming up in plans and physical planes.

How many houses we need in India? How many shools and colleges we need in lIndia? How many nursing homes and hospitals we need in India? Why do we need them? We need them for the people of India to make them happy citizens of this country. Why are not these infrastructurs coming up? Simply because we do not love the people who needed these. Jobs and skills are directly related to our love for the people, the Indians and not India.

Posted by George Varuggheese,President at Godimages Good Governance Society|19 Aug, 2010

It is a great contribution to the thinking people of the country. Most relevant, timely, all-encomassing (includes all all apt topics). Worth mentioning the thoughtfulness for the youth and that is the crux of the issue requiring more attention.

Posted by C V Joseph | 19 Aug, 2010

This is an excellent analysis of Indian situation.One KPI Indian corporate may be asked to add in the annual report is :

How many nett new employees were during during this financial year? And the Prime Minister should give an award to the largest job creator.

This will than encourage a rate race among the so called rich to be that list.

Posted by Mehmood Khan,Managing Trustee at Rasuli Kanwar Khan Trust|19 Aug, 2010

India today is a tipping point where it needs a push towards inclusive growth. The main hurdle in the growth of India is bureaucracy and corruption. Some transparency in the systems and some collective efforts will take India to the path of prosperity. According to me enthreprenureship is something to be developed very seriously. But for that to florish again bureaucracy and government laws are not allowing enthreprenures to make an effort to contribute to the problem of jobs generation.

Posted by Artee Aggrawal,Program Coordinator-MBA in International Business at Department of Business Management, Padamshree Dr. D. Y. patil University|19 Aug, 2010

We must surely worry more about distributing our rotting food grains than Blackburry .!!

Posted by Krishnan Gopal | 19 Aug, 2010

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