A way out for India

“India is marching towards super power status and it is already an economic power. It is the most advancing emerging economy.  We are technologically so very advanced (our rockets have even circled the moon) and our industry is skyrocketing. “ The media controlled by the ruling  parties constantly pump these concepts into the minds of those who care to watch and listen. Ironically there are quite a few who absorb every word and believe them.     

And the reality?  India is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The above middle class thinks Anna Hazare (an impeccable, absolutely poor crusader against corruption) is at also corrupt like the leaders of the ruling parties who have sucked the wealth of this country, and many of whom have stashed away loads of wealth in foreign banks. Following the lead and example of the ruling family their sycophants are sucking away the wealth of this nation as kickbacks (like in the Bofors Gun Deal by Rajiv Gandhi) from the billions and billions worth of arms/equipment purchase for the defense forces and others (India is the biggest arms purchaser in the world) and from the welfare schemes initiated by the government for the poor.

Nobody questions why a poor country like India earmarks so much for defense or for space. There is no real threat from any nation except a fear psychosis of a threat of war from Pakistan and China (probably a conscious creation to justify the large scale arms purchase . What has India learnt from sending rockets (a majority of which have nosedived as soon as they were sent) which the world does not know? The most recent census show that one out of 2 houses does not have a toilet! Not even half of our women are literate!  650 million (60% of the Indian population) are poor. Most of them earning between Rs20 to Rs30 per day.   125 million children do not attend school! More than half of our children are mal-nourished stunted many of whom die in early childhood out of starvation, diseases or both. Almost half the population lives in one room ramshackle huts or shacks without running water, toilet or anything else. In hunger, poverty, illiteracy, insanitation, malnutrition India tops the list in the comity of nations.   

This great nation can develop only when we have leaders who are not corrupt:  who have the nation’s interest in their minds. Interest in kickbacks will lead to big purchases whether needed or not. Interest in bribery will end up in the creation of more and more draconian laws, regulations and social welfare schemes. The political leadership should have the will to prioritize women’s and children’s development, implement family planning measures, educate and empower women, facilitate industries with less rules  and by the proper development of infrastructure.    

India, a spectre of poverty!

India is a nation fantastically wealthy and desperately poor.  The Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, but 25%  Of Indians earn less than the government-specified poverty threshold of 12 rupees per day (approximately US$ 0.25). A recent report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative states that 8 Indian states have more poor people than 26 poorest African nations combined! (410 million).  Rural Orissa has 43% extreme poverty rate and Bihar 41%! They are among the world’s poorest. As per the international poverty line standards, ($1.25 a day) more than 50% of Indians live below poverty line! The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report ranked India amongst the three countries where the GHI goes up while 78 out of the 81 developing countries studied, including India’s neighbors, improve it!  42.5% of the children in India suffer from malnutrition. WHO estimates 49% of the world's underweight, 34% of the world's stunted and 46% of the world's wasted children live in India!"

Is this not a grim picture?  5 year plans and poverty  alleviation programs are launched by the government. If one rupee is earmarked for the poor, not even 20% of it reaches them. The whole money is eaten up by the bureaucrats mid-way. They become richer and fatter and the poor thinner and poorer. Recently in a telecom scam the CAG of India had mentioned of the loss of 2 lakh crore ($2billion) to the exchequer through the graft of the Minister and the officials!

Wrong priorities of the government impede progress too. Andrew Mitchell, the UK secretary for international development asks why UK should aid India which is the 11th largest economy in the world spending $31.5bn on its defense and $1.25bn on space program! The defense budget mostly goes for buying weapons, aircrafts and vessels where graft is reported to be rampant. Is the Space program a priority in a poor country like India where people are dying daily of hunger, diseases and poverty? Should the defense expenditure be so much? Why not India reduce the number of government employees, who eat away a major chunk of the GDP, and introduce efficiency? The amount of black money flowing abroad amounts to more $27 billion (more one lakh crores) every year! Petty officers, high bureaucrats, the ministers and those at the top- most of them are corrupt.  More than 20% of the ruling MPs has amassed immense wealth and hold foreign bank accounts. The common people are aware of this but they are helpless. Time is ripe for a 2nd freedom struggle. There is a mass uprising initiated by social crusader, Anna Hazare. When the foreigners left, the new rulers, leaders and their deputies have begun to loot the wealth of the nation in right earnest. The Indians have gone poorer after independence and the latter become richer and fatter.