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Events & Issues
3 October 2013, New Delhi
SC &
Rajan Report
REVISITING
DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM
By Dhurjati
Mukherjee
The Supreme Court recently delivered
a momentous judgement which stated that faster economic growth could not be the
sole criterion for determining the legality of ban on illegal mining activities
in Goa. The bench of Justices AK Patnaik, S S
Nijjar and FM I Kalifulla expressed dissatisfaction that the media was
concerned only with the GDP growth without constitutional principles. What they
did not specify but definitely implied was the impact of such illegal mining of
iron ore on the environment and also whether this benefitted, in any way, the
impoverished sections of society.
The apex court referred to Directive
Principles chapter IV of the Constitution and focused on Article 38 which asks
the Government to remove inequalities among citizens and Article 39 which
provides for a slew of welfare principles, including “operation of the economic
system that does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of
production to the common detriment”, as guiding principles of governance. But
unfortunately the Government has all along turned a blind eye to illegal and
harmful mining activities being carried out in various parts of the country
that have gone against the greater interests of society.
This sort of growth cannot, in any
way, be considered real development. Growth or development has to be seen from
the perspective of things/activities that are aimed at the welfare of the
people in general; not just a group of people who make money through illegal
deals. Moreover, the question of export of natural resources like iron ore,
bauxite and coal needs to be examined by an expert committee in the light of
the country’s own requirements in the coming 10/20 years.
The other question is the impact on
environment and the people living in and around where mining activities take
place. Most of the companies involved in mining do not take adequate measures
to ensure that the health of these poor people is not jeopardized. The
standards fixed by the Environment Ministry are not adhered to and there is no
agency to check this and even if the concerned State Government officials visit
the site, they are reportedly bribed along with their political masters.
It is an erroneous notion that only
activities related to industry, mining etc can boost development, specially for
a country like India,
where over 65 per cent of the population lives in the countryside and needs to
join the mainstream of life and activity. Thus rural infrastructure development
has to be the key focus through better education, health, communication, power
facilities etc to uplift the conditions of the rural population.
It would be pertinent in this
context to understand the dimension and focus of development as outlined in the
Raghuram Rajan (then Chief Economic Adviser) committee report which has negated
the widely acclaimed ‘Gujarat model’ and ranked the State 12th among
others in the development index. Only industrial development and fast growth
rate do not necessarily mean development, as has been the case of Gujarat. According to well-known economist and Planning
Commission member, Abhijit Sen, if one looks at HDI data from Gujarat,
there is large difference between the levels of development of tribals and
non-tribals and between those of urban and rural people. “When the State level
average is worked out, the overall score (of Gujarat)
would fall short of those of several other States, he stated.
This Committee for Evolving
Corporate Development Index of States has rightly given sufficient weightage to
human development factors, specially per capita consumption expenditure,
education, health, poverty ratio etc. It is an accepted fact that growth will
not automatically trickle down to the poor for whom sustainable development is
very important. Thus a pro-poor development strategy has to be embedded in the
growth approach.
Gujarat and many of the
so-called industrially advanced States need to model their future growth in
such a manner that tribals, dalits, backward classes and poor are able to
prosper with growth in GDP. Only income being added to the rich and the upper
middle class is no indicator of development and this imbalance may result in
social problems of varied nature.
The committee report will go a long
way in gearing up the process of development as henceforth the less developed
States would get larger allocation of funds from the Centre based on the need
criteria. For example, under the new multi-dimensional index fixed by the
report, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh,
which are the Most Backward States of the country, would be eligible for rapid
economic development with more resources.
The development paradigm needs to be
properly understood in planning our future growth strategy so that all sections
of society benefit. Only privatization cannot be considered a panacea to
development as the Supreme Court rightly pointed out. Privatization in the
country may have increased efficiency in some sectors but in the process the
poor and the impoverished sections have suffered. Of course, it cannot be
denied that some of the recent steps by the present Government such as the Land
Acquisition Act, the Food Security Act have been in the right direction whereby
there the needs and demands of the poor and the economically weaker sections
are expected to be protected.
There has to be a change in outlook
towards the whole issue of development and it has to be viewed from a pragmatic
and judicious standpoint. Political will and a sincere approach are very much
necessary at this juncture. The priority in the new outlook would have to be
the common man, whose benefits need to be kept in mind while also not
neglecting the economic growth perspective.
The question that obviously engages
our mind is that will the desired change come about? One needs to be optimistic
on this count as there are enough indications of a transformation in outlook
occurring in the minds of political leaders – at least some of them --
activists, economists and a larger section of society. If the young generation
gets the leadership of the political parties, there is hope of a perceptible
change in the developmental policies of the Government – both at the Centre and
in at least some of the States.
However, one thing is certain that
the poor and the backward sections – the tribals, dalits and other such
communities – cannot be neglected for long as this will have more serious
consequences both on the social and economic front. There has to be
developmental growth – more businesses by the people, for the people and of the
people. The vision for the future should be based on Gandhiji’s charkha, which symbolized
that people would be earners and owners of their own enterprise – the new
meaning of inclusive democratic capitalism. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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