OPEN FORUM

New Delhi, 20 August 2008

Uneven Growth

WHO WILL BE THE POOR’S MESSIAH?

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

The growth rate mania that has gripped many countries the world over, including India has undoubtedly proved beneficial to all. Significantly, according to a book by renowned economist Prestowitz, India is expected to overtake Japan in dollar terms (not purchase parity) by the year 2030 and in the second half of the century it will be the largest economy. In fact, the country has witnessed a remarkable upward trend during the last 6-7 years.

But the moot point: Has it benefited the masses?  Translated into a better quality of life for the majority of the citizens? Not at all.

Factually speaking, the benefits of a higher growth rate of 9+ have reached only around 20 per cent of the population. Besides, the switchover from welfare-oriented ‘Stateism’ to profit-oriented liberalization and privatization has shown that the range of beneficiaries become narrower and narrower, notwithstanding a higher rate of growth. The beneficiaries, apart from the business houses, belong to the middle class and those in the organized sector. Leading to inequality in our highly uneven and stratified society.

Inequality, not only in terms of opportunities and outcomes (interpersonal, inter-regional, inter-gender, inter-caste etc) but also in regard to unequal distribution of wealth, income, consumption, expenditure which has accentuated over time. True, liberalization has opened up opportunities for the rich and also to an extent the middle class and given them a chance to exploit the market but the conditions of the poorer segments have not improved in any way. Moreover, the high rates of inflation and the spurt in food prices for the past few months have affected the economically weaker sections in a big way.    

In such a scenario, the development perspective has to be people-oriented so that the lower tiers of society benefit. Clearly, the neglect of the rural sector and the increasing consumerism in the big cities with shopping malls, booming share prices and real estate prices does not augur well for the country. This imbalance is accentuated by the enormous loss of livelihoods and withdrawal of people from the workforce in the name of modernization.

Worse, land belonging to poor people, specially tribals and other backward castes, are being forcibly taken away at very nominal prices to meet the demands of industrialization and urbanization without any scheme of rehabilitation of the affected families who have to languish in misery and squalor.

This has resulted in widespread social chaos and violence in the states of Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab and many other places in the country. There is no gainsaying, that crime, alienation and violence of dis-equalising growth may not find a mention in neo-classical economics but it is very much an integral part of the living reality in India. Manifesting itself in increasing violence by Naxalites and other religious groups. The recent blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad stand testimony to this.

The focus of any development strategy has to be both economic and social and aimed at the welfare of the people. This means that while economic factors for boosting growth have to be given importance, simultaneous attention has to be accorded to social concerns that affect the masses.

It needs to be mentioned here that around 70 per cent of the country live in villages and any effective strategy of real development has to keep in mind their upliftment. But unfortunately very little had been done till the mid 90s to upgrade their quality of life. As such, 31 per cent still live on less than a dollar a day and India’s poverty shows no sign of coming down from its present 26-28 per cent.

On the contrary, landlessness has increased. Agriculture has become non-remunerative because of continuous division of land holdings and poor returns. Rural infrastructure has not developed except for some attempts in the last few years. The bias in our development strategy has visibly been on the urban sector and industrial growth rather than on rural regeneration and agricultural growth.

Not only that. Both social and physical infrastructure for the nameless majority continues to be stagnant in most States since a decade. In the realm of social infrastructure, the appalling health conditions of women and children has led to world-wide concern  and needs to be improved. It is hoped that the National Rural Health Mission will carry out proper work to improve the conditions.

Moreover, the inadequate spread of education, specially among girls and the increasing number of drop-outs shows that we have been unsuccessful in spreading education which, in turn, has hindered population growth. The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has been doing some good work in this sphere but to spread education in the proper way requires that facilities and conditions of rural schools need to be improved in a big way. 

A country aspiring to become a world power through a high growth rate has to give optimum emphasis on education which can make people socially conscious and generate awareness about the emerging reality. Even the United Nations has designated 2005-2014 as the decade of ‘Education for Sustainable Development.’ This necessitates an increase in education among the people which, in turn, ensures good governance, a better quality of life and a balanced ecological system.

The need for decentralization and giving more power to the panchayats has been emphasized since the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments were passed. However, true decentralization has yet to become a reality as the panchayats in most States merely execute plans formulated by their respective State Government.

More. People’s involvement in the planning process is virtually absent. All seem to have forgotten Gandhiji’s wise counsel that planning from below was a pre-condition for development to become people-centred and reach the grassroots.

It is apparent that rural regeneration is the need of the hour. Towards that end, the Government’s initiative in launching the Bharat Nirman and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme are steps in the right direction. As huge resources are needed to make these projects really successful, it has to be ensured that top priority be accorded to these programmes.

While the Bharat Nirman programme has improved the road network, the employment programme will now cover all 593 districts of the country, despite unencouraging reports about its success. Unless these are carried out with sincerity and dedication, which is unfortunately lacking in the system, the condition of the masses will not improve. The people’s involvement in all possible ways has also to be ensured to make these programmes a success. Specially against the backdrop, that these programmes are expected to perform the essential dual task of employment generation and rural upliftment.

Most economists agree that currently India needs massive doses of investment in infrastructure and in the social sector. The disagreement is only over where such large funds would come from. One answer could be foreign direct investment (FDI). The second, by the Government only selling a minority stake in profitable public sector companies. With the Left out of the UPA Government, this option could be explored and used effectively for funding various social and physical infrastructure projects.

In sum, for India to emerge a strong global power, development is necessary. Recall, the famous 1975 report of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation which stated: “Development ought to rest on five pillars --- it ought to be indigenous, self-reliant, need-oriented, environment friendly and open to institutional change”. To achieve this, it is necessary to empower the people and solicit the cooperation of all stakeholders in the planning and development process. ---- INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)