Recently India celebrated its 64th
Republic day with great pomp and show. We had marching contingents from the
three wings of the armed forces as well as the police and paramilitary forces. Numerous
tableaus also were displayed on the Rajpath where the President of India, Shri.
Pranab Mukherjee took the salute. In the backdrop of all this celebrations we
also had a series of reformative decisions taken by the government in the areas
of diesel pricing, cashless transfer, hike in railway fares etc. to ease the
fiscal deficit burden of the burden. Also coupled with all this was the recent
spat with Pakistan over its intrusion into the LoC and beheading of an Indian
soldier. Even before all this, was the gang-rape in the national capital which
aroused the anger in especially the youth of the country.
Now as a citizen I am little
concerned if we are just traversing from one sore incident to the other
mindlessly or are we even taking cognizance of the ills in our society and
taking some lessons from our mistakes. Needless to say that some of these
incidents have been really shocking and have occurred for first in time in
history. What are these lessons or ideas which we can embrace so that we can contribute
towards nation building which unfortunately nobody seems to be bothered about
these days?
Right from the Anna Hazare’s
movement to Baba Ramdev’s fast at the Ramlila grounds to that of the recent protests
at the footsteps of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, there have been certain common
trend lines which can be observed. One that, the nation is awakening to the
passivity of our decision makers. Second, the nation is unifying to the plight
of the common man and thirdly, a leadership vacuum does exist, which is very
much palpable in our society. I say these because today the citizens are in the
mode of asking questions from the political class. They are simply not content
with the rudimentary style answers or cursory assurances provided by the
government. For example, in the Delhi gang-raped case instead of the action of
suspension of the erring policemen the citizens wanted the amendment of the
laws of the land? Citizens want a change, which is more enduring. A change
which completely annihilates, such ills which exist in the society. The unrest
is very much palpable and it also seems that the masses are being pushed to the
brink that they are even thinking of alternative courses of action and
therefore you have the Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party and Anna Hazare’s Janatantra
Morcha with burgeoning following. These are very much the signs of a possible
mass social movement on the offing. Remember how the Indian freedom struggle
started. Some uprisings here and there intermittently and then a fight for one
unified cause woven by the emerging reach of the newspapers which at that time helped
galvanize the public opinion. Today the situation is also similar. We do have
such intermittent protests which have dotted our history, in the recent past. These
uprisings have been assisted by the overarching spread of the social media
platforms and the 24 X 7 news channels. But above all, the tragedy is that the
leadership vacuum is still there unlike the pre-independent era. While Anna and
Ramdev have chosen to work at the backdrop, the nation hopes against hope, for
direction from the political class which is supposed to be found showing the
way ahead. But the irony is that our politicians have stumbled event after
event and their own credibility is coming to question, each time they try to
engage with the masses. I am left wondering, do we not have a single leader at
the helm who has the experience of engaging people at the grassroots and form a
united front partnering with the common man and the civil society? The leaders
of our freedom struggle where not like this. They were always present at the
places where crisis was there. Gandhiji camped in West Bengal for days when the
riots where going on to instill some calm in the people. But leaders of my
generation choose to be seated in their plush offices and watch the happenings
on television that come out and talk to the people.
Economically also we need to
revamp our policies. Some of our actions which have been continuing in the past
are highly unsustainable. The subsidy regime which encompasses even the rich,
the overarching tax breaks for the big business houses are all highly arbitrary
and unwelcome. The rationalizing of the diesel prices and the partial
withdrawal of the subsidies on LPG beyond nine cylinders are welcome measures
by the government in reducing the fiscal deficit. The whole tax base is narrow and confusing.
There is an urgent need to enhance the tax base and thereby widen the revenue
streams of the government. The Railways which can be a cash cow for the
government should be modernized as early as possible so as to reap the
dividends of those who are ready to shell out some extra lucre to avail some
comfortable and safe travel facilities. Our scientific organizations like the
DRDO and ISRO should be strengthened more, so that they can not only cater to
the indigenous requirements but also become sources of revenue and gradually
self- reliant, by offering certain services to friendly countries. Another
aspect the government needs to look into urgently is the Energy Sector. The current
trend in usage of petroleum products in the country is highly unsustainable. We
need to channelize our efforts to enhance the share of renewable sources of
energy. Japan for example is planning to reduce its dependency on the Nuclear
energy after the recent devastating earthquake which left its nuclear reactors
destroyed causing emission of life threatening radiations. Japan has vowed to
increase the usage of renewable sources of energy. Whereas in India, we are
still trapped in the idea of relying on nuclear power to meet the energy
deficits in the country. We have failed to capitalize on the excess solar power
available in our nation or we can also fill up the deficit with hydro-electric
project if needed, considering the fact that dams are a cause of worry for the
ecosystem around.
And on the diplomacy and military
front India needs to brace up to the present global challenges. In the recent
past we saw how Pakistani soldiers intruded into Indian Territory and we had no
option in hand to make Pakistan owe up to its dastardly act. We really have come
to be taken for granted when it comes to any sort of serious diplomatic
engagement. I more often feel that the fierce foreign policy which we once had
during the times of Nehru has eroded now up to a great extent. For Example,
under pressure from US we had to vote against our longtime ally Iran at the
IAEA. China seems to be steadily asserting itself both diplomatically and
militarily in the East Asian region. Their maneuvers in the South China Sea and
that in the Maldives are examples for their robust policy making, backed up by
its strong military capabilities. This should be an eye opener for India. India
needs to recast its diplomatic policies and moreover make it more attuned with
the changing times and country’s geopolitical interests. India needs to
increase its influence in the Indian Ocean region for which it needs to
urgently augment its naval capabilities. We also need much more advanced
equipment for our ground and air forces. Having no options to exercise when provoked
again and again is a sign of weakness.
I just hate it when people say we
are a banana republic. I wish these aberrations which we see around us could be
better tackled and if we could have some sort of mechanism in place like better
legislative framework, sound political structure and better resources so that
we can pursue the wholesome development story without any hiccups. Governance
means all round development- development in policy making, growth in resource
base, augmentation of defense capabilities, corruption free institutions. We
need wholesome growth to rewrite our ‘emergent’ story.
Are our decision makers and
policy makers listening!
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