I live in a country that is growing too fast for comfort for the previous generation. It is also growing too slow for the present generation. I live in India, a country where in if you look closely, all you will find is segregation: caste, economic status, the urban-rural divide for a start.
'Entreprenuership' is the new buzzword in the country with most young fresh graduates opting for a course in management degree to give shape to their budding ideas and dreams of making it big in India Inc. and outside. The sky-high inflation, or the RBI's i-can't-breathe tight monetary policies are little deterrent to the winged dreams of our nation's youth.
It is true that we have come a long way since 1993, but I think we still have a long way to go. The private sector is quite lucky (well, almost) that it doesn't employ the pervasive bureaucracy that our once-socialist government did. However, it still has to jump through multiple hoops to get things done. There still is a ringmaster. The whole world is calling upon on our nation for a second wave of major reforms. There are still many conditions on companies investing in India. Some sectors are out of reach! Retail, for example, is not available for FDI. Why? Because local players would find it tough to compete and survive in the market? How long are we going to be afraid of competition and live in our own tiny little shells, no matter how good and safe we feel about it? Isn't this denying the consumers of better products and service?
Ours is not a country with radical thoughts. We are growth-oriented. It is important that this is visible in every policy that is introduced in this country. There has been a lot of talk about corruption in our country. Mr. Hazare, with the noblest of thoughts took up the gargantuan challenge of bringing back the money stashed abroad and setting up a parallel government to control the government. While it may have been done with the best intentions at heart, as a nation, we must think of the repercussions such actions would have on the economy. Injecting that amount of cash into an economy already reeling with inflation might make matters worse. You may rubbish this thought calling me too naive, perhaps.
Also, having a parallel government may not be the sustainable way going forward. Who elected the 'corrupt' leaders again and again to their posts? Us! Democracy is a power we have. Lets us use it. We are not ignorant any more. We have electronic media. Twitter messages reach people faster than earthquakes. Let us put the communications/technology to good use and change the way the world looks at us. Today, India is considered an economic force to reckon with and yet, when foreigners visit us, they take 'black and white' images of slums for the 'real' India.
Instead of having a self-proclaimed set of 'clean' people on top of the government, wouldn't it be more prudent that the people elect better leaders?After all, we got ourselves into this mess. Let us get ourselves out of it. In my state, when an IAS officer formed a political party and spoke pure sense in the State Assembly, he received minimum support. People wanted to bring their own 'peddanna' (big brother) to power. And then, when the power goes out, the roads are water-logged, farmers commit suicides, we blame the government. We are not a part of monarchy and dynastic rule. People must earn the right, trust and respect to be a part of the government. They are not born with it. The right to vote is not merely a right. It is a power vested in the common man to determine his fate, and in turn, his country's.
The generation X, as we are called, knows how the world outside works. We also know what exactly we want. Our taxes are among the highest in the world. Our fuel rates are among the highest in the world. It is only appropriate for us then, to raise our voice and ask why we do not have better, if not the same as the western, living conditions. When these questions fall on deaf ears, it results in the much publicised brain-drain. Who is to blame? It is difficult to answer this.
The answer to our national problem of restrained growth is multi-pronged. First of all, as humans, we must have a conscience and feel responsible for our own actions. It must prick when the clerk at the local RTO okays the registration of an unsafe truck by accepting a bribe. This has to happen at the individual level. Of course, it would appear next to impossible that such a change ever happens, if it does. Only collective effort will result in any noticeable growth or change in the way we or other perceive of our nation.
As always, let us hold on to hope and continue to do our best! Vande Maataram!
'Entreprenuership' is the new buzzword in the country with most young fresh graduates opting for a course in management degree to give shape to their budding ideas and dreams of making it big in India Inc. and outside. The sky-high inflation, or the RBI's i-can't-breathe tight monetary policies are little deterrent to the winged dreams of our nation's youth.
It is true that we have come a long way since 1993, but I think we still have a long way to go. The private sector is quite lucky (well, almost) that it doesn't employ the pervasive bureaucracy that our once-socialist government did. However, it still has to jump through multiple hoops to get things done. There still is a ringmaster. The whole world is calling upon on our nation for a second wave of major reforms. There are still many conditions on companies investing in India. Some sectors are out of reach! Retail, for example, is not available for FDI. Why? Because local players would find it tough to compete and survive in the market? How long are we going to be afraid of competition and live in our own tiny little shells, no matter how good and safe we feel about it? Isn't this denying the consumers of better products and service?
Ours is not a country with radical thoughts. We are growth-oriented. It is important that this is visible in every policy that is introduced in this country. There has been a lot of talk about corruption in our country. Mr. Hazare, with the noblest of thoughts took up the gargantuan challenge of bringing back the money stashed abroad and setting up a parallel government to control the government. While it may have been done with the best intentions at heart, as a nation, we must think of the repercussions such actions would have on the economy. Injecting that amount of cash into an economy already reeling with inflation might make matters worse. You may rubbish this thought calling me too naive, perhaps.
Also, having a parallel government may not be the sustainable way going forward. Who elected the 'corrupt' leaders again and again to their posts? Us! Democracy is a power we have. Lets us use it. We are not ignorant any more. We have electronic media. Twitter messages reach people faster than earthquakes. Let us put the communications/technology to good use and change the way the world looks at us. Today, India is considered an economic force to reckon with and yet, when foreigners visit us, they take 'black and white' images of slums for the 'real' India.
Instead of having a self-proclaimed set of 'clean' people on top of the government, wouldn't it be more prudent that the people elect better leaders?After all, we got ourselves into this mess. Let us get ourselves out of it. In my state, when an IAS officer formed a political party and spoke pure sense in the State Assembly, he received minimum support. People wanted to bring their own 'peddanna' (big brother) to power. And then, when the power goes out, the roads are water-logged, farmers commit suicides, we blame the government. We are not a part of monarchy and dynastic rule. People must earn the right, trust and respect to be a part of the government. They are not born with it. The right to vote is not merely a right. It is a power vested in the common man to determine his fate, and in turn, his country's.
The generation X, as we are called, knows how the world outside works. We also know what exactly we want. Our taxes are among the highest in the world. Our fuel rates are among the highest in the world. It is only appropriate for us then, to raise our voice and ask why we do not have better, if not the same as the western, living conditions. When these questions fall on deaf ears, it results in the much publicised brain-drain. Who is to blame? It is difficult to answer this.
The answer to our national problem of restrained growth is multi-pronged. First of all, as humans, we must have a conscience and feel responsible for our own actions. It must prick when the clerk at the local RTO okays the registration of an unsafe truck by accepting a bribe. This has to happen at the individual level. Of course, it would appear next to impossible that such a change ever happens, if it does. Only collective effort will result in any noticeable growth or change in the way we or other perceive of our nation.
As always, let us hold on to hope and continue to do our best! Vande Maataram!
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