Thoughts & Suggestions

नमस्थे  Respected Dr. Manmohanji,

 

I am a 1975 graduate of IITB.  And I might add, one of the most successful batches that the IITs have produced.  After graduation I spent over thirty plus years in the US.  I returned to India in 2005, and have settled in semi-rural Karnataka. 

 

I have sent you numerous notes via the Feedback Mechanism and I hope they were presented to you and that you have had a chance to read them, despite your hectic schedule.  The 500 word limit forces me to be very succinct since I have a proclivity to be wordy.  But at times, e-mail allows me to express my thoughts more effectively.

 

And so I hope this e-mail will be graced with your attention for I too am passionate about India and wish that it be a great place for all concerned i.e. people of all income levels.

 

The reason I have chosen Rural India to settle down is because the Quality of Life here is terrific.  We may not have the plethora of Urban entertainment choices.  However, for a person who enjoys peace and quite, this is Paradise....barring a few nuisances, namely; the locals, many of whom are alcoholics and petty thieves.

 

Living in this environment, enables me to provide a unique perspective that is different from the typical activist, who tends to be a tilted significantly to the Left.  I consider myself a Politically Incorrect Rationalist.  Depending upon the issue, the "Views" I support could be Right of Center, Center and Left of Center.  Never far Left!   And I must confess, an area of concern to me are matters where the interests of the "majority" are being marginalized by too much being conceded to the "minorities".  In these matters, we should transition to incentives based on economic grounds rather than caste and religion.  Let's get truly secular.

 

The communists in my opinion are clinging to an ideology that was propounded at a different time and at a different place, that is no longer relevant in these times.  Figure this; they are fighting Big Retail saying that it will put the small shop owner (A petty capitalist) out of business; while denying the consumer a better deal.  Items are now available below MRP, with the advent of competition from Big Bazaar and others.  The fact that Big Bazaar is crowded and presumably doing well is testament to the consumers mandate.  Whose side are the commies on? 

 

True, unbridled Capitalism has been tarred and so has misdirected Socialism.  While Capitalism tends to be a much maligned term in India, Socialism meets with the same treatment in the US.  The fact is that the US is more Socialist than perceived and the visa versa holds true in India.

 

The fact of the matter is any society/country has multiple socio-economic segments and each needs to be served.  And so the poor, lower-middle, middle, upper-middle, affluent and rich...all have their needs and it is imperative that their needs "within reason" are met.  The irony in India, is that despite the "Talk", the "Haves" have been served more than the "Have Nots".  That is not to say the poor haven't been served.  Without getting into details, the programs have not produced the desired results.  And in many instances, poverty is self inflicted.  Now for the first time, your administration's clarion call of "Inclusive Growth" resonates.  Liberalization created a vibrant "Middle Class", and did provide opportunities to many previously poor.  Now we need to lift the remaining Poor, not by giving them "Hand Outs", but giving them the opportunity to earn their way out of their predicament.  Not providing adequate opportunity has been the gravest error of India's past policies. 

 

We have to be very careful with our choice of words.  For instance, I was listening to Sharad Pawar's address to the Lok Sabha where he mentioned "improving the purchasing power" of rural citizens.  He stated this numerous times.  Well, throw money at people and you increase their "purchasing power".  The goal should be improving their, "Income Levels".  No one can argue that providing non-farm related Jobs that provide sustainable income is the right solution.  Also, sometimes, it is more effective to facilitate the migration of the non-farm worker to the job, than to give every eligible worker an in-situ job.  Both you and I and many others, followed opportunity and benefited from it, rather than waiting for opportunities to come to us.  Facilitating migration means providing affordable "rental" living quarters; be it dormitories, hostels, etc.  The opportunity to rent first is a must, ownership can come later.

 

Another term being used is disinvestment.  Why not use the term democratization?  Enable the citizens to directly own a portion of the Public Sector undertaking rather than owning indirectly through the government.

 

Finally, we should make a concerted effort of not using the term; "Sarkar". Sarkar has connotations of Colonial times and denotes "Boss".  In a Democratic context, the people are the Sarkars!  We need to come up with a better term that denotes that the administration's, elected and appointed individuals sole purpose is to serve.  The term "Sarkar" should be banished from the government's vocab.

 

जय हो,