CONTOURS OF DEVELOPMENT




Photo - Village Kurar, Chamoli District, Uttarakhand

Mukesh Devrari 

Development is a wide concept. Developed nation means a nation where people have a better life. Anything and everything which contributes in improvising the lives of masses should be included in the wider definition of development. It has many determinants. Broadly all determinants can be divided into two categories. Firstly, tangible determinants which make our physical presence on earth comfortable. Secondly, non-tangible determinants which make our psychological presence on earth comfortable.

Most developing countries are lacking either both categories of determinants of development or any of them severely. India lacks tangible determinants more than it lacks intangible determinant. Our population lacks access to basic necessities of life like food, shelter, education, jobs and healthcare. It is terrible thing to argue for intangibles in a nation state which could not provide necessities of life to its citizens.

Once these necessities become accessible to all, state should endeavor to provide intangible determinants like freedom of choice, fundamental rights, protection of human rights, civil liberties, political liberties etc. Let me come to the specifics. India should plan and develop its economy in such a way that every individual should be guaranteed access to necessities of life. How it can be done. What should be the priorities of the government?

Government should primarily focus on health, education and jobs. Rest of the things can take care of itself. First is education. India is very poor country. One of the reasons is we started late. We have never prioritized investment in science, technology, engineering and innovation. We are socially in terrible state because we never encouraged free thinking and research in various fields of social sciences including economics.

We have political institutions but they are not disciplined because we as a nation state did not fund creation of world-class research institution and academies in the discipline of social sciences. As a nation-state we should heavily invest in education right from the primary school to university level. None of our universities features in the top 200 universities of the world. 1/5th of the world’s population lives in India. Ideally, we should have 20 universities in the top 100 global universities. It is not impossible. The only thing this country lacks is will power & big thinking. We ourselves are barrier in our progress.

Second is healthcare. It cannot be left for profiteering. Government should provide healthcare to one and all. State must provide health insurance to poorer sections of society. It should also open large hospitals on the lines of AIIMS around the country. Every district in the country must have one government medical college which must function as a hospital and research centre. A balance has to be established in private and public sector in healthcare industry.

India cannot afford to shirk away from its responsibilities towards its people. It is inhuman to let people die because they cannot afford healthcare. Any thought which hides or ignore or oppose universal healthcare programs through any perverted logic can only be described as barbarians.

Third priority of the government should be jobs. India needs to industrialize and urbanize itself as fast as it can. It should make it easy for industrialists to expand their business. We must promote foreign direct investment, reduce interest rates to spur demand, establish manufacturing sector to fulfill the internal consumption. Many states have been catapulted in last three decades due to the proper economic policies.

We should also encourage large investments in the strategic sector by public sector companies. Large infrastructure projects should be launched to energize the nation. India should become a hub of the high-end innovation. We should develop our own multinational brands. Jobs should be in abundance in any developed society.

end.  

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