COMMENT
We the people
In 1950, free India formally became a sovereign republic where the popular will is king. Fast forward six decades, and pride in constitutional democracy and its achievements remain undiminished. Today, Indians aren't alone in feting their success story scripted by marrying political freedom with economic progress. The world too recognises us as an emerging powerhouse drawing strength from deep-rooted democratic traditions. But on this occasion, let's remind ourselves that the republican ideal is ultimately about people's empowerment. For countless Indians, growth is a mere statistic. How can we make prosperity touch more lives?
While welfare policies promote social justice, they can't substitute for equality of opportunity. However well-meant, disbursal of state largesse makes citizens dependent on political paternalism; genuine empowerment weans them off it. It's by increasingly shifting public resources away from a dole culture toward robust returns-oriented investments in health, education and infrastructure that we can best enable and empower citizens. Give people crutches and they may never walk without needing help. Give them schools, colleges, vocational training, medical facilities, electrified homes and workplaces linked to road and communication networks, and they'll race ahead on their own steam.
But India's demographic dividend can't pay off without economic opportunities. So, reforms must be geared to creating productive employment. While boosting services-led growth, we must also think beyond it since it demands the kind of skilled manpower we're yet to produce on a mass scale. With the vast majority subsisting on agriculture, farming as well as rural infrastructure and markets demand urgent modernising. Equally, large-scale factory employment is key to poverty alleviation. Labour reform is a must to deliver job security and the skills upgrade that a high-growth economy will increasingly want from its workforce at all levels. Faster industrialisation, in turn, will need support from supple land acquisition rules.
Affirmative action itself must take 21st century forms. Reassuringly, NREG or cycles for schoolgirls, welfare is catering more to economic need than special interests. But social spending needs targeting. Why not route benefits directly, not via intermediaries or leaky distribution systems? Why not use innovative channels like phone banking-based access to funds and services? IT can revolutionise everyday life, whether by digitising records or expanding banking cover. Countless Indians are officially faceless, and hence feel socially powerless. Via UID and financial inclusion initiatives, they can acquire a sense of belonging. That's really what empowerment is all about: turning passive, indistinguishable recipients of state crumbs into active agents with a personal contribution and stake in national prosperity. Achieving this will, finally, depend on quality of governance. We must combat corruption and criminalisation of public life. And we must promote accessible and accountable leaderships. We the people deserve nothing less.
While welfare policies promote social justice, they can't substitute for equality of opportunity. However well-meant, disbursal of state largesse makes citizens dependent on political paternalism; genuine empowerment weans them off it. It's by increasingly shifting public resources away from a dole culture toward robust returns-oriented investments in health, education and infrastructure that we can best enable and empower citizens. Give people crutches and they may never walk without needing help. Give them schools, colleges, vocational training, medical facilities, electrified homes and workplaces linked to road and communication networks, and they'll race ahead on their own steam.
But India's demographic dividend can't pay off without economic opportunities. So, reforms must be geared to creating productive employment. While boosting services-led growth, we must also think beyond it since it demands the kind of skilled manpower we're yet to produce on a mass scale. With the vast majority subsisting on agriculture, farming as well as rural infrastructure and markets demand urgent modernising. Equally, large-scale factory employment is key to poverty alleviation. Labour reform is a must to deliver job security and the skills upgrade that a high-growth economy will increasingly want from its workforce at all levels. Faster industrialisation, in turn, will need support from supple land acquisition rules.
Affirmative action itself must take 21st century forms. Reassuringly, NREG or cycles for schoolgirls, welfare is catering more to economic need than special interests. But social spending needs targeting. Why not route benefits directly, not via intermediaries or leaky distribution systems? Why not use innovative channels like phone banking-based access to funds and services? IT can revolutionise everyday life, whether by digitising records or expanding banking cover. Countless Indians are officially faceless, and hence feel socially powerless. Via UID and financial inclusion initiatives, they can acquire a sense of belonging. That's really what empowerment is all about: turning passive, indistinguishable recipients of state crumbs into active agents with a personal contribution and stake in national prosperity. Achieving this will, finally, depend on quality of governance. We must combat corruption and criminalisation of public life. And we must promote accessible and accountable leaderships. We the people deserve nothing less.
Read more: We the people - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/We-the-people/articleshow/7361601.cms#ixzz1CJcwvXG5
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