On 6 November 2013, I wrote on Facebook’s “What’s on your
mind” the following: “PDP government, better be good at hedging our bets. If
not, we do not need to second guess the consequences. Nichey rajniti hava palat
nahi rahi hai kya (Isn’t the political wind changing direction down there)?” I
was talking of “rajniti hava” (political wind) not in terms of NaMo for
Narendra Modi vis-à-vis RaGa for Rahul Gandhi (Indian press acronyms, not
mine), not even Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) against Congress. I was talking
of bottom-up politics sprouting inclusive growth and governance in place of
top-down politics of corruption, handout and populous policies. It is more
about politics of truth and sincerity upsurge, the change in the political
conception of the country. You do not believe me? Feel the ground pulse. Even
those who have been promoting and encouraging caste-based politics are
now talking of politics on secular platform.
While 70% of India’s population live in rural areas, the
urban India accounts for almost 70% of the country’s GDP. While the votes are
in villages, the money is in cities. The top-down politics with the power
of urban money to influence rural votes did not consider in the past that the
people are an economic asset. They mattered for votes only, and were out of
mainstream development process once the elections were over. The countryside
was essentially the venue for legitimizing power and authority. Without their
participation in development, inclusive growth is far from reality.
If you come up with the economic growth model that has
politically mandated objectives and spell out tasks ordained by such
peripherals, it cannot be inclusive. For inclusiveness, the growth has to be
owned by citizens of the country through equality of opportunity. It now looks
like it is going to be no more integration of old-fashioned political
intelligence and perception. It will be different. It would be naïve to
underestimate the power of word-of-mouth that travels with the help of digital
devices and social media in a lightning speed, with Bollywood to Yogi Ramdeo
playing fair share in corruption-bashing trend. The Indian middle class,
comprising about 30% of 1.2 billion populations living in urban areas, champion
the art. They are seen as young, aspiring, idealistic and ambitious. Otherwise,
how could Arvind Kejriwal, mechanical engineering graduate from my college, IIT Kharagpur, be crowned as the Chief Minister of Delhi?
“We face issues such as unbalanced, uncoordinated,
unsustainable development. There is no strong capability in technological
innovation. There is a gap between urban and rural development. Many problems
and issues affect interest of the masses such as education, employment, social
security, healthcare, housing, environment, food and drug safety, workplace
safety, social order, law enforcement, and judicial issues. There is too much
formalism and bureaucratism. The anti-corruption situation is still grim. The
crucial thing in resolving these issues is to deepen reforms.” If you think it
is a statement about India. It is not. It is an extract from the document
issued by third plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
in November 2013. But it is true for India and most of it true for any other
country. Every country faces these problems, the difference is the country’s
capacity, the determination and the resilience to deal with the problems.
That capacity, determination and resilience comes from the
country’s model of governance. Mr P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister of India,
says “I find that there are three distinct models of governance. In every
democracy there are three institutions: the executive, the legislature or
parliament, and the judiciary. Countries which have struck the right balance
between these three institutions are the countries that seem to go forward.
Countries which have a strong executive are China, Malaysia, Turkey, Brazil and
Mexico. Those are the countries which are recording the highest rates of
growth. Countries which have a strong legislature or parliament are the US and
all the European countries. Countries where the judiciary has an upper hand are
India and some others.” Is India’s middle class about to change the Indian
governance model? Time, I mean 2014, will tell.
I will leave it to you to comprehend which model will bring
about inclusiveness better. It is pretty obvious, not rocket science. The
inclusive growth cannot take place if a huge section of the societies are not
taken into confidence. They feel left out and could not care less to
participate in the country’s affairs. They participate just for the sake of
participation, superficially. There is no ownership. So, the growth suffers.
The economic development is weak and fragile. The country suffers from policy
paralysis. The policies swing like a pendulum, from end to end, in dark. How can such a
development be sustainable when major section of the population is left behind
and helplessly watching from the side-line? If the economic assets sit idle,
they are no longer assets. Simple as that!
Reinhold Niebuhr says, " Change is the essence of life.
Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become." India
clearly needs to see in 2014 what she could become for surrendering what she
is. If inclusiveness with transparency and integrity of the highest order
-- the foundation stones of the governance -- is not there, the commitment to
serve the people with zest sounds empty.
