By Suresh Kr Pramar
“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom…” Jawahar Lal Nehru, India’s First Prime Minister, at midnight of August 14, 1947.
The Vision of Freedom and Responsibility
“Freedom and power bring responsibility. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
“What shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”
The Unfulfilled Promises of Freedom
Freedom has proved to be a mixed blessing for large sections of the population. Sixty-nine years after freedom there are more eyes with tears than there were on the eve of independence. Tested against the goals set out in the Tryst with Destiny speech, India has still a long, long way to go.
Responsibility and Service to the People
Freedom and power bring responsibility, Nehru had said. “The service of India means the service of millions who have suffered.” This promise of service for the people has remained unfulfilled in large measure. It has been converted into the service of the rich and the powerful at the expense of the poor and the deprived. It is a shameful sight that our representatives give themselves salaries and perks which are well above the incomes of the common man.
The Persistent Challenge of Poverty
Let’s start with the promise of ending poverty. Judged from any angle, this promise has remained unfulfilled. The number of people below the poverty line has increased. One reason is the steep increase in population. But that does not tell the entire story. Economic planning has largely favored a small, very few, to the disadvantage of a very large section of the population.
Growing Economic Disparity
This explains why we have created more billionaires and pushed more people below the poverty line. A study by a panel headed by former chairman of the former Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, C Rangarajan, estimated that 363 million, or 29.5% of India’s 1.2-billion people lived in poverty in 2011-12. The Rangarajan panel considers people living on less than Rs 32 a day in rural areas and Rs 47 a day in urban areas as poor. While millions in the country live under grinding poverty and want, the rich and the powerful amass increasing wealth. Government bends over backward to provide additional incentives, including concessions to help the rich grow richer.
The Concentration of Wealth and Power
Decades of planned economic development have left vast sections of the people, particularly the urban and rural poor, out of the circle of beneficiaries. The rich and wealth continue to grow in wealth while the poor continue to slide. To make matters worse, in an effort to help the rich, the government provides several commissions and benefits all at the expense of the poor.
Inequality and Its Consequences
Though poverty has declined in recent times inequality has increased substantially. According to the Credit Suisse report “Even after nearly three decades of economic reforms and high growth, inequality continues to rise and wealth has become even more concentrated at the top.”
Marginalization of Tribal Communities
The worst sufferers are the India’s tribal communities, who suffer a double whammy of both disadvantaged region and ethnicity. Official data on all indicators of development reveal that India’s tribal people are the worst off in terms of income, health, education, nutrition, infrastructure and governance. They have also been unfortunately at the receiving end of the injustices of the development process itself.
Exploitation of Tribal Resources
Tribal communities make up a sizeable percent of India’s total population. Of the total population 86 million are tribals, who make up 8.4 percent of the total population. Land occupied by the Tribal communities are rich in hydrologic, mineral, oil, gas, forest, and other resources This makes them attractive sites to locate development projects of various kinds.
Agricultural Neglect and Urban-Rural Disparity
While Tribal communities have been the worst hit urban and rural poor likewise suffer. The plight of the small and marginal farmers across the country, make frequent headlines largely announcing acts of suicide by farmers. With their stress on the manufacturing and service sectors the government has virtually ignored the needs of the small and marginal farmer. While several thousand crore are being sacrificed at the altar of industrialization, by way of concessions and subsidies, the farmers, the backbone of any nation, are being starved of finance essential to improve the yields from his land.
Urgent Need for Inclusive Policies
According to the American President has said rising inequality is “the defining challenge of our time.” This holds true of India as well. Inequality is creating social tensions across the country. There is urgent need to relook at the meaning of reforms to make them pro-poor, rather than pro-corporate. Without this, inequality in India will continue to escalate and create dangerous tensions, threatening the very survival of the delicate fabric of Indian democracy.
About the author:
Suresh Kr Pramar is a renowned journalist and consultant writing on CSR issues. He can be reached at suresh.pramar@gmail.com.
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