Raju Vernekar
As we move into the 67 th year of independence, the rise of India as an emerging global power is certainly an inspiring story and despite political upheavals we have always unified as one nation in times of crises.
While Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh will unfurl the tricolor from the ramparts of the historical Red Fort, 21-gun shots will be fired in honor of the solemn occasion. President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest.
PM will address the nation and his speech will be followed by march past by divisions of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces, and parades and pageants showcasing events from struggle for independence as well as cultural traditions of the country
Similar events will take place throughout the country. The Indian Diaspora too will celebrate the Independence Day in various parts of the world. In several cities in the United States, 15 August has received the nomenclature “India Day” among the Diaspora as well as the local populace.
India has out paced Asian peers in several aspects and has attracted the highest amount of overseas investment this year, leaving behind markets like South Korea and Indonesia by a wide margin. We are progressing fast, yet appraisal of many issues is essential in view of the growing population and constant ups and downs which the coalition government at the centre is facing.
Indo-Pak
The issue of cross border militancy remains unresolved as evident from the recent attack by Pakistani team on Indian soldiers in Poonch sector in which 5 Indian soldiers were killed. This is certainly a set back to bilateral peace talks between the two countries. Whether there will be a meaningful discussion on this issue during the meeting of Dr Manmohan Singh with Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif on the margins of the US General Assembly at New York next month, is yet to be seen.
Indo-China
Despite Defence Minister AK Antony’s recent visit to China, the flare-ups along the 4,057km-long disputed Indo-China border have not been stopped and a face off between two armies continues. In a rare diplomatic tango Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and A K Antony had recently attended a Beijing meet and it was expected that the meet would set off a new phase of cordial ties. But the incursions by Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Chumar sector have continued to erupt.
PM US visit
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit US between September 25 to 30 to participate in the UN General Assembly, but the highlight of his visit is expected to be bilateral engagement with President Barack Obama in Washington, DC. India and the US are looking forward to finalize a commercial agreement between NPCIL and Westinghouse for a nuclear reactor in Gujarat. If the two countries can get over India’s contentious nuclear liability law and conclude negotiations, it would be the main takeaway from Singh’s meeting with Obama.
Uttarakhand
The recent devastating floods and landslides in Uttarakhand which claimed thousands of lives and dishoused several people has shaken the country and it will take long time by the time the “Dev Bhoomi” is totally rehabilitated.
FDI booster
In the backdrop of falling Indian rupee, the recent decision to open the foreign direct investment (FDI) gates in 13 sectors is expected to be the requisite panacea.
Sectors for which norms have been relaxed include petrol and natural gas, insurance, defence production and basic and cellular services. This is expected to serve as a booster.
Rupee
The rupee is hovering around 60 against US dollar while it is close to Rs 77 (Euro) and Rs 89 (Pound). The RBI has hiked short term rates and has announced measures like capping the amount banks can borrow from the market. This is an attempt to curb the rupee’s decline by tightening liquidity. Since the consumption of gold has been costing nation USD 50 billion in foreign exchange the tax on the gold imports has also been raised to 8 per cent. Yet the demand for gold continues to grow.
Growth rate
Country’s growth rate is also the cause of concern. While the government has forecast a growth of 6.1 to 6.7 per cent for the year 2013-14, the RBI expects it to be at 5.7 per cent. In fact GDP which had grown by an astounding 9.3 per cent in 2010-11, nearly halved in last three years.
Inflation
At the same time the inflation rate is hovering around 4.70 percent which was average 8.02 per cent from 1969 till 2012, It was an all time high at 34.68 Percent in September of 1974 and a record low at 11.31 Percent in May of 1976.
Deficit
Due to huge amount spent on subsidies for fertilizers, food and oil, the country has been facing heavy pressure from the deficit side – both fiscal and current account. At present the fiscal deficit is 4.9 per cent, lower than the target of 5.1 per cent envisaged in the budget.
Population
At the time of Independence, India’s population was a mere 35 crore. Today it has swelled to 127 crore (Male 65.58 crore, Female 61.43 crore).We are next to China which is on the top with over 136 crore. However by 2030, we are expected to emerge numero uno with predictable population of 153 crore.
At the same time nearly 42.5 per cent children suffer from malnutrition. In Madhya Pradesh this rate is highest at 55 per cent. This indicates that we are unable to get over the scarcity of pure water and lack of sanitation facilities and our public health programs like Polio Eradication have failed.
Poverty
The Government has claimed that the poverty levels have fallen to 21.9 per cent in 2011-2012 from earlier level of 37.2 per cent. The National Food Security Bill slated to be implemented within next 6 months is expected to give 82 crore people, the right to cooked nutritious food. The project is expected to cost rupees Rs 1.3 lakh crore.. The bill also seeks to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population over subsidized grains every month.
Unemployment
The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) has agreed that the funds earmarked for welfare schemes are siphoned off and common men gets little benefit. This is proved by the fact that hardly one per cent of the total jobs are added in the country under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), although over 30,000 crore are being spent. MGNREGA is expected to guarantee 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
Literacy
Present literacy rate is pegged at 74.04 per cent( male 82.14, female 65.46 per cent). Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 93.9 per cent followed by Lakshadweep (92.3 per cent ) and Mizoram (91.6 per cent). Bihar with 63.08 per cent literacy rate is the last in terms of literacy rate in India. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) has been passed, yet 8.1 million children(age group 6-14) remain out of school and there is a shortage of 5.08 lakh teachers, 2 lakh schools and 1,500 universities and colleges country wide.
Houses
The country is facing shortage of over 26 million houses and the urban India is expected to require nearly 600 million houses in the next 15 years. Over $1.2 trillion investment would be required to meet the demand for urban housing alone. RBI has allowed the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) up to $1 billion in real estate sector to promote affordable housing
Besides the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill has been approved to regulate the highly unregulated and unorganized real estate sector and to ensure availability of houses at cheaper rates. But this bill should not add yet another layer to bureaucracy.
Power
Despite 64.5 per cent electrification rate, 35.5 per cent of the country’s population has no access to electricity. India currently suffers from a major shortage of electricity generation, although it is the world’s fourth largest energy consumer after US, China and Russia. According to International Energy Agency an investment of $135 billion is required to provide universal access of electricity to Indian population. Going by limitations on hydro and thermal electricity generation, nuclear energy generation seems to be viable option, but opposition to nuke energy continues-the recent example being that of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in the Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.
Defence
While our defence preparedness is above the mark, our war preparedness suffers due to the delay in procurement of equipments. The army has not inducted a new gun since the Bofors scandal of the mid-1980s. It is planning to buy a mix of new-generation artillery gun systems like 155mm(39/45/52 calibre). The deadline for the projected artillery profile is 2027 but it is unlikely that it will be met. The indigenous version of the Bofors, is also expected to take another 3 years before induction.
The Indian Navy which relies on its fleet of Sea King helicopters inducted in eighties, plans to acquire over 120 multi role choppers for carrying out anti-submarine warfare.
The test fire of indigenously developed ‘Pinaka’ rocket from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) from an armament establishment base at Chandipur (Odisha) is a shot in arm for the army. ‘Pinaka’ is an area weapon system useful in a low-intensity conflict situation.
Mangalayan
Meanwhile India, is set to launch a new satellite – its first – to Mars, at the initiative of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). With this India will be part of the geopolitical, and cosmo-political, agenda followed by the Russians, Americans and the Europeans and off course by Japanese and Chinese.
All sad and done India should become a “Scam-free’ nation and should become self-reliant with every reform traveling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Then only we can boast of unity in diversity and have an all round progress.
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