Shades of darkness behind the glitter
Waheed Nabi finds a lot of sense in a new work
Amartya Sen
Jean Dreze is a naturalised Indian who was born in Belgium. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's (pronounced as Omoroto Sen in his native Bengal which means immortal) name was chosen by India's first nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Thakur. India is now praised for her economic achievements. The authors have described the socio-economic and historical background of this achievement. India had zero GDP before her independence. For about four decades India had very modest progress (GDP 3%). India's rapid progress started in 90s (GDP 7. %). India did not have a good start. Independence came through communal violence and mass migration. India also had to face two wars and two severe droughts. India has got some problems which have been going on for centuries. India's caste system is a curse. There is gender inequality. There is rural urban inequality. The country has been a fertile land of all sorts of exploitations. India also has two very big problems which are (a) corruption and (b) absence of accountability. Against all these obstacles it is a miracle to achieve enormous financial achievement of this size.
India's democratic practice has helped it to achieve this success. But in spite of this economic success the standard of living of the common people has not improved. Gross income inequality remains. Rise in wages has not been satisfactory. Essential social services are lacking . Social and physical infrastructures remain poor. Health care is not satisfactory. Schools are run poorly. There are no toilets in 50 % of houses. Nutrition indicators have not improved. Children's weight have not improved and anaemia is quite common. Children's immunisations are poorer than those in other poor countries. No serious effort was made to prevent pollution. Life expectancy is low. Gender inequality has not improved. Female education has to improve. There are female foetus abortions happening at an alarming rate. There is higher death rate in female children because of neglect. These are of course only a few of the many problems India is facing.
The authors rightly point out that proper education and better living standard of the workers help to develop the country more. The government has already taken some actions. Midday meals in the schools are an example. There are a few more projects. Attention should be paid to make these projects successful. The privileged classes buy private care like health and education. So there is a possibility that privatised services will get priorities. Privatisation is not the answer to all the problems. According to the authors market economy does not solve all the problems.
The authors have quoted B.R.Ambedkar's three words, 'Educate, agitate and organise', which would help solve many of India's problems. The media can help but they remain preoccupied with 'fashion, gastronomy, Bollywood and cricket'. The authors have quoted Ambrose Bierce, " Patience is a minor form of despair, disguised as virtue. Active participation of the under privileged people in politics will help them to get what they want."
The authors have provided statistics to support to say what they have said. They have pinpointed the problems of India not to criticise but to show the way to improvement. There is a lot to learn from the three states which have achieved a lot. Other developing countries have problems similar to India's. This book promises to be a ready reference in helping governments and people of other developing countries move ahead with their socio-political programmes.
Based in the UK, Waheed Nabi is a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
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