25 india sthomas

8/8/2019 25 India SThomas

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India:Political Economic

and Social ChallengesBy

Susmita Gongulee ThomasMay 25, 2006


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Challenges- Internal, Regional &

GlobalSocial:Bu rgeoning pop u lation: 1.08 billion, related

problems: environment, poverty, health,

ed u cation, ho u sing water, food and jobsEconomic:

Jobs, growth and infrastr u ct u re, inflation d u e tooil price rise, trade

Political:Terrorism, separatist movements, fract u res d u e toreligio u s divergences despite traditional tolerance


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India's opport u nity and challenge

56 years we have achieved q u ant u m j u mps in many fields.Technology is the best example. IT, Atomic energy andSpace were indigeno u sly developed and leapfrogged u s into21 st cent u ry. Similar trends in the man u fact u ring sector

Transition from a predominantly commodity-basedagrarian economy to a knowledge economy is alreadyu nderway.Challenge before India is how to telescope social, economicand developmental processes with technological growth

How can we accelerate this, even as we protect the interestsand enhance the income of agric u lt u rists?How do we move mind-sets from the 19th cent u ry to the21 st?


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T u rning Challenges Into Achievements-Demographic

Bu rgeoning pop u lation: 1.08 billionWell-ed u cated in English lang u age, softwareservices/medical/techniciansSecond largest skilled technical manpower in theworld24 years Median age : 700 million people of 1.1

billion are you

ng. You

ng popu

lation will continu

etill 20 5 0290,000 engineers grad u ate ann u ally 300,000

technically trained grad u ates every year


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Progress of Social Ind icators

Poverty (incidence)1980s 1990s 2000

44% 36% 26%

E ducation (literacy rate)1980s 1990s 2000

44% 52% 65%

H ealth (life expectancy)1980s 1990s 2000

56 60 69(men)33.3 58.1(women)


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T u rning Challenges Into AchievementsDevelopmental

Pop u lation growth rate fell from anaverage ann u al rate of 3.1% in 1947to aro u nd 1.38% in 200 6 .


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Ind ia: Utilisi ng peo ple to advantage

Bu siness Week of 8th December 2003:"Quietly but with breathtaking speed, Indiaand its millions of world-class engineering,business and medical graduates are becoming enmeshed in America's New Economy inways most of us barely imagine".

It is estimated that there are 120,000 ITprofessionals in Silicon Valley.


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Tur ning Challenges Into Achievements-Economic

Green revolutio n: 1967 to 1978. a recor d grai n out put of 131 m illio n tons in 1978-79. w orld's biggest agricultural producers . And ex porter of foodgrai ns today 212.0 m illio n tonnes Economic: greater need for water, fertilizer, pestici des, fungici des etc .s purre d growth of manufacturi ng sector, create d new jo bs, increase dcou ntry's GD P.

Increase d irrigatio n create d need for new d ams, used to create hydro-electric power . booste d industrial growth, create d jo bs and improvedquality of life of rural peo ple.India paid back all World Bank loans for Green R evolutio n. improvedIndia's creditworthi ness .India su pp lied Canada with far mers ex perie nced in G reen R evolutio n.

Their remitta nces added to our foreig n excha nge ear nings.Sociological: create d jo bs for agricultural and industrial workers thru creatio n of factories and hydro-electric power statio nsPolitical: India transfor med itself from a star ving natio n to an ex porter of food. T his ear ned admiratio n for Ind ia in the comity of natio ns, es pecially in the Thir d W orld.


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Ind ia: Phar maceuticalsIndian pharmace u tical ind u stry $ 6 .5 billion, growing at 8-10% ann u ally, 4th largest pharmace u tical ind u stry in theworld by vol u me, it is expected to be US$12 billion by2008, with exports over $2 billion.India is among the top five b u lk dr u g makers.

There are 170 biotechnology companies in India, involvedin the development and man u fact u re of genomic dr u gs,whose b u siness is growing exponentially.

Seq u encing genes and delivering genomic information forbig pharmace u tical companies is the next boom ind u stry inIndia.

New emerging ind u stries areas incl u de, B io-Informatics,B io-Technology, Genomics, Clinical Research and Trials.


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Reviving Sec u lar Tolerance

"In India today,we have a lady born a Catholic (Sonia Gandhi)

stepping aside so a Sikh (Manmohan Singh)

could be sworn in by a Muslim president (Abdul Kalam)

to lead a nation that's 82% Hindu.

I defy anyone to cite another country with suchdiversity and tolerance to its political

leadership."


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Tur ning Challenges Into Achievements-T echnology

Indigeno u s Space technology u sed to take ed u cation anddevelopment to remote r u ral areas, via television. TheSatellite Instr u ctional TV Experiment (SITE) 197 5 -76 ,u sed a state-of-the -art US satellite to broadcast TVprogrammes directly to comm u nity sets in villagesThis became todays DTH, or direct-to-home broadcasting.India-developed direct reception system a c u tting-edgetechnology enabling remote villages, witho u t electricity, toview TV programmesa great stride forward in u sing satellite TV t reach r u ralchildren with high-q u ality ed u cation,Reached ad u lts with vital inp u ts for agric u lt u re, healthand empowerment.Challenge of reach overcome u sing technology and withsocio-economic benefits.


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India is one of six co u ntries thatla u nch satellites, for Germany,B elgi u m, So u th Korea,Singapore and EU co u ntries.India's INSAT is among theworld's largest domestic satellite

comm u nication systems.Indias Geosynchrono u sSatellite La u nch Vehicle(GSLV) was indigeno u slyman u fact u red, mostcomponents man u fact u red byIndian ind u stry.India provides aid to 11cou ntries, and writing off theirdebts.India has loaned IMF US$ 300Million.It has also prepaid $3 B illion toWorld B ank and AD B

In 19 6 8, India imported 9Mtonnes of food-grains. Today, ithas a food grain s u rpl u s stock of 6 0 Million tonnes.

India b u ilt its ownSu percomp u ter after US denialof a Cray comp u ter sale in 1987.

India is one of 3 co u ntries thathave b u ilt S u percomp u ters ontheir own. (USA and Japan)

Indias new PARAM PadmaTerascale S u percomp u ter (1Trillion processes per sec.) Only4 nations in the world have thiscapability.

Self Reliance in Technology


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The Challenges Ahead


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Challe nges Lie Ahea dSeveral formidable challenges remain

Exploding pop u lation 1.08bn to 1. 6 3bn people, overtakingChina, (forecast 1.44bn from 1.3bn ),Res u lting environmental degradationPoverty,Illiteracy,R u pt u res and cleavages based on region, religion, lang u ageand gender-threatening the social fabric,Urban congestion,Wo u nded eco-systemsCritical power and energy sit u ation.Water & food shortage


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R ecog nizing Challe nges

India recognizes reform can not be foc u sed only oneconomic challengesNeed to integrate social and environmentaldimensionsEnco u rage widespread participation of civilsociety, b u sinesses, local governments and nongovernmental organizations in reform efforts.Increasing democratic participation, betterpositions it to confront growing social andenvironmental challenges, s u ch as r u ral distress,reso u rce mis u se, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.


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Strategy For OvercomingChallenges

Employment generationSu staining high growth levelsEnco u raging R & D in high technology

Increasing manu

factu

ring base to add jobsGreater investment in infrastr u ct u re to bolsterprivate sector demand for labo u rRed u cing poverty levels by boosting

manu

factu

ring ou

tpu

t, redu

cing workers in basicagric u lt u re, & raising agric u lt u ral incomeslabor laws in line with global best practicesPolicies to control Environmental degradation


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Challe nges Ahea d- E conomicIndia self-s u fficiency in food grain prod u ction, yields fo u r-fold. Food Corporation storages possess best-fed rodentpop u lation in the world, with starvation deaths in far fl u ngareas. Provision of q u ality infrastr u ct u re is therefore vital

Address iss u es of infrastr u ct u re bottlenecks, high cost of power, high inland freight cost, high cost of creditTargets for development: An investment plan of US$38billion in the expanded highways programme, US$13.4billion in ports and US$ 8.9 billion in airports.

Competitive edge lies in knowledge and technology, sogreater investment in R&D.P u blic Private Partnership to adopt policies to ens u re long-term technology sec u rity/s u periority; Indian ind u stry willbe able to compete with the best in the world.


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R egio nal Challe nges

India committed to a So u th Asian Union as u ltimate objective, withm u tu al sec u rity cooperation, open borders and a single c u rrency

India has the capacity and tradition to welcome its neighbo u rs ined u cation, in health care, in to u rism, in trade and investment

.Friends, India is ready to do everything that is necessary, to walk asmany extra miles as may be required, to make this vision a reality.

Regionally, India recognizes it has a major role to play in fosteringsou th-to-so u th cooperation and strengthening regional economic ties

Taken pragmatic steps to resolve the long-standing Indo-Pakistandisp u te, address c u rrent disp u tes over reso u rces like water, helpret u rn democracy to Nepal.


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Challe nges of glo balizatio nThe rise of the developing world, partic u larly of China andIndia, is reshaping the world economic and political order.

Sir Martin Sorrell, Gro u p Chief Exec u tive, Wire & Plastic

Produ

cts (WPP) United Kingdom; 2006

. The dominanceof the US and the dominance of E u rope partic u larlyWestern E u rope is eclipsed. What were witnessing is asharp shift in wealth in a relatively short period of timefrom West to East.

Never before in the history of mankind did a co u ntry withdemocratic dispensation have to feed so many poor, teachso many illiterates and sim u ltaneo u sly compete with themost advanced co u ntries for a place u nder the s u n.


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F urther Challe nges of Glo balizatio n

New dimension: globalization of both economy andgeopolitics.Rapidly growing u neven cross-border flows of goods,services, people, money, technology, information, ideas,cu lt u re, crime, and weaponsC u rrent globalization u niq u e: revolution in informationtechnology, electronic mail, and instant availability of information.Changing economic landscape, need for new jobs, for newmindsets, and changing identities/str u ggles aro u nd theglobe, exacerbating imbalances in the global economy


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India: F u tu re Global Leader

Indias F u tu re as an international leaderrests on

Political will to achieve goodgovernance domestically

Foster constr u ctive partnershipsregionally and globally


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GOI TARGETSFoc u s to eradicate povertyGDP growth rate of at least 6 % per ann u m over the next10 yearsProvision of basic minim u m services: safe drinking water,primary healthcare, primary ed u cation, p u blic ho u sing toall shelter less, mid-day meal scheme to all primary schools,road connectivity, streamlining p u blic distrib u tion systemUniversal employment to g u arantee 100 days of work Universal literacy.

Agric u lt u ral growth thr u improved prod u ctivityEfforts to promote r u ral farm and non-farm employmentImproved access to credit and other reso u rces.Maintain o u r competitive edge, thr u R& D , knowledgeand technology growth


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Ind ia As R ole ModelThe history of the 20th Cent u ry is behind u s; itsconseq u ences are with u s. We have all come to live with thereality of the new political, economic and social realities of ou r globe.

Indias transformation can serve as a blu

eprint forsovereignty and democratic nationhood for other co u ntriesin the developing world that are tackling the challenges of development and leadership.Positioned as we are, geographically and economically,India has a pivotal role in the region and in the world.India f u lly prepared to sho u lder its responsibilities and

provide opport u nities and extend cooperation to others.


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Inn ovative Coo peratio n with Chile

TCS p u rchased Comicrom for US$ 23 million back officeIndian pharmace u ticals reach US$22 million from

US$ 8 million approximately in one yeari-Flex Sol u tions working with B anco de Chile US$15 million, + B anco de Desarollo, Sec u rity B ank and International B ank - banking software

Trans-Santiago Consorti u m awarded to IndiasTATA Gro u p -transportation

Corpora Tresmontes placed an order for bio-mass-fired boilers for US $ 400,000 fromThermax

India Ltd- u sing agrowaste


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CONCLUSIONConfidence in India, in o u r democracy and in o u reconomy, has never been higher.We have been able to restore the pl u ralistic ethos that isthe essence of India.We have been able to reverse a dangero u s trend of

intolerance that had begu

n to eat into the vitals of ou

rnation and restore pl u ralism, tolerance and compassion.We have been able to replace debates that so u ght to dividethe nation with debates that matter to everyday living of the people, debates on iss u es of concern to the commonman.There is active disc u ssion in government, media and civilsociety abo u t options for growth, poverty red u ction,ed u cation, health, employment, basic facilities,infrastr u ct u re, empowering people and helpingmarginalized and weaker sections catch u p. S u ch debates

are the life-blood of ou

r democracy.


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O u r Foc u s For the F u tu re

A.P J Kalam President of India

A nation of a billion people rising to its potential is an

exciting feeling.As a nation we have collectively decided to sink thedifferences of the past;we have restored to o u r polity a sense of healing;we have restored to o u r society a sense of incl u siveness;

we have given o u r economy a sense of p u rpose.O u r economy is on the move and o u r people are on themarch.We have recognized o u r challenges and we are working toaddress them.

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