Reflections on India

I am back from a two-week trip to Kochi, India. You hear a lot about the economic growth of India. Kochi is a good example of a city on its throes of an economic boom. There are huge buildings being built, industrial complexes planned (‘Smart City’, ‘Info Park’), unbelievable traffic congestions, skyrocketing land values, so on. Everything ‘foreign’ is available in shops, and there is a clear ‘western’ (mostly American) impact on the styles and outlook of the young generation. With overvalued dollars in my pocket, I felt rich there and had a great time. But I did not feel that good about the future of India. Here are my concerns:

Plight of the poor: Behind a façade of economic prosperity, the poverty level in India continues the same or even worse. Over 700 million people there subsist on less than $1.25 a day. They live in appalling conditions worse than in sub-Saharan Africa. When you travel from one city to another, you can see them in rural areas and small villages, thin as human skeletons, living in grim surroundings. Very little of the ‘economic prosperity’ is trickling down into these parts of India. The modern technology and open market efficiencies make their plight irrelevant for the people in power and wealth. (Recent Government figures show some improvement in the poverty numbers (5-10%) . Critics say that this improvement is artificial, obtained by lowering the threshold of poverty definition!)

Privatization, Privatization: In the last general election, the Congress Party won a surprise victory over the ruling BJP party who campaigned touting the economic growth of India (“India Shining!”). The millions of people, mostly from the rural areas, gave BJP a resounding ‘No’, and voted for Congress party who had lamented the plight of the poor. Looks like they have jumped from a frying pan to fire. The new Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was the architect of the ‘opening up of the Indian economy’ in 1991. He is more eager than BJP to open up the economy for foreign investments. He is keen to privatize as many government-run institutions as possible – all in the name of reducing budget deficit and improving operational efficiencies. I am concerned that the power of the government to subsidize the weak and the poor, will gradually disappear as a result (no more cheap healthcare, education, etc.) The ruthless private firms will be hiring and firing people as they please -- like it is in USA.

Pact with the devil: India has now become an ‘ally’ of United States. (Aren’t we all proud about the VIP treatment Prime Minister Singh got from President Bush on his recent visit to USA?). But the disturbing fact is that none of the countries ‘supported’ by United States has ever done well. Look at the plight of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Chile, and Philippines. It is really scary!