We should first be clear as to what we mean by "development". Assuming that we want to be developed like the western countries, the first and foremost thing for India is to reduce its population. .
sangom,
can we mean development to be a state of the nation, where there is 90% of the population is middle class, education is affordable, healthcare assured (though not necessarily provided free) to all in the same quality by the state and above all there is a sense of civility and respect between the public and the government.
a good example would be new zealand, which is primarily agrarian, but considered developed. singapore can be considered developed but a small city state.
surprisingly i would consider small well administered carribean nations like barbados as developed. it is a pleasant surprise to see a country ruled by descendents of slaves, with good roads, free medical care, and no poverty.
i find that larger the country, the more difficult to apply the uniformity of development. at its peak, there is no country to match the u.s. but at the same time, the u.s. is tolerant of an indifference bordering to cruelty to its poorest. it is such a callousness that would make me desist considering the u.s. as developed.
the western europe model of a benign state providing a decent standard of living to all, might come close to universal development, but that model is now under attack and i am not sure if it will survive in its original shape.
population can be increased without much effort. to reduce, is a painful process, as the west is finding out now. a reduction of people in the current keynesian model, would mean the deprivement of labour in critical areas at critical times. the west solves this, albeit not too elegantly, through migration from african or islamic countries.
japan adamantly refuses to recognize its migrant labour who fill a vital gap to afford the rest of the citizenry to enjoy their accustomed to standard of living.
when india's population levels off, i think, the numbers will be static, but the gap in the labour market will be filled by the ever prolific wombs from pakistan & east bengal, thus giving a new meaning to the bjp's akhand bharat concept.
Next people will have to become less religious and more sincere in doing their duty towards the country (and not God). .
religion in the west, since end of world war 2, has taken a beating, thanks to increased prosperity.
however, countries like saudi, which are among the wealthiest, not only remain crudely religious, but have managed to leverage their oil money to export the most barbaric version of islam to the rest of the world. just to appreciate this fact, we can note that almost all of the 9/11 attackers came from saudi or via saudi.
religion never played a major part in the chinese culture. what is to be noted with interest, is the undercurrents of evangelical christianity making great headway in south korea, singapore, taiwan and getting a foothold in mainland china.
Third, corruption should be given very strict punishments; politicians should not be allowed to stand for any election in their entire lifetime, if, they are proved corrupt. Similarly government servants should be removed from service and no benefits from Government funds (pension, gratuity) should be given to them.
the word 'should', i think, is the least effective word in the english language. 'should' never works. 'should' be abolished, and we will not miss it.
corruption is as human as red blood cells or snot inside our nose. a country should count itself lucky, if the common man is spared the humiliating exigencies forced upon him through petty corruption - like the policeman demanding 300 ruppees to free a motor cyclist of a trumped charge of speeding and such like.
civil service corruption will vanish when the civil servants are paid sufficiently well, that they can afford a decent livelihood without resorting to under-the-table practices.
such time will come in india. this thanks mainly to technology. i am 60 now, but in my teens, one had to bribe the phone department to get a phone installed in your house. all this flew out of the window when cell phones in their millions made their appearance.
we will have to have faith in the future for a corrupt free india. perhaps not in our lifetime, but maybe in our childrens.
thank you.
