Here's how Chidambaram began his speech on the 29 th of January at LSE:
"In the eyes of Indian scholars, the London School of Economics, or the LSE, ranks along with Oxford and Cambridge as a great institution of learning. It is an institution that many aspire to join, but few succeed in doing so. LSE is the cherished alma mater of several economists, social scientists, constitutional experts, civil servants and statesmen who, after graduation, moved on to build distinguished careers in diverse fields. Indians who passed through the portals of LSE have made remarkable contributions to the building of modern India."
He went on to say that,
"The Achilles heel of India’s growth story appears to be the physical infrastructure – roads, railway, airports, seaports, power and telecommunication. In a sense, the deficiencies have been exposed by the rapid rate of growth. We recognize the need to provide world class infrastructure in order to meet the requirements of a fast growing economy. We are therefore employing more than one model to build infrastructure on an ambitious scale. While the telecommunication sector is driven by private investment and railway is driven by public investment, we have adopted the public private partnership (PPP) model to steer growth in the roads, airports, seaports and power sectors."
He concluded his speech with these memorable words, "These 60 years have been marked by success and failure, conflict and resolution, war and peace, hope and despair, and growth and
stagnation. I believe that India has broken out of the circle of poverty and neglect. I believe that India has ended its isolation from the rest of the world. I believe that India has discovered its legitimate role and place in the world economy. I am confident that nothing can stop India from marching to its rightful status of an economic power that is committed to the development and prosperity of not only the Indian people but also the development and prosperity of the people of all ountries of the world."
I think he is being over optimistic about India's development and progress. Have a look at these numbers that Mr Chidambaram didn't bother mentioning.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 5.1 million (2001 est.)
Female literacy rate: 48.3% (2003 est.)
Public debt: 52.8% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2006 est.)
Oil - imports: 2.09 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - production: 785,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25% (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 54.63 deaths/1,000 live births
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4 comments:
There is only thing in which india will jump ahead of China in this century - population
Talk about econ growth, and we hear the blame attributed to the relatively slow, but stable "Hindu" growth rate. We need the same slowdown when it comes to the population.
Gaurav
It doesn’t come to me as a surprise when people like Mr. Chidambaram influence our young minds by framing hopeful pictures of developing India. After spending a significant number of years of our career studying economic policies from some of the best colleges in this world, we do become adept at reaching out to the leaders in the developed part of this world with confidence and convince them of our resourceful intellect, competency and momentum to climb the inclined plane of development faster than everyone in the race. A vast majority of Indian students have already taken this step by their global representation as managers, entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers or foreign services officers.
However, leadership is about reaching out the masses and giving them a sense of belongingness so that one can infuse a confidence in those masses that their development is indeed a concern and is being worked upon. To what extent is talking about growth in terms of ‘Gross Domestic Product’ wining the trust and support of that segment of Indian population who is still below poverty line, is something to ponder over. Unfortunately, in the run for global representation, Indian leaders are participating in activities not only at the cost of domestic development, but also, without realising that we are still not equipped with the threshold potential required to gain significant attention on a global platform. How many UN missions is India a part of? How many global causes has India worked for? How many international disputes has India intervened in to resolve their conflicts and implement a peaceful solution? So quite rightly, it has not become a permanent member of the UN Security Council either. Instead of running for such medals, if we can rather project our self sustenance and efforts to prioritize the upliftment of the population within the subcontinent itself, no matter how selfish it appears, perhaps then we might be able to earn some respect in the eyes of the rest of the world.
So Indian leaders and planners must not forget that their Harvard or Oxford degrees might indeed open doors for them to voice their opinions before an equally competent panel of economists or diplomats, however the challenge lies in convincing those Indian masses who are still struggling for basic necessities, that the so talked about financial planning will positively impact their living standards.
i agree with you reema
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