[nukkad] banishment of Casteism in India

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Sai,
Your prescription for India's economic upliftment is well-conceived and
certainly better than the prescription for dictatorship. :) I agree with
most of it and where I have disagreement, it is about emphasis only. But the
tragedy is that this kind of an about-turn in thinking has to take place in
the political and bureaucratic circles and that is a tall order. 

You ignored Agriculture in your prescription. Agriculture is the dominant
factor in the Indian economy and is mostly run on feudalistic way. There is
urgent need for land reforms. By that I do not mean more fragmentation of
holdings. May be something that enables co-operative farming to start with
and transforming it into a commercial operation in the long run. 

Organized labour has hijacked the economic policies of India, leaving the
unorganized labour, which forms the bulk of labour force, high and dry
without any safety net. Commercialization of agriculture will enable them to
come into the mainstream. 

An efficient justice delivery system is sine qua non for an efficient
economy. India doesn't have one. Simplification of laws will make courts
more efficient and reduce dependency of people on bureaucracy. The FDIs you
mentioned cannot come in unless we simplify our laws and enforce it
efficiently and speedily.

The 'one time amnesty' has been tried twice by Indian Government. It did
bring in some additional revenue for those financial years but things go
back to square one. It amounted to rewarding the crooks and they continued
their ways, waiting for the next reward in the form of another amnesty.
Amnesty is meaningless unless it is PRECEDED by setting up of a clean and
efficient enforcement mechanism for tax law. 

In India where existence is a daily struggle for most people, education
cannot be left to 'greed driven' private enterprise to develop. Charity can
take care only an insignificant portion of the requirement.  State financing
of primary and secondary education is inevitable in poverty ridden India. It
will take a long time to abolish, (if at all), State role in Education and
public health sectors. Private sector could provide for higher education and
technical education that will be more practical and market driven. 

The point you make with the comparison of ICICI bank and State Bank  is well
taken. But you have to consider the fact that ICICI started with a clear
advantage. It started its operation when IT was changing the way banks
functioned and could manage its affairs with a few people. For State Bank it
was always a labour-intensive operation and by the time IT came to banking
sector in India, it was already saddled with excess employees. Since it
can't fire employees, it had to go slow on modernization too. Still it is
doing better than other public sector banks who are in the same boat.  I am
giving historical reasons not for diverting from the point you are making
but only to put it in perspective.

True, nobody bothers about the caste of Ambani because he was successful.
But when you take the first steps towards success, your caste can still be a
weight around your neck. Hence, while economic progress is crucial, so is
creating social awareness. Reaganomics alone may not succeed in eliminating
caste divide. 

V.K.Venugopal





 


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