Imagining India: Six Things That Changed India

Author: Nandan Nilekani

1) Earlier, population was looked at as a burden and a lot of things that happened in the 1960s and ’70s—like family planning and sterilisation and the Emergency and so forth—were related to the belief that population was getting out of control and that it was actually a problem to have a large population. Today, we think of it as human capital. And, this has become even more critical because India is going to be the only young country in an ageing world and that really makes a huge difference.

2) Entrepreneurs are no longer viewed with suspicion but as icons of economic growth. Since 1991, there has been a huge expansion of enterprise, there is a far bigger role for the private sector and for industry. India today has the largest pool of entrepreneurial talent outside the United States. Indian entrepreneurs are not afraid of liberalisation any more. They are very confident and globally competitive and they are not only investing abroad, they are buying companies abroad.

3) English is no longer viewed as an imperial language that has to be jettisoned but as a language of aspiration that has to be really cultivated. All the political angst about English has disappeared largely because of the growth in the economy, the growth of outsourcing, the growth of jobs. More and more people, whether they are in villages or small towns, are realising that if they want to participate in the global economy and bring more income to their lives, they have to learn English. And the political system has accepted this because more and more states which had stopped teaching English are now going back to teaching English from class one.

4) The notion of democracy has undergone a major transformation from the time of india’s Independence. In the 1950s and ’60s, it was really a top-down idea. It was an idea of the leaders who had a certain vision of the kind of country they had to create, and it was given or gifted to all the people who may not have necessarily understood the value and import of what was happening. Today, it has gone on to become a bottom-up democracy where everybody understands their democratic rights. You see people taking charge and doing things without waiting for the state to do the job.

5) Technology has helped India leap-frog several decades from a very antiquated system to a very modern system. What people don’t realise is it has played as much a role in India’s internal development as it has in terms of the $50 billion in IT exports. The entire national elections of 2004 across were done digitally using electronic voting machines—there was no paper. Today, thanks to technology, India has the most modern stock markets in the world. The mobile phone has become accessible to everybody. It is touching every individual and we are seeing more and more applications, causing a quantum leap in productivity, fuelling economic growth.

6) India has adopted a progressive view of globalisation. Fundamentally the confidence that India has gained has made our worldview on globalisation far more positive. Our companies have become globally competitive and are willing to go out. More and more people are beginning to become far more comfortable with globalisation and they are realising the benefits of an open economy, of having their workers and their people all over the world, and of Indian companies exporting capital abroad.

Comments:

Population == human capital..is laughable

Land of the Farmers is bought through the Govt machinery at dirt cheap prices by Infosys and they setup huge campus all over.

While Nandan,NRN enjoy being Billionaires, while our farmers commit suicides. This is Tell Tale liberalised India. They only service abroad.

Overall revenue accrued from the India Business to Infosys is 3% while they exploit our farmers and create large sweatshops.

Directors turn Billionaires and sit tight on cash..

What use is a huge young population if it is devoid of education and health. Already Indian cos claim that only 1 in 10 Indian graduate is employable, what to talk of 80% rural population that is mostly uneducated.In fact the increase in "non useful" kind of people and mindless growth in population that we can't feed or provide shelter or provide water or electricity could become a danger to India's survival. There could be revolutions- a minor symptom of which can be seen in 90% reservation and resentment from those that are not classified as OBC's or backwards. We can't even identify each person living in India; how can we count the numerous jhuggi jhompris, our security is already compromised. Mr. Miekani, many countries with very tiny populations have made a success of themselves even before globalization came about. One example- Japan. Lets learn from Japanese how they respect each individual in their country. Here in India, we don;t and can;t take care of our children who beg on the roads. how can we take care of our sick and the dying, many of us simply pass by them on railway stations and roads.