India After Independence - Much To Be Proud Of.
The Independence Day is a good time to think about the state of the nation. Sixty seven years ago on August 15, 1947 India attained independence from the British. In fact it was for the first time after about a thousand years of foreign rule in one form or the other that Indians were getting the opportunity to rule themselves. Have we done a good job of it or could we have done far better than what we have been able to achieve?
It depends on one's outlook of whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. for if you are the former then you will say India has achieved a lot but could have done bit better. If you are the latter then you will say India has not achieved much and will also not achieve much in future.
India's first Budget was in three figure crores and today is in six figure crores touching nearly Rs six and half lakh crores per year. India's population has nearly gone up by four times to touch a figure of 120 crores and more. Indian industry predominantly consisted of textile manufacturing companies and today we have one of the most diversified manufacturing base in the world. The latest is the technologically sophisticated automobile industry which produces a wide variety of models for India and world markets. The rise of India as an IT giant is one of our great achievements with exports of these services touching $34 billion in 2012.
India at one time during the 1960's had to import its food grain requirements. Then a concentrated multi pronged approach in areas of agronomy and setting up of fertilizer factories and irrigation facilities resulted in the famous Green Revolution. Today the Indian farmer not only produces food grains for the country's growing population but we are one of the largest exporters of food grains in the world. In 2012-13 food grain exports reached Rs 2,13,000 crores. Another creditworthy achievement has been the revolution in milk production which has made India the number one producer in the world at 128 million tons in 2012-13.
We have successfully eradicated small pox and polio from our country and it is not a mean achievement in such a large and diversified country like ours. It has helped the weaker sections of our society considerably. It has gone to prove that given a proper mission and leadership government programs can succeed in our country also.
Because of government policy on patent protection, the Indian drug industry has grown impressively and today has emerged as the second largest exporter to USA. In white goods production India has achieved near self sufficiency and the products like TV, fridges and AC's are available in large varieties at all price ranges. The communication revolution has brought connectivity to almost all sections of our society with 80 crore mobile sets possessed by Indians who are expected to overtake China by end 2013.
Another area where India has done remarkably is in field of education. The percentage of literate men and women in the country is constantly on the increase, with smaller states like Kerala achieving almost cent per cent literacy. The number of schools, colleges and universities especially in the private sector has been remarkable. The IIT's and IIM's have attained international recognition. Indian doctors from large number of Indian colleges are accepted in Western countries.
It cannot be denied that the purchasing power of a vast majority of Indians has increased manifold since 1947. This is evident from the rise in the country's GDP which has made India the third largest economy on Purchase Price Parity basis. India is one of the top 20 exporters and one of the top 10 importers in the world. India's share in the US$18 trillion international business has grown to around 2% compared to 11% for China. Indians buy around 850 tons of gold every year - the highest in the world. The FDI flow into India in 2012-13 was $37 billion. NRI's remitted $70 bn into India in 2012 and the growth rate is around 15% per year. While we are running a trade deficit in merchandise export- import in services our exports are far more than service imports.
This is not to say that there are no grey areas. Poor infrastructure is a constant reminder of our failure to achieve world standards even after 67 years of independence. Corruption in government continues to be cause of worry as it acts as a corrosive agent leading to fall in moral values and propagates injustice in the system. Lack of appreciation of tribal rights has given rise to Naxalism. The failure to control inflation has eroded the savings and earnings of the poorer sections of the society. The decrease in the acceptance of the two national parties has given rise to increasing number of regional parties which has caused political fragmentation leading to formation of coalition governments which in turn are not able to govern effectively. The resulting policy paralysis is resulting in slowing down of the economy's growth rate.
However we have to be proud of our all round achievements which far outweigh our under achievements in selected areas. While we have to concentrate on improving our growth in all sectors. We have to remain secular and united. Divisive forces have to be defeated and expelled from our society. Democracy has rightly taken deep roots in our country and freedom of speech and press is something to be proud of.
A united and committed India will progress rapidly and take its rightful place in the committee of nations. Happy Independence day to all readers.
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