1 Power to the people
One in every two families still lives by the light of a candle.
THE PROBLEM
When the sun goes down, more than 84 million homes begin their long day’s journey into night. India produces only 1,20,000 MW of power which is 1,00,000 MW short of demand. What is more, it was estimated that by 2010 the demand for power will more than treble. And we are already beyond 2010.
THE WAY OUT
It is time to switch. About 70 per cent of all electricity produced is coal-based and less than 5 per cent comes from renewable sources.With India’s abundant sunlight and wind power, new private sector projects in these areas should be given incentives. Villagers should be given grants to set up solar pumps and windmill farms to cut down the load on the conventional power grid and step out of the Edison era. State electricity boards will also have to reduce pilferage and transmission losses that stand at a staggering 45 per cent.
2 Save every drop
Over 60 per cent of Indian homes do not have tap water.
THE PROBLEM
It is called blue gold and in the very near future, wars will be fought over it. By 2020 the world is expected to fall 17 per cent short of water. In India, as of now, only one in three households has piped water. The future looks drier.
THE WAY OUT
There is enough for everyone’s need, but not greed. In Karnataka, for instance, most towns get 67 litres of water per head, though citizens in Bangalore use an average of 135 litres a day. If water is priced higher it will be used sparingly. Encourage cities to invest in water recycling plants. At the micro level, promote innovative solutions like that of Bangalore-based architect couple Chitra and Viswanath who incorporated rooftop rainwater harvesting in their home in 1995. The process now yields 80,000 litres of water every year.
3 Family matters
Population control is an emergency.
THE PROBLEM
Even if every couple decided to stop at two children, our population would overtake China’s in 10 years. It has 7 per cent of the world’s land, India has 2.4 per cent.
THE WAY OUT
Enforce family planning. Give incentives in government and the corporate sector to those with small families. Fine those with more than two children. Promote contraceptive use. Discourage early marriage.
4 Treat the past with respect
Heritage is not about inanimate buildings. It is about a way of life.
THE PROBLEM
India has 45,000 historically significant buildings and sites that do not figure on any list. Only 5,000 are protected by the ASI, another 3,000 by state governments. In England, 5,00,000 such buildings are listed.
THE WAY OUT
The National Culture Fund which encourages corporates to adopt monuments should be popularised. The price of entry tickets should be raised to pay for maintenance. Citizens should be made aware of their heritage.
5 Destination India
Last paradise or lost paradise?
THE PROBLEM
So much to see and so few to see it. Five million Indians travel abroad every year. Only 2.3 million foreigners return the favour, a million less than in diminutive Sri Lanka.
THE WAY OUT
Make India a magical, mystery tour. Have more budget hotels, better airports and an effective rail network. Promote niche, especially cultural, tourism. Public-private participation should make dining at monuments and cycling at historical sites a reality.
6 Metro magic
Build at least more than 100 model cities across the nation.
THE PROBLEM
Urban India is a landscape of putrefied planning. Two-thirds of Mumbai are slums, Delhi is crisscrossed with jhuggis, Chennai has little water and almost no power.
THE WAY OUT
Create at least more than 100 new cities to serve as examples of urbanisation-these should provide benchmarks in civic amenities and eco-friendliness. It can be kicked off in Madhya Pradesh.
7 States of expansion
Raise the number above 50.
THE PROBLEM
The United States of America, with a population of 300 million, has 50 states. But India’s population of one billion is squeezed administratively into 30 states and five Union Territories.
THE WAY OUT
A second States Reorganisation Commission. Divide Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka into smaller, more manageable units. If the progress of Uttaranchal is anything to go by, it should work.
8 Home truths
One in every five Indians has no pucca roof.
THE PROBLEM
We are short of 50 million houses, which means the country needs to spend Rs 1,75,000 crore more to give every citizen a home. India’s slum population is estimated at 62 million and it is rising at 2 per cent every year.
THE WAY OUT
Archaic real estate laws need to be changed to free land for low cost high-rises. Partnerships between the state and private sector have to be encouraged to make building affordable. Kapil Mohan, former DC of Hubli-Dharwad, Karnataka, showed the way with the Ashraya project where 1,240 houses were built with state help.
9 Old comfort
Over 70 million senior citizens need to age gracefully.
THE PROBLEM
For most people, old age comes at a bad time. In India, more so. Only 10 per cent of the 70 million people over 60 get a pension. By 2020, the number of senior citizens with no pensions will rise to about 120 million.
THE WAY OUT
Give easy and safe options to workers in the unorganised sector to build savings. Start government-funded pension plans for the poorest. Have a special old age insurance scheme that supports medical care.
10 Holy discord
For the love of God, remove unauthorised religious buildings.
THE PROBLEM
Eternal India. Shrines in the middle of the road. Naked Naga sadhus in the waters of Prayag. A surfeit of gods. A multiplicity of beliefs. In the name of religion, anything goes. And therein lies the problem. Why should traffic suffer just because faith requires a public display?
THE WAY OUT
It is tough taking on the Almighty. But it can be done. Take Bhagwanji Raiyani. He filed a petition against illegal shrines in Mumbai on the basis of which the high court directed the BMC to demolish all shrines encroaching on pavements. About 1,100 illegal shrines were demolished. The case is still in court.
11 Peace march
Display fervour, not fratricidal intentions.
THE PROBLEM
Processions have often been the match for petrol-soaked fires. Whether it was Ahmedabad, 1969, or Bhiwandi, 1970, communal tension often comes to a head during such marches.
THE WAY OUT
Ban provocative religious processions that inflame passions. Allow only traditionally harmonious ones like the Pandharpur yatra or the prabhat pheris. Better still, preach religious harmony.
12 The right answer to their calling
Defenders of the faith, be responsible and wise.
THE PROBLEM
Religion has become big business. The Tirupati temple’s annual income from offerings is Rs 300 crore. The Ramakrishna Mission makes Rs 150 crore. But not everyone remembers their social obligations.
THE WAY OUT
Divert funds to rescue victims of floods, quakes and riots. Religious leaders can mobilise the faithful to work for the community. They could learn from Bharat Sevashram Sangha which worked flat out during the Gujarat quake.
13 Health for all
Treatment is not just for those who can afford it.
THE PROBLEM
India is no place to be sick, or poor, or both. More than 26 crore people cannot afford healthcare. Government hospitals attend to just a quarter of all medical complaints.
THE WAY OUT
If every poor family pays a premium of Rs 248 every year, a health insurance scheme will cost the state Rs 1,200 crore. India has 48 doctors for 1,00,000 people. That too needs to change.
14 Digital bridges
Connect all of India to a common keyboard.
THE PROBLEM
A far country. This describes 76,000 of the 6.38 lakh villages cut off from the national grid. They have no information on the weather and are open to exploitation by middlemen. As a result, producers of perishables get only 20 per cent of what consumers pay.
THE WAY OUT
Democratise IT. Follow the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation initiative in Pondicherry where every day, fishermen log on to the Internet for wave patterns and location of fish. It has reduced the accident rate and boosted the catch.
15 Elementary solutions
Three out of every five children drop out of school.
THE PROBLEM
By law now, education is the fundamental right of every child between the ages of six and 14. Still, only 31 per cent of children complete their education up to Class X. One out of every four children does not go to school.
THE WAY OUT
Do not micro-manage education from Shastri Bhavan through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the funds of which are underutilised. Give grants-in-aid for quality innovations. Begin small like Digantar in Jaipur, which runs three schools that advocate self-learning.
16 Witness to injustice
Prosecution later, protection first.
THE PROBLEM
Nitish Katara, Shivani Bhatnagar, Naina Sahni. Case after case, murder after murder-there are no convictions. Even though witnesses turn hostile out of fear, they are offered no protection under the IPC. Witnesses are also asked to record their statements with the police.
THE WAY OUT
Witnesses’ statements must be recorded only before magistrates so that they hold at the time of trial. A US-type witness-protection programme will ensure the safety of those who dare to stand up for others and prevent intimidation.
17 Laws of acceleration
Give justice to all, in their lifetimes.
THE PROBLEM
Ten years ago a high court judge tackled about 3,500 cases a year. The number has increased to 5,358 cases. About 2.7 crore cases are awaiting verdicts.
THE WAY OUT
Have a time limit for cases, create a separate jury system for small cases and encourage out-of-court settlements. Remember, there are just 10.5 judges for every million people.
18 Cut the cover
Citizens need protection from VIP security.
THE PROBLEM
Screaming sirens. Traffic snarls. Over 8,000 policemen in Delhi on the VIP beat. Rs 100 crore spent each year to shadow the prime minister and former prime ministers. VIP security is less an occupational hazard, and more a status symbol.
THE WAY OUT
Ideally, politicians should voluntarily refuse security. Realistically, intelligence agencies could review the “threat perception” of VIPs. If they want security, make them pay for it. Specialists, as in anti-terrorist force NSG, can be deployed better.
19 The tainted house
Those who make laws are most often the ones who break them.
THE PROBLEM
Democracy in India is well on its way to becoming a mob rule. Over 100 members of the new Lok Sabha are involved in criminal cases, one-third of them in heinous crimes.
THE WAY OUT
The Government should pass a law barring those charged with serious crimes, like murder and rape, from contesting polls. Those opposing the bill will be exposed in the process.
20 Make rioters pay for the damage
Don’t let the communally violent get away with murder.
THE PROBLEM
Bhiwandi, 1970. Mumbai, 1992. Gujarat, 2002. Bloody datelines from a history of hell. Verses from a hymn of hate.
THE WAY OUT
Swift, punitive action. Make the rioters pay. Let it be a test case in one state before applying it nationwide.
21 Shoppers don’t stop
Retail therapy, anytime, anywhere.
THE PROBLEM
You don’t have to be Carrie Bradshaw to love shopping. 200 new malls are expected over the next year. Restricted trading hours are an anomaly in liberalised India. More hours mean convenience and a healthier bottom line.
THE WAY OUT
Keep shopping districts and commercial hubs open all night. Economic activity will get a thumbs up. Crime will come down. Real estate will get a boost. The retail sector will grow exponentially.
22 Smile please
Start a National Conviviality Movement.
THE PROBLEM
Why is a smile inversely proportionate to age, asked President Kalam. Quite. Indians are chronic moaners. No wonder Madan Kataria’s Laughter Club of India raised more than a few eyebrows initially.
THE WAY OUT
Smile. As the legend goes, it is less work. It takes just 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Boman Irani, screen and stand-up comedian who knows a thing or two about amusement, says smiling in India is a bit like applause. “We just forget to do it,” he says.
23 Far from the madding crowd
Create quiet, green, thinking zones in cities for the weary urbanite.
THE PROBLEM
It is so easy to be senseless in the city. Residential localities are cramped with parking lots and claustrophobic market blocks, making them noisy zones that bring tempers to a breaking point.
THE WAY OUT
Peter Sellers said it so memorably in Being There, “I like to watch.” So do we. Create think zones in the cities. A small patch of green, motor-free area. Sit, stare, think.
24 Sum of all the goods
Make the MPs’ development fund public for the public.
THE PROBLEM
An MP gets Rs 2 crore a year for developing his constituency. Till 2002, Rs 9,780 crore was released under the MP Local Area Development Scheme. Only 64 per cent was used.
THE WAY OUT
Force MPs to declare how much money is spent. In Maharashtra alone, total funds from MPs, MLAs and MLCs amount to Rs 90 crore. As MP Milind Deora says, “Publish how it is spent and it will prevent overlapping.”
25 Hang the guilty
Nothing less than death penalty for rapists.
THE PROBLEM
In India a woman is raped every hour. Even if a rape is proved, the sentence ranges from one to 10 years. Most convicts get away with only three to four years of imprisonment.
THE WAY OUT
Death penalty. The National Commission for Women says it will bring down the instances of rape. Public support for the execution of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, convicted of raping and murdering a 14-yearold, shows there are many votaries.
26 Give immediate attention
Speed up emergency care for patients, especially road accident victims.
THE PROBLEM
In India, road accidents are the No. 1 killer of those under 40. One person dies on the road every 12 minutes. And most deaths occur within the first 60 minutes.
THE WAY OUT
Easy-to-remember helpline numbers, trauma booths and phones on highways. In Coimbatore, Ganga Hospital and Rotary Club have set up 38 trauma booths.
27 Have a care
Get involved in the community, pick up a cause.
THE PROBLEM
Whether it is roadside accidents, police atrocities, misuse of public services and funds or human rights violations, public apathy is the Keynesian hole in which development is buried.
THE WAY OUT
Create voluntary care societies by mobilising the public. It could be the Delhi Government’s Bhagidari experiment or Meena Saraswathi Seshu’s NGO in Sangli, Maharashtra, which has transformed prostitutes into health educators.
28 The poison on your plate
Do not stomach adulterated food, get it out of your system.
THE PROBLEM
Brick dust mixed with chilli powder, coloured chalk powder in turmeric, injectable dyes in watermelon, papaya seeds in black pepper … Your next meal could have all this and more.
THE WAY OUT
Adulterators should be given rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years. Extend standards for food quality beyond branded items which are only 1 per cent of the food in the market. Create an integrated food safety mechanism.
29 Trespassers will be prosecuted
Remove illegal buildings that encroach on roads, public spaces and parks.
THE PROBLEM
Too many people. Too little space. Everywhere one turns, public land in cities-roads, public spaces and parks-has been encroached upon by hawkers and slumdwellers.
THE WAY OUT
Citizens should educate themselves and tenaciously ask for deliverance. They should follow the example of the Pestom Sagar Citizens’ Forum in Chembur. It converted encroached land into one of Mumbai’s finest gardens.
30 Just for the record
Go public with government archives.
THE PROBLEM
The Indian government’s refusal to make records public, especially those relating to events like the 1962 India-China war, makes it difficult for administrators as well as historians to get a correct picture of recent history and contemporary events.
THE WAY OUT
The government is obliged to declassify documents after 30 years. It should do so. Instead of having a junior officer weed out sensitive documents, the government should ask historians and senior officials to review records. History, and not reticence, should be served.
31 Volume control
Noise pollution is a not-so-silent killer.
THE PROBLEM
India’s urban areas have noise levels of 90 decibels, double the WHO norm for safe noise.We have separate rules for noise of firecrackers, loud speakers and vehicles. There is even an apex court order that no community can use microphones for prayer.
THE WAY OUT
Laws exist. What is needed is public pressure. Last year, environmental activist Sumaira Abdulali got a court order enforcing silent zones in Mumbai. “If people are aware of their rights, the police will act on complaints,” says Abdulali.
32 Air freshener
Clear the air, breathe free.
THE PROBLEM
Of the three million premature deaths that occur each year worldwide due to air pollution, most are in India. Indeed if it were not for our lungs, there would be no place to confine pollution to.
THE WAY OUT
In India 70 per cent of air pollution is due to vehicular emissions. Exempt environment friendly cars from excise duty. Continue search for alternative fuel systems. Subsidise development of electric vehicles.
33 Litterbugs, beware
Let die-hard habits die.
THE PROBLEM
People turning roads into spittoons, using walls as public lavatories and leaving garbage out on the street. J.K. Galbraith called it private affluence and public squalor. As V.S. Naipaul noted, open defecation is a way of life in India, but only because 120 million homes have no sanitation facilities.
THE WAY OUT
The solution exists in pockets. It needs to be expanded. In Goa, under a 1999 Act, one can be fined Rs 5,000 for spitting. In Tamil Nadu, those who smoke or spit in public have to cough up Rs 500.
34 Nothing fair about it
Women need equality, in both word and deed.
THE PROBLEM
Infanticide. Domestic abuse. Rampant sex selection, leading to an alarming fall in the number of girls in the 0-6 age group. Laws to protect women exist, but on paper.
THE WAY OUT
Redefine laws to make their misinterpretation in court impossible, mobilise anti-abuse squads on the streets, create special courts to deal with gender crimes. Bring up girls to regard equality as non-negotiable.
35 For a new bar code
Peg alcohol use at a reasonable limit.
THE PROBLEM
You can vote, drive and marry, but can’t drink till you are 25. Archaic liquor laws lead to an inverse swing among youth who buy alcohol illegally and hide their partying habits.
THE WAY OUT
There are 62.5 million alcohol users in India. Make the laws realistic. Stem hypocrisy. Educate people, especially youth, about the evils of alcoholism. Advise moderation in imbibing.
36 Fund a vision
Nurture the fanciful thing called youth by letting aspirations take wing.
THE PROBLEM
In millennium India, funds and incentives are in short supply for any of its 82 lakh graduates who may be dreaming of the next fuel cell car or a new waste-recycling system.
THE WAY OUT
Where would Steve Jobs be without venture capital? A Technology Development Fund was set up in 1987 but to no avail. It is better that Indian corporates create vision funds.
37 The hole in the development pocket
Buck the system in which money reaches the politician, but not the poor.
THE PROBLEM
Of every Re 1 meant for development, only 12 paise reach the intended recipient in India. Eighty-eight paise are lost in transmission. Corrupt politicians and bureaucrats pocket that amount, almost 20 years after Rajiv Gandhi first propounded the theory of percolation.
THE WAY OUT
Go beyond the right to information. Let people know about government spending. Aruna Roy’s movement for the Right to Information Act in Rajasthan shows every question has an answer.
38 Branding rural India
It only takes a corporate to nurture a village.
THE PROBLEM
The government commits Rs 20,000 crore to rural development every year, but clearly it is not enough. Especially when it comes to expertise required to monitor projects like the Sadak Rozgar Yojana.
THE WAY OUT
Corporates can help by adopting villages. ITC has started an e-chaupal in 21,000 villages. Hindustan Lever is working with the Madhya Pradesh Government to help build the khadi brand by advising artisans on packaging.
39 End the paper chase
Multiplicity of forms and permissions acts as speed breakers.
THE PROBLEM
From birth to death, from ration cards to passports and driving licences, life is a labyrinth for the average Indian.
THE WAY OUT
The term red tape may have originated in the US Civil War from the ribbon binding the records but no nation has made it its own like India has. A study has found that a government file moves across 48 tables. Uniform laws for things ranging from registration of vehicles to purchase of property would help. So would automation.
40 Police the police
The khaki stains need to be scrubbed.
THE PROBLEM
Self-serving busybodies or men and women who protect us, often from themselves? Difficult to say but when senior officers in Mumbai were jailed for aiding stamp-paper forger Telgi, it showed how ingrained the rot is.
THE WAY OUT
Implement reforms like the Dharmavira panel’s recommendation to set up a commission in every state to appoint senior officers. Improve facilities in police stations, offer better housing and healthcare.
41 Bail out jails
Make prisons fit for humans.
THE PROBLEM
Over-crowding, custodial deaths, denial of rights and lack of rehabilitation. The capacity of jails in India is 2,29,713. The number of prisoners is 3,13,635. Need we say more?
THE WAY OUT
Release undertrials who have been granted bail but are unable to provide sureties. Improve prisons, build new barracks, give better water connections and allot more staff.
42 Hit the highway
No more dusty roads leading to villages that have fallen off the map.
THE PROBLEM
Over 2.5 lakh of the country’s 6.38 lakh villages have no connectors even though India has 3 million km of roads, second only to the US. The National Highways Authority has spent Rs 54,000 crore on building 13,000 km of concrete.
THE WAY OUT
Force MPs and MLAs to finance roads from their constituency funds. New technology will help. In Bangalore, the city corporation used mechanical engineer Ahmed Khan’s technology to mix plastic waste with bitumen to lay the roads.
43 Flaws in the laws
Change outdated Acts that govern daily life.
THE PROBLEM
Laws that have been repealed even in the land of their origin continue here. Indian courts still rely on the Hicklin test of 1886 to decide on what is obscene material. It has been repealed in the US and removed in England.
THE WAY OUT
Repeal archaic laws-there are 32,000 of them. Review the three 19th century procedure codes. Initiate legal reforms to remove repetitive legislation that exists because of the Concurrent List.
44 Get the track right
Blow the whistle on Indian Railways’ cleanliness standards.
THE PROBLEM
An estimated 1.4 crore passengers travel on nearly 14,000 trains each day and use around 7,000 stations. It shows in the condition of the stations. There are about 1.5 lakh cleaners but the filth is not side-tracked.
THE WAY OUT
Cleaning must be mechanised and given to private players.Western Railways’ project Clean Train Station, the train equivalent of a car wash, is in operation in Ratlam and should be replicated on a wide scale.
45 Terminal problem
Let domestic and international travel take off with 10 super airports.
THE PROBLEM
Land at any airport in India and suffer a terminal crisis. Touts more than trolleys, confusion, not information, and sourness, not a smile.
THE WAY OUT
Let arrival no longer be an enigma. The government should call for the construction of 10 private airports of international quality. Situate them in tourism-magnets Agra, Jaipur, Indore, Amritsar, Madurai and Goa.
46 The rivers run deep
Channel the water by linking India’s carriers.
THE PROBLEM
Every summer, 91 of the country’s 598 districts are hit by drought while 40 million hectares of land in 83 other districts are flooded. Even metros like Chennai are starved of water.
THE WAY OUT
Connect rivers. The River Interlinking Project which aims to bind 37 rivers and transfer water from surplus basins like the Ganga and Brahmaputra is an idea worth the wait and sweat.
47 Go with the flow
Don’t pollute the water, clean it.
THE PROBLEM
Holy they may be, but rivers are also harbingers of death. In Delhi alone, 630 million litres of untreated sewage flows into the Yamuna every day.
THE WAY OUT
Implement existing environmental laws. Use cutting edge technology to clean up rivers within a specific time. Even 15 years on, Ganga is only 39 per cent clean.
48 Historical preserves
Revive the best of British architectural legacy, brick by brick.
THE PROBLEM
Old circuit houses, dak bungalows and forest lodges. Ghostly narratives and spectral family stories. Films by . The era of “Koi hai …?” and punkahwallahs.With the disintegration of each colonial relic, we are losing parts of our past.
THE WAY OUT
Restore them, rewrite their histories. State tourism corporations should centralise bookings and maintenance should be left to private owners. A directory of such places with reservation details should be published.
49 Reality check
Make NGOs accountable.
THE PROBLEM
Fat cats or genuine jholawallas? With over 2,000 NGOs in India, it is hard to say. From the one-room Sahmat to the slick Action Aid, they run the gamut.
THE WAY OUT
NGOs should get together and host a website that details funding, expenditure, work and research methodology. Self regulation is the best regulation.
50 At alms’ length
Begging is a crime, but so is not rehabilitating beggars.
THE PROBLEM
They are the invisible people, the marginalised, the forgotten. As Nietzsche said, “It is annoying to give to them and annoying not to give to them.” Delhi alone has one lakh beggars.
THE WAY OUT
Simple but cruel. Stop giving alms and never make an exception. Create rehabilitation schemes so that migratory populations can find employment as labourers or even as domestic help.
51 Baby boon
Adopt a child, save a life.
THE PROBLEM
Ten million children work and sleep on the streets every day. Yet only Hindus are allowed to adopt. Others have to go by the Guardianship and Wards Act, 1890.
THE WAY OUT
Introduce a simple uniform adoption code. Children adopted by non-Hindus should be given the same rights as biological children.
52 Wild thoughts
Save our diversity, save ourselves.
THE PROBLEM
Over 200 species of plants have vanished in south India in 30 years. At least four species of birds have become extinct since 1870. Twenty-three species of animals have followed suit.
THE WAY OUT
Illegal trafficking in animals is the biggest problem. Stringent laws are not enough. Get the local population to become stakeholders in the process of conservation.
53 The root cause
Regreen India, tree by tree.
THE PROBLEM
As thousands of trees are cut, 1 per cent of India turns to desert every year. About 100 million families use firewood for cooking. Moisture levels in the soil are falling and water table is receding.
THE WAY OUT
Plant a sapling, everyone. Create biodiversity regions in urban jungles. Take a leaf from Suresh Heblikar’s book. The Bangalore-based ecologist identifies unused land and plants trees.
Recent Posts
Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.
On March 31, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Gender Gap Report 2021. The Global Gender Gap report is an annual report released by the WEF. The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. The gap between men and women across health, education, politics, and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.
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The Global gender gap index aims to measure this gap in four key areas : health, education, economics, and politics. It surveys economies to measure gender disparity by collating and analyzing data that fall under four indices : economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity. The index aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men in health, education, economy, and politics.
Although no country has achieved full gender parity, the top two countries (Iceland and Finland) have closed at least 85% of their gap, and the remaining seven countries (Lithuania, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, and Ireland) have closed at least 80% of their gap. Geographically, the global top 10 continues to be dominated by Nordic countries, with —Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden—in the top five.
The top 10 is completed by one country from Asia Pacific (New Zealand 4th), two Sub-Saharan countries (Namibia, 6th and Rwanda, 7th, one country from Eastern Europe (the new entrant to the top 10, Lithuania, 8th), and another two Western European countries (Ireland, 9th, and Switzerland, 10th, another country in the top-10 for the first time).There is a relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women in these countries. The tremendous gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Here, we can discuss the overall global gender gap scores across the index’s four main components : Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The indicators of the four main components are
(1) Economic Participation and Opportunity:
o Labour force participation rate,
o wage equality for similar work,
o estimated earned income,
o Legislators, senior officials, and managers,
o Professional and technical workers.
(2) Educational Attainment:
o Literacy rate (%)
o Enrollment in primary education (%)
o Enrollment in secondary education (%)
o Enrollment in tertiary education (%).
(3) Health and Survival:
o Sex ratio at birth (%)
o Healthy life expectancy (years).
(4) Political Empowerment:
o Women in Parliament (%)
o Women in Ministerial positions (%)
o Years with a female head of State (last 50 years)
o The share of tenure years.
The objective is to shed light on which factors are driving the overall average decline in the global gender gap score. The analysis results show that this year’s decline is mainly caused by a reversal in performance on the Political Empowerment gap.
Global Trends and Outcomes:
– Globally, this year, i.e., 2021, the average distance completed to gender parity gap is 68% (This means that the remaining gender gap to close stands at 32%) a step back compared to 2020 (-0.6 percentage points). These figures are mainly driven by a decline in the performance of large countries. On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
– The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked, with only 22% closed to date, having further widened since the 2020 edition of the report by 2.4 percentage points. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 Parliament seats and 22.6% of over 3,400 Ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of State as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics.
– The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second-largest of the four key gaps tracked by the index. According to this year’s index results, 58% of this gap has been closed so far. The gap has seen marginal improvement since the 2020 edition of the report, and as a result, we estimate that it will take another 267.6 years to close.
– Gender gaps in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival are nearly closed. In Educational Attainment, 95% of this gender gap has been closed globally, with 37 countries already attaining gender parity. However, the ‘last mile’ of progress is proceeding slowly. The index estimates that it will take another 14.2 years to close this gap on its current trajectory completely.
In Health and Survival, 96% of this gender gap has been closed, registering a marginal decline since last year (not due to COVID-19), and the time to close this gap remains undefined. For both education and health, while progress is higher than economy and politics in the global data, there are important future implications of disruptions due to the pandemic and continued variations in quality across income, geography, race, and ethnicity.
India-Specific Findings:
India had slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered. The pandemic causing a disproportionate impact on women jeopardizes rolling back the little progress made in the last decades-forcing more women to drop off the workforce and leaving them vulnerable to domestic violence.
India’s poor performance on the Global Gender Gap report card hints at a serious wake-up call and learning lessons from the Nordic region for the Government and policy makers.
Within the 156 countries covered, women hold only 26 percent of Parliamentary seats and 22 percent of Ministerial positions. India, in some ways, reflects this widening gap, where the number of Ministers declined from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 percent. In India, the gender gap has widened to 62.5 %, down from 66.8% the previous year.
It is mainly due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, a decrease in women’s labor force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, and income inequality.
The gap is the widest on the political empowerment dimension, with economic participation and opportunity being next in line. However, the gap on educational attainment and health and survival has been practically bridged.
India is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%.
Its ranking on the health and survival dimension is among the five worst performers. The economic participation and opportunity gap saw a decline of 3% compared to 2020, while India’s educational attainment front is in the 114th position.
India has deteriorated to 51st place from 18th place in 2020 on political empowerment. Still, it has slipped to 155th position from 150th position in 2020 on health and survival, 151st place in economic participation and opportunity from 149th place, and 114th place for educational attainment from 112th.
In 2020 reports, among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap of 64.6% is larger than the political gender gap of 58.9%. In 2021 report, among the 156 countries, the economic gender gap of India is 67.4%, 3.8% gender gap in education, 6.3% gap in health and survival, and 72.4% gender gap in political empowerment. In health and survival, the gender gap of the sex ratio at birth is above 9.1%, and healthy life expectancy is almost the same.
Discrimination against women has also been reflected in Health and Survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex. The wide sex ratio at birth gaps is due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. Besides, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.The gender gap in the literacy rate is above 20.1%.
Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy : one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) than 17.6% of men. In political empowerment, globally, women in Parliament is at 128th position and gender gap of 83.2%, and 90% gap in a Ministerial position. The gap in wages equality for similar work is above 51.8%. On health and survival, four large countries Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and China, fare poorly, with millions of women there not getting the same access to health as men.
The pandemic has only slowed down in its tracks the progress India was making towards achieving gender parity. The country urgently needs to focus on “health and survival,” which points towards a skewed sex ratio because of the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices and women’s economic participation. Women’s labour force participation rate and the share of women in technical roles declined in 2020, reducing the estimated earned income of women, one-fifth of men.
Learning from the Nordic region, noteworthy participation of women in politics, institutions, and public life is the catalyst for transformational change. Women need to be equal participants in the labour force to pioneer the societal changes the world needs in this integral period of transition.
Every effort must be directed towards achieving gender parallelism by facilitating women in leadership and decision-making positions. Social protection programmes should be gender-responsive and account for the differential needs of women and girls. Research and scientific literature also provide unequivocal evidence that countries led by women are dealing with the pandemic more effectively than many others.
Gendered inequality, thereby, is a global concern. India should focus on targeted policies and earmarked public and private investments in care and equalized access. Women are not ready to wait for another century for equality. It’s time India accelerates its efforts and fight for an inclusive, equal, global recovery.
India will not fully develop unless both women and men are equally supported to reach their full potential. There are risks, violations, and vulnerabilities women face just because they are women. Most of these risks are directly linked to women’s economic, political, social, and cultural disadvantages in their daily lives. It becomes acute during crises and disasters.
With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, women become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless women are valued more.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.