60 years if indian freeedom :have we gained or lost ?

Introduction(After 1947)
Just after partition leading to formation of two countries India and Pakistan from out of a single country, India was beseiged wit a number of gra!e problems religious di!ide, suffering of bot communities t roug riot, killings and displacement of people from t eir ancestral omes in di!ision of "engal and Pun#ab areas in to two countries, a war between t e two countries o!er $as mir% &conomically owe!er, India , t oug poor was better off relati!e to some ot er countries like ' ina% India ad a reasonably good foreign e(c ange reser!es% a better industrial base, a !ibrant domestic pri!ate sector entrepreneurs% Indians in t e rural areas were !ery poor wit !irtually no education and awareness )political, international, modern ygine, modern li!ing, birt control) and yet were !ery industrious and onest wit out greed and #ealousy * e elite class was mostly educated t e "ritis way and influenced by t e "ritis elite and socialists w o were anti+American and t erefore Indians became anti+ American% ,ife e(pectancy was only about -7 years .espite t e po!erty, most people were contended and li!ed peaceful li!es, mostly in #oint/ undi!ided families% 0 ile during t e freedom mo!ement before Independence in 1947, all Indians ad culti!ated !ery little regional/ pro!incial or linguistic atred, after 1947 t e regional/ linguistic and pro!incial feelings became stronger and stronger among t e elite trying to capture power in central leaders ip 'ongress was t e only political party of significance% * e general atred towards businessmen and ric people gat ered momentum after 1947%

Sixty Years Of Progress(we have gained )

1. 60 years is a short span in the life of a nation, and barely marks the first baby steps of a toddler. Hence, any assessment of India has to be generous and optimistic. 2.We have made decent progress in several areas during the last 60 years. We have produced orld!class scientists, engineers, "ournalists, soldiers, bureaucrats, politicians and doctors. #.We have built comple$ bridges and dams. We have sent satellites and rockets into space. We have increased the number of doctors tenfold %.We have increased life e$pectancy from #2 years to 6& years. &.We have built about 1.2& million miles of ne roads 6. e have multiplied our steel production by over &0 times and cement production by almost 20 times. '.We have increased our e$ports from a fe million dollars at the time of independence to more than (12& billion no , ith about (1&0 billion of imports

8. Green Revolution a) *his revolution, hich started in 1+6&, not only transformed India into a food!surplus economy from a food!deficit economy but also triggered the e$pansion of the rural, non!farm economy b) *he lives of at least %00 million to &00 million Indians have been uplifted due to this initiative c) ,rom being a perennial importer of grains, India became a net e$porter of food grains 10 years ago. 9. White Revolution a) -oming from a generation that e$perienced an acute shortage of milk, it is unimaginable that, today, e have become the largest producer of milk in the orld b) *he credit goes to the e$traordinary vision of one person, .r. /erghese 0urien. In a nation here children are malnourished, such abundance of milk has offered us the opportunity to fight malnutrition ith the means produced in India. !. "#ono$i# Refor$s Of 99 a) *he economic reforms of 1++1!!initiated by the late 1arasimha 2ao, .r. 3anmohan 4ingh, 4hri 5. -hidambaram and .r. 3ontek 4ingh 6hlu alia!!opened up the minds of Indian corporate leaders to the po er of global markets, helped them accept competition at home and abroad, and raised the confidence of consumers. b) 7ur hard currency reserves have gone up from a mere (1.& billion in 1++1 to over (220 billion today. c) *he reforms encouraged entrepreneurship and gave confidence to businessmen and entrepreneurs to dream big, create "obs, enhance e$ports, ac8uire companies abroad and follo the finest principles of corporate governance. . %nde&endent 'edia( )rave *ournalists a) *he success of a democracy depends upon certain important values of governance9 fairness, transparency and accountability b) *he freeing of media, particularly television, has laid the foundation for improving these values in our governments. c) *he courage, enthusiasm and :eal to seek truth of scores of idealistic "ournalists li+e ,. Ra$( -run Shourie( Se+har Gu&ta( Su#heta .alal( )ar+ha .utt and Ra/dee& Sardesai are hat make us feel confident that the future of this country is safe.

0. 1ele#o$ Revolution a) 1o other technology has brought India!!the urban and the rural!!together so effectively as the &00!line ;56<= designed and implemented by the -enter for .evelopment of *elematics under the leadership of 4am 5itroda

b) *his program brought fresh confidence to the people, as they could reach out, in a "iffy, to their loved ones, officials and doctors, "ust to name a fe . 5eople no longer feel that they live in isolation.

2. S&a#e 1e#hnology

a) >ash 5al?s 4atellite Instructional *elevision ;$periment blossomed into a full!scale television facility connecting millions of villages of India b) *elevision has made our political masters reali:e that their actions and inactions ill be seen and "udged by every citi:en!!from the forgotten villages of 6ssam to the activist villages of 0erala. c) *his technology has given voice to the opinions of a billion people!!the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, and the po erful and the disfranchised. 3. -to$i# "nergy

a) .r. Homi <habha conceptuali:ed the Indian nuclear program and initiated nuclear science research in India b) His program has made possible successful utili:ation of nuclear energy in defense, po er generation, medicine and allied areas. c) 7ur peaceful use of nuclear energy has raised India?s prestige as a mature and responsible player in this field.

4. Software Revolution

a) /ittal?s 4oft are *echnology 5rogram, along ith the economic reforms of 1++1, laid the foundation for this industry?s spectacular progress b) India?s information technology e$ports gre from a mere (1&0 million in 1++1! +2 to (#1.% billion in 2006!0', and is pro"ected to reach (60 billion by 2010. c) *he Indian I* industry is uni8ue for several reasons. It focused on e$ports@ benchmarked ith the best global companies@ follo ed the finest principles of corporate governance@ created the largest number of "obs in the organi:ed sector@ and demonstrated that Indians, too, could succeed in the most competitive global markets.

4i$ty years of loss A

(why)

1) Alt oug political freedom was ac ie!ed 12 years ago, economic freedom is still a distant dream for t e ma#ority of t e population%

3) t ere are factions wit in t e country t at oppose economic freedom because t ey a!e a !ested interest in t e perpetuation of a command and control economy -) % 4et wit out economic freedom, t e nation is unlikely to ac ie!e its potential% 4) If a little bit of economic freedom could ac ie!e so muc , wit greater liberali5ation one can e(pect t e eradication of persistent and c ronic po!erty% 6) India as to t ink beyond fossil fuel because t at is a limited ori5on fuel, mostly imported, and t e competition for t e limited resources will intensify wit t e growt of global demand% 1) Infrastructure can gain from pri!ati5ation% 7oads, ports, airports, and railroads% I t ink t e emp asis as to be on a modern efficient fast rail transportation system% 7) 0e need to pay attention on education system as well %
8) 1. 2. #. %. &. 6. We lag 5ehind in 6 6 hopping #&0 million are illiterate@ 260 million people are still belo the poverty line 1&0 million people lack access to drinking ater '&0 million people lack decent sanitation@ &0B of children are belo acceptable nutrition levels@ basic medicines are unavailable in '&B of villages.

To conclude, the world may get something from Indias experience even when
we do little to help others in an active way. hile some lessons are in well!"nown fields# including democracy# secularism# the media# and others# there are further areas that may $e worth $ringing into comparative analysis. If we really want to $uild a strong foundation# we need to address the issues. %nly then we will $e a$le to loo" forward to a $righter tomorrow