65 YEARS OF 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 besieged with a number of grave problems
religious divide, suffering of both communities through riot, killings and
displacement of people from their ancestral homes in division of Bengal and
Punjab areas in to two countries, a war between the two countries over Kashmir.
Economically however, India, though poor was better off relative to some other
countries like China. India had a reasonably good foreign exchange reserves, a
better industrial base and a vibrant domestic private sector entrepreneurs.
Indians in the rural areas were very poor with virtually no education and
awareness (political, international, modern hygiene, modern living, birth control)
and yet were very industrious and honest without greed and jealousy
The elite class was mostly educated the British way and influenced by the British
elite and socialists who were anti-American and therefore Indians became antiAmerican.
Life expectancy was only about 37 years
Despite the poverty, most people were contended and lived peaceful lives,
mostly in joint/ undivided families.
While during the freedom movement before Independence in 1947, all Indians
had cultivated very little regional/ provincial or linguistic hatred, after 1947 the
regional/ linguistic and provincial feelings became stronger and stronger among
the elite trying to capture power in central leadership
Congress was the only political party of significance. The general hatred towards
businessmen and rich people gathered momentum after 1947.

SIXTY FIVE 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 world-class scientists, engineers, journalists, soldiers, bureaucrats,
politicians and doctors.
3. We have built complex bridges and dams. We have sent satellites and rockets into
space. We have increased the number of doctors tenfold
4. We have increased life expectancy from 32 years to 65 years.
5. We have built about 1.25 million miles of new roads
6. We have multiplied our steel production by over 50 times and cement production by
almost 20 times.

7. We have increased our exports from a few million dollars at the time of
independence to more than $125 billion now, with about $150 billion of imports
8. Green Revolution
a) This revolution, which started in 1965, not only transformed India
into a food-surplus economy from a food-deficit economy but also
triggered the expansion of the rural, non-farm economy
b) The lives of at least 400 million to 500 million Indians have been
uplifted due to this initiative
c) From being a perennial importer of grains, India became a net
exporter of food grains 10 years ago.
9. White Revolution
a) Coming from a generation that experienced an acute shortage of
milk, it is unimaginable that, today, we have become the largest
producer of milk in the world
b) The credit goes to the extraordinary vision of one person, Dr.
Verghese Kurien. In a nation where children are malnourished,
such abundance of milk has offered us the opportunity to fight
malnutrition with the means produced in India.
10. Economic Reforms Of 1991
a) The economic reforms of 1991--initiated by the late Narasimha
Rao, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Shri P. Chidambaram and Dr. Montek
Singh Ahluwalia--opened up the minds of Indian corporate leaders
to the power of global markets, helped them accept competition
at home and abroad, and raised the confidence of consumers.
b) Our hard currency reserves have gone up from a mere $1.5 billion
in 1991 to over $220 billion today.
c) The reforms encouraged entrepreneurship and gave confidence
to businessmen and entrepreneurs to dream big, create jobs,
enhance exports, acquire companies abroad and follow the finest
principles of corporate governance.
11. Independent Media, Brave Journalists
a) The success of a democracy depends upon certain
important values of governance: fairness, transparency
and accountability
b) The freeing of media, particularly television, has laid the
foundation for improving these values in our governments.
c) The courage, enthusiasm and zeal to seek truth of scores
of idealistic journalists like N. Ram, Arun Shourie, Sekhar
Gupta, Sucheta Dalal, Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai
are what make us feel confident that the future of this
country is safe.

12. Telecom Revolution

a) No other technology has brought India--the urban and the rural-together so effectively as the 500-line EPABX designed and
implemented by the Center for Development of Telematics under the
leadership of Sam Pitroda
b) This program brought fresh confidence to the people, as they could
reach out, in a jiffy, to their loved ones, officials and doctors, just to
name a few. People no longer feel that they live in isolation.

13. Space Technology

a) Yash Pal's Satellite Instructional Television Experiment blossomed into a fullscale television facility connecting millions of villages of India
b) Television has made our political masters realize that their actions and inactions
will be seen and judged by every citizen--from the forgotten villages of Assam to
the activist villages of Kerala.
c) This technology has given voice to the opinions of a billion people--the rich and
the poor, the educated and the uneducated, and the powerful and the
disfranchised.
14. Atomic Energy
a) Dr. Homi Bhabha conceptualized the Indian nuclear program and initiated
nuclear science research in India
b) His program has made possible successful utilization of nuclear energy in
defense, power generation, medicine and allied areas.
c) Our peaceful use of nuclear energy has raised India's prestige as a mature
and responsible player in this field.

15. Software Revolution

a) Vittal's Software Technology Program, along with the economic reforms
of 1991, laid the foundation for this industry's spectacular progress
b) India's information technology exports grew from a mere $150 million in
1991-92 to $31.4 billion in 2006-07, and is projected to reach $60 billion
by 2010.
c) The Indian IT industry is unique for several reasons. It focused on exports;
benchmarked with the best global companies; followed the finest
principles of corporate governance; created the largest number of jobs in
the organized sector; and demonstrated that Indians, too, could succeed
in the most competitive global markets.

SIXTY FIVE YEARS OF LOSS? (WHY)

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Although political freedom was achieved 60 years ago, economic freedom is still
a distant dream for the majority of the population.
there are factions within the country that oppose economic freedom because
they have a vested interest in the perpetuation of a command and control
economy
Yet without economic freedom, the nation is unlikely to achieve its potential.
If a little bit of economic freedom could achieve so much, with greater
liberalization one can expect the eradication of persistent and chronic poverty.
India has to think beyond fossil fuel because that is a limited horizon fuel, mostly
imported, and the competition for the limited resources will intensify with the
growth of global demand.
Infrastructure can gain from privatization. Roads, ports, airports, and railroads. I
think the emphasis has to be on a modern efficient fast rail transportation
system.
We need to pay attention on education system as well .
We lag behind in :
A whopping 350 million are illiterate;
260 million people are still below the poverty line
150 million people lack access to drinking water
750 million people lack decent sanitation;
50% of children are below acceptable nutrition levels;
Basic medicines are unavailable in 75% of villages.

To conclude, the world may get something from Indias experience even when we do
little to help others in an active way. While some lessons are in well-known fields,
including democracy, secularism, the media, and others, there are further areas that
may be worth bringing into comparative analysis. If we really want to build a strong
foundation, we need to address the issues. Only then we will be able to look forward
to a brighter tomorrow