IS INDIA SELF-SUFFICIENT?

Unfortunate enough, after 1600 AD, India fell in the trap of her conspiracy—the slavery of the British rule. Yes, it is indeed true that our freedom was at last returned back to us. But was this freedom an appropriate freedom for every individual?

My answer to it is completely no! Even today as I turn my eyes around me, the hallowed eyes and pot-bellies of many tiny figures linger in my mind. Government claims that we have achieved food security; then what it is this?

I feel sad that today our expectations are turning into anxiety; anxiety into threat and threat into despair. It appears that we are a rich country of poor people.

As far as the rural areas are concerned, even today majority of the farmers practice subsistence agriculture and strange enough, our government claims that we are self-sufficient. But is it not an economical suicide?? Villages in India are poor because more and more people are sharing a pie that is steadily shrinking. For those stuck in such villages, it is better for them to migrate to 500 odd towns and cities where at least there is division of labor and much more creativity.

Another crying problem of our country which even today haunts us is the illiteracy and enforcing primary education. Though education is one of our fundamental rights, still about 1/3 of the kids in India is not able to even scribble their names. Education in India today is priced, not given.

It is very sad to see small children working as helping hands either in households or small shops, helping their families to get their one-day meal.

Everyone is against Socialism in India. The petty bureaucracy of police and municipal functionaries prey on unorganized and informal sector of hawkers and street vendors.

Another face of growing India is its population. How can India be self-sufficient when she needs to feed her fresh torrent of population?

Again, in the use of our resources both human and physical and financial; there is a tremendous drainage. Insufficient employment opportunities and lack of scope have provided the creamy layer of the country to settle abroad. One really wonders whether India can afford such a brain drain. One look around us points out at the regional disparity which results in uneven development in different parts.

There is also the problem of wasteful expenditure. Resources get diverted. In the era of coalition politics, we see some states manipulating the resources.

India represents a pluralistic society where democracy exists with political instability. With the crime-chart soaring high and corruption level at its optimum, India is desperately fighting for a fast pace economic growth.