In 1947, when the glorious tricolour unfurled, it unravelled a dream. It unfolded aspirations and endeavours. Unhurriedly, the seed of a mighty nation—with assorted cultures, colours, theologies and languages—was sown. That grain went through all the harsh hurricanes and conditions. It sprouted out successful, strenuous and sparkling. Today, we are residents of the world’s vastest democracy and the second-fastest-growing economy. We are the soil that earned the Green and the White revolutions in 1968 and 1970 respectively. Today, 74% of our folk is learned as compared to 12% at the time of Independence. Likewise, per capita income rose from Rs 250 a year in 1947 to Rs 1,34,186/- in 2019. On the other hand, historical climacterics like the Bank Nationalisation of 1969, nuclear testing Pokhran 1 in 1974, the first space satellite in 1975, the globalisation of the Indian economy in 1991, Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005, and lately tax reforms in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017 have been among the myriad zeniths that depict India’s delightful quest. This, however, has not been plentiful. It has been the tip of the iceberg. We have miles to go before we accomplish what we had dreamt of. Currently, we lag in many parameters: Sustainable Development Goals, Human Capital Index, Human Development Index, Happiness Report, Corruption Perception Index, Human Freedom Index, Education, Health and so on. We have been outperformed by our competitors in many of these indices. To bridge such gaps, C.K Prahalad—while proclaiming the 60th year of Indian Independence—articulated a sentiment of three-dimensional elaboration of India: Economic strength, Technological Vitality, and Moral Leadership. This was a vision to be achieved by the 75th of liberty. Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) embraced this idea in May 2008. India at 75 is an inspirational vision of how India should be at the 75th Independence Day. It looks forward to seeking the collaboration of all stakeholders—industry, individuals, institutions, community groups, government and so on. This year, we are rejoicing Vigilance Awareness Week with the same vision. The same has been emphasised by our Hon’ble Prime Minister. This year we all look at a vision of India at 75, self-reliance with integrity. To glimpse the India of our dreams, we need to appraise and understand where we stand.
Is India self-reliant? Although, we have come along a long way in creating a setting conducive for self-reliance, yet we cannot call our country a self-reliant one. We are still dependent upon countries like China, the United States, and Israel and so on. We import countless commodities from many neighbourhoods. We cannot produce everything locally. This is the story of global economics. But, what we can achieve is a balance of payments. We should aspire to achieve atleast an equilibrium in the imports and exports. The latest clarion calls of ‘Make in India’, ‘Vocal for Local’ and so on are welcome steps towards giving an impetus to domestic production. In the long run, this would incentivise the domestic manufacturing and service sector. Ultimately, a conducive balance of payments may be obtained. Hand in hand with this, we need to cash in the large pool of our educated and skilful youth. We need to dive into the seas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Solar energy and the like. We ought to provide a competitive labour-intensive manufacturing sector to cater to the demands. Apart from this, we should quickly understand that no country can prosper and become self-reliant unless they possess a robust quality education system. India’s meagre financial share towards education has to ramp up without delay.
To instill the concept of integrity we also need to have a fair compensation system, reward and recognition program, employee participation, goal setting, healthy communication practices and employee engagement initiatives. Let’s join hands today. Let’s take the vision of India at 75 and make it a reality. Let’s resolve to be honest without compromise. Once this is ensured, prosperity and self-reliance will follow.
Self-reliance is not conceivable without uncompromised integrity: All the questions of development, growth, self-reliance and peace zero down to the principles of integrity. A nation where people are honest grows by leaps and bounds. India is bitterly positioned at this face. We are at rank 86 in Transparency International’s corruption perception index 2020. This has deteriorated as compared to last year. In the 21st century, we still live in a nation where a government officer openly asks for a proportion to get a property document done. We live in a country where one political party buys the other with money. No file moves without a monetary catalyst. Some are dishonest concerning monetary privileges while others give the least importance to integrity while the discharge of official duty. This has scarred our state. We need stringent laws and vigilance. Vigilance at the individual as well as sovereign levels is needed to curb this menace. Lack of integrity weakens every corner of our nation. Unless and until we do away with the tip system and other dishonest practices, no matter how many technological and economic reforms we draw, it would go to the wastebasket. To instill the concept of integrity we also need to have a fair compensation system, reward and recognition program, employee participation, goal setting, healthy communication practices and employee engagement initiatives. Let’s join hands today. Let’s take the vision of India at 75 and make it a reality. Let’s resolve to be honest without compromise. Once this is ensured, prosperity and self-reliance will follow.
(The author, an MBA, NET, IBPS, works in the Middle Mgmt of a reputed PSU Bank. The views are his own)
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