ANTI-INDUSTRY TIRADES IN INDIA

Indian growth story  of late is seriously faltered by unrestrained population explosion, lack of education and skill levels to majority of its citizens, limited natural resources and short sighted vote bank as well as highly divisive politics by the politicos. Unfortunately, genuine efforts have been far and few to rein in these impediments of Indian growth story both at the macro level as well as micro level.

Indian financial health could be maintained satisfactorily in the last decade due to the twin factors of growth of its GDP at the rate of 7 to 9% and high savings rate of its Citizens, despite constricted tax net and heavy non-revenue expenditure that includes heavy subsidies and fuel imports. Largely visible and populist Subsidy route was pursued by government, instead of more reliable techno-community farming, to prop up agricultural sector though it has been contributing a measly 1 to 2% of GDP growth.

Unfortunately, some of the ideologues and the citizens ridiculously failed to realize the importance of Industrial growth and the associated socio-economic benefits, both tangible and intangible, to be accrued to them in their regions. Despite being direct beneficiaries’ of governments subsidies as well as welfare schemes and the same time being tax-exclusives, some sleazy people and their leaders have been vehemently protesting against setting up of Major industries in their regions, for some irrational and self-centered reasons best known to them.

States like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are highly debt ridden and Electrical power hungry states where growth is paramount for uplifting their poor. However, violent protests in Nandigram and Singur of West Bengal had resulted in shelving of Major investments in that region thus robbing themselves of some great long term opportunities like employment, infrastructure development, improvement in living standards apart from a host of indirect benefits. Similar protests are continuing in Kakrapalli and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu against Green field thermal and nuclear power projects. Similar protests have become the order of day in some regions of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh against Mining and setting up of new Industrial establishments.

Unjustifiable nature of the protests against power projects can be gauged by reviewing at the electric power demand for the year 2010-2011. According to the 17th electric power survey of India report, India's industrial demand accounted for 35% of electrical power requirement, domestic household use accounted for 28%, agriculture 21%, commercial 9%, public lighting and other miscellaneous applications accounted for the rest. Agricultural demand is a whopping 21%, and the electrical power is supplied free of cost to farmers in states like Andhra Pradesh, already grappling with crippling blackouts lasting several hours; where populist schemes are unabatedly and blatantly pampered by ruling class at the expense of the common man. The protestors and their instigators should realize that the electricity blackouts and power shedding is not only interrupting manufacturing sector but irrigation too across the country.
Indian citizen will be embarrassed to know that India imports marginal amounts of electricity from our smaller neighbors; Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh despite having the obligatory resources and skills.

It is the state and central government’s obligation to immediately resolve the land acquisition issues, accelerate the governments mandatory approvals and environmental clearances, speed up the infrastructure development and enable training of skilled manpower (to prevent talent shortages for operating latest technology plants and mitigate unemployment) to facilitate a reasonable business climate in the country. Since, land acquisition results in loss of useful agricultural lands and wetlands, governments shall endeavor to reclaim the lost agricultural lands by converting barren lands to new water bodies, leading to more green pastures and cultivable lands around them. It may be noted that governments schemes such as drought areas programme and Integrated Watershed Development Programme have resulted in barren lands converting to more green pastures and cultivable lands, in the past.

Most importantly, state and central government shall regulate and monitor the Environmental balance of the regions due to new industries to ensure that no resistance or opposition is likely to arise from any category of stake-holders including the local population.

THE MAVERICKS: AMMA, BEHENJI & DIDI

I am still and will continue to be intrigued and at times fascinated by the infamous Roman Emperor Nero’s anecdote. By some accounts, Nero ran away to Macedonia with his lady love Claudia Acte, a former slave, against the wishes of his aggressive, cunning and ruthless mother Agrippina, after he was declared a successor to the throne. However, an unwilling and reluctant Nero was crowned the Emperor, at the tender age of 17, after the untimely death of Emperor Claudius in 54AD. Post succession, Nero often made rulings that pleased the lower class and was criticized as being obsessed with being popular. Nevertheless, over time, Nero faced a number of rebellions and power struggles that made him insecure, bitter, resentful and paranoid. Nero progressively seized more political power through tyranny, freeing himself of his advisers and eliminating rivals to the throne to consolidate his power and authoritarianism. The notable of his political adversaries eliminated by him included, his own mother Agrippina along with his teacher and mentor Seneca, close advisor Burrus, apart from his other step brothers and dissenting senators. Rightfully, over the 14 years of his rule, disenchantment among the ruling elite and masses and rebellion in his armed forces alarmingly grew, which forced Nero to commit suicide at the age of 30 in the year 68 AD.

Unfortunately, all martyred rulers hustled to power right from Nero failed to realize their follies when it mattered. Moreover, the life history of late Indira Gandhi is another great example of an honest individual ruined by unrestricted political power.  

Jayalalitha of Tamil Nadu (popularly called AMMA), Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh (popularly called BEHENJI) and Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal (popularly called DID) have gate-crashed into the male club of Indian regional politics, absolutely by their own choice and were readily embraced by the regional masses as the most viable alternative to those in power in their respective states. Regrettably, they had to endure constant insults and veiled wounds from their respective political adversaries since their opponents could not match the political intelligence, energy and allure of the charismatic ladies who rammed in to their political bastions.

Fortunately, all the three women politicians were given huge mandate by masses in their respective states with great anticipation of betterment and optimism. People overly mandated them and hustled them to power expecting them to become CRUSADERS against the evils and deeds of the previous governments that decelerated their progress and wellbeing. On the contrary, they all failed to realize that the fighter in them must cease to exist once the election battles are won, but instead continued to be relentless fighters against their political adversaries and critics. Smitten by power and delimited by sycophants all-round, their fighting tendencies metamorphosed themselves in to more furious, bitter, arrogant, constantly suspicious, insecure, intolerant and dictatorial.

The flaunting of authority, never ending loyalty tests to their loyalists, misappropriation of state finances, personal exuberance to make themselves immortal in the eyes of common man (ala, statues by Mayawati) and wielding of a heavy hand of the state and police against the political adversaries and dissenters alienated loyalists, friends, media, intelligentsia and masses alike and thus made them perceive conspiracies in anything negative and every reversal they had to endure during their time in power. Precisely, this is what Amma and Behenji had experienced in their earlier terms and is currently happening to Didi. Amma and Behenji became imperious, lonely and ill-advised due to desertions by intelligentsia as well as loyalists and were trapped in a state of siege by highly self-centered sycophants and had to chew the dust during the subsequent provincial elections.

Amma, after being out of power for a decade, seemed to have settled well in her new term of office due to the lessons learnt from the past, justifying the rightful mandate against the decade long limitlessly corrupt Karunanidhi regime.

Conversely, Didi seems to be treading the dangerous tyrannical path by installing fear in the masses, being arbitrary, hot-tempered, arrogant and showing little sensitivity and lack of discretion when it comes to atrocities on women and assaults on intelligentsia by political goons. The public outcry, of late, by the disgusted and angered citizens along the media is a testimony of her misrule and highlights the immediate need to completely change her style of functioning.

Although we empathize with Didi concerning the unhealed wounds of those long years of persecution by the previous regimes, she shall realize at once, that her wounds shall be healed and her pain turned to pleasure by keeping her political detractors away from power as long as she can. However, this can be a reality only if, she can relentlessly work for the public causes as well as pragmatically crusade against the misdeeds of the previous government and build enormous warmth and faith in the masses.

The histories of all martyred rulers hustled to power right from Nero can never be glorified due to the existence of factual evidences while as the present crop of politicians still have a great opportunity to learn from the history and imprint themselves graciously and gloriously in to the history books of the future.