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An outlook for New India in its Amrit Kaal


"There is something unique in this soil, which despite many obstacles has remained an abode of great souls." -- Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

The above sagely words cannot fit more aptly to a land as diverse and beautiful as India. Today, India has completed its 75 years of Independence. This hard won independence after a long struggle had pedestaled India into the category of independent nation on the eve of 15th August, 1947 when ex-PM J.L. Nehru delivered his famous speech 'A tryst with destiny'. 

Historically speaking, India's freedom struggle had been an amalgam of mixed paths towards complete  independence. From a  moderate struggle to win back India's political equality vis-a-vis Britishers to the extremist's concept of getting "Swarajya '' to Gandhi's constitutional and legitimate politics for India's independence to the nationalist's militant approach to overthrow the British empire, India's freedom struggle had the hue of every ideology.

However, the idea of India's independence, always, harkened back to its rooted democratic structure, which PM Modi reiterated in his speech from the ramparts of the Red fort when he emphasized that 'India is the mother of Democracy'. Still, after 75 years, the day of reckoning has come before us to recalibrate  our future developmental path in this Amrit kaal (2022-2047).

India's developmental model, as adopted since independence, had been a mixed model of economic growth until 1991 when it adopted a more liberalized approach. However, despite its 75 years of independence and many economic experiments, menaces like poverty( Azim Premji University's 'State of working India report 2021' emphasized that 230 million people have fallen back into poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic), developmental deficit, lack of democratization on the gender front (World Inequality report 2022 showcases 18% of national wage is captured by women and 82% of the same by men), corruption ( India ranked 85 out of 180 countries in the Corruption perception Index 2022) etc. hinders the Indian developmental path. Moreover, the Confederation of Indian Industry's report on demographic dividend highlights that India will add 183 million of working age people (15-64 years) between 2020-50 and in the absence of skilled jobs and avenues, India's demographic dividend might turn into demographic liability.

Add to this, the chaos perpetrated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the rising inflation have posed another set of challenges to the Indian economy at a time when RBI's report on Currency and Finance highlighted that India will take another 13 years to recuperate its COVID-19 economic losses. Along with this, the rising environmental destabilization around the world has exacerbated the challenges for the Indian economic development. So, what approach should we take in this Amrit kaal?

The answer lies in the basics. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said," If India must wage war, we have to do it on unemployment, poverty, diseases and backwardness." Working on the fundamentals of India's economy so as to make it more resilient from the external threats (idea of Make in India to make for the World) and formal in its structure, should be emphasized upon. Furthermore, improving the state's capacity to deliver social distributive justice ( building infra for the health, education and social security purposes) using capacity and coherence building programmes along with skill development and digitalization (India's PM Gati Shakti initiative and National infrastructure pipeline) is a must. Along with this, adopting an innovative policy-making approach that focuses on decentralization of sustainable development goals (SDGs), is sensitive to gender-based issues and by distribution of state resources to the local bodies, will help us to move forward to mitigate the impact of climate change and its effect on India's economic growth ( Ministry of Panchayati Raj's Pact with UNDP, PURA model and LIFE approach). 

At last, While consolidating on our strengths and focussing on to curb the loopholes can we be able to march forward with an approach of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyaan and Jai Anusandhan". We must understand that India's resurgence lies in reinventing its own approach rather than adopting a predetermined path suitable for the social, political and economic model of some other nation, for the nation as distinct as India, reinvention lies in its diverse approach, not a 'monolithic' one, to its problems. Let's step forward in our Amrit kaal with a resolution to make India an equitable, just and developed country through our small, yet significant, contributions in its path towards its centennial of independence in 2047.

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