India today

Today Indian parliament contains 43% parliamentarians with a criminal background. It is a matter of deep introspection what is happening in the country and how they ended up as a choice of the countrymen to become a member of the parliament. First, it reflects how deeply flawed is the Indian election system is. Second, it also reflects the priority of the countrymen who elected these individuals.

One thing is we all need to be concerned about is how on earth will they legislate who themselves have committed such crimes? Is it the case that there are shortages of candidates in one of the most populated countries on earth? Why is that genuine leaders could not come up into the stage and become a part of the system? What compels to not choose the political career? The reasons are many.

India is a lower middle-income country and there is an increasing gap between the incomes of the people. India is still 70% rural area and the infrastructure facilities such as education, health care & recreation, etc. is in a pathetic condition in such areas. This does not mean that India has not progressed. Along with China, India is also successful in the last two decade to uplift millions of people from extreme poverty. However, at one point in the 90s when both India and China were in almost the same situation in various parameters, India left behind. Today China’s economy is almost 6 times larger than India’s. In fact, the smaller neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka are doing well in several parameters than India. India, now the youngest country in the world, is struggling to fully utilize its demographic dividend because of the non-employability of its youth. 60% of the population depends directly or indirectly in the agriculture sector. These form a majority of the small, marginal farmers and the casual landless laborers.

In the past two decades, there had been several welfare schemes have been launched by the incumbent governments. Due to poor implementation and several leakages, their effect was minimal. We definitely need radical solutions for faster growth but more than that accountability from all of us to whatever work we are doing. To make it possible, administration, police system and various institutions play a definitive role. They can make sure to build an environment that the common men are fearless. Besides, every one of us must understand the value of character building in education. The various religions which reside in the air of India should not be used for ‘divide and rule’ but to convey their common moral teaching. It is easier said done and more than words examples awaits in thirst.

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