India has come a long way since that day on August 15, 1947, it kept its tryst with Destiny. In every field, economic, political, social, there are both plusses and minuses. There are many successes on the plus side of which the nation can legitimately be proud-of. There were many, especially in Britain, who did not think India would survive as a nation. We have not only survived, but we are on our way to become a Great Power in the years to come. This was literally conceded by no less than President Clinton who remarked late in December 1999 that the coming century would belong to China and India. India has practically everything to make it great. It has the population, the know-how, the industrial infra-structure and the economic sense to make rapid progress. It has overall political stability and a sense of purpose. Following the reforms of 1991, India’s exports, in U.S. dollars, grew at an average of 19.9 per cent per annum. Life expectancy has risen from around 26 years in 1945 to around 62 years, child mortality, though still high, has considerably fallen. The rate of population growth is around 2.2. Newly available data from the 53^rd round of the National Sample Survey indicate that the overall literacy has risen to 62 per cent in 1997. Poverty rates declined impressively in the 1980s, the fraction of population below the poverty line dropping from around 54 percent in 1983 to 36 per cent in 1989-90 in rural areas and from 35 to 38 per cent in urban areas. Indian economy is increasingly integrated with the global economy and the share of foreign trade (exports and imports) in GDP rose from 14% in 1991-92 to above 20% in 1997-98. Importantly, there is a feeling of unity that came to be expressed so clearly during the Kargil War. In recent weeks, state after state in the country raised funds for helping the cyclone - affected people in Orissa. These are developments that we have every reason to celebrate. But it is possible to look at a glass of water as either half full or half empty. The harsh realities of our existence cannot be ignored. Nearly 300 million of our people are illiterate – and in sheer numbers that exceeds the population of the United States or of western Europe. Even taking government figures as guidelines, some 40 per cent of our people live below the Poverty Line and that makes for anything between 350 to 400 million people! Nearly half of our available land is either degraded or wasteland. Nearly 1,60,000 villages do not have even approach roads. About 80 per cent of the students drop out of school by the time they reach the eighth standard and 50 per cent fail at the SSC examination. Social and economic disparities have widened and our cities, with their endless slums are a pathetic sight. In 1995 about 47 million children in the age group 6 – 11 were not attending school at all. According to India Development Report 1999-2000, the total annual expenditure required for universal primary schooling is to the order of Rs 281 billion or about 2.8 per cent of GDP when the current expenditure is just about 1.5 per cent.

It is not that past governments were unaware of these facts. In 1950 under the aegis of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country opted for a socialistic pattern of economic development. At that time we were obsessed with socialism and thought that was the panacea for all our problems. The intention was honourable, but things did not work out the way they were intended to. We built dams, set up Institutes of Technology, set up public sector industries all with the best of motives. It is not that they failed but they did not take into consideration human shortcomings. Our rules and regulations helped create a huge black market economy. According to one study India’s unaccounted income ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 700,000 crores or more than 50 percent of our GDP! Another estimate shows that more than half of our IIT graduates left India to find their fortune in the United States! Presently over 33,000 Indian students are registered in American Universities, causing a tremendous drain on our foreign exchange!