Overview
India must achieve its most anticipated demographic dividend[1] by the end of this decade. Then only she will be able to regain her position globally as an inclusive economy. Though this sounds very simple and peripheral, some physical, conceptual and cultural changes should be made deliberately for the achievement.
The prime requisite is that the citizens under the working age group(age 15 to 65) of India must be able to stand up to global skill requirements. However, that alone will not be adequate. There must be such an environment which helps them to use their skill sets and earn at their best. To improvising the skills of Indian youth, our education system must concentrate more on the quality of the content. Accessibility of education institutions to rural, poor and vulnerable sections is yet another milestone.
Even if education becomes accessible and affordable, parents will send their children to schools and colleges only if they earn enough to fulfil the basic needs of the entire family. The mindsets of orthodox patriarchal Indians should also be changed, for which yet another massive social renaissance has to happen. So, we need a multifaceted approach to achieve a glorious yet complicated Demographic Dividend in India. Let’s have a look.
The Mission
- Firstly our cooperative sector should be strengthened so that the purchasing power of the rural poor will increase. The income of farmers will increase as they get more exposure. The e-NAM approach in agriculture and allied activities will improve connectivity and increase opportunities. However, this should take place in the second phase of development only. Because the current need is to make farmers of India equal and competent as far as possible within the domestic economy and to make them eligible for commercial farming seems second concern for a large plethora of small and marginal Indian farmers. (From here onwards, consider small and marginal farmers who cultivate for subsistence primarily whenever you hit with the term ‘farmer’. Others will be called rich farmers)
- The direct transfer of subsidies will help farmers keep up with the market pace and maintain purchasing power, especially in rural areas.
- As the financial side of the rural population – mostly employed in agriculture and allied activities – gets strong enough, the commercial agricultural practices increase. The trickle-down effect will catch momentum and will eventually cause increased productivity with less labour. As a result, more children would go to schools on farmlands.
- The primary education institutions must be standardized and more skills must be taught in such institutions so that the literacy rate and quality of primary education will increase. Also, programs like midday meals, ICDS[2] and school bonuses will attract more and more poor children to schools. More students will pursue secondary classes and higher grades.
”The Future of India Lies in Villages
Mahatma Gandhi
Hunger & Poverty
- For hunger and poverty, India holds one of the topmost positions according to Global Hunger Index[3]. It can reduce by strengthening the PDS system, making it work more universally and sweeping away currently existing unnecessary norms. Rather than introducing sensational changes like linking Aadhar and Digitalization, which make the system more inefficient and complicated, governments must improve the reach of such initiatives in a country like India, where a large chunk of the population still depends on these government-aided programs. That will again increase the number of school-going children.
- Studies[4] have proved that child malnutrition will badly affect cognitive development and makes them unfit for any skilled labour and washout them from the competition. That hence is a denial of their right to life indeed. Thus, assuring adequate nutrition to children and pregnant women has to be one of the highest priority duties of the state, especially in the ambit of the $5 trillion economy goal.
The Environment
- Yet another need of the day is a clean environment which is possible by ensuring that urban planning is going well. The Bangalore model waste treatment can adopt in cities which use the Bio-waste generated in the city dwellings to make Biogas and sell it back to the dwellers. Also, plastic and other synthetic wastes can treat in Kerala or Telangana models, where the waste is reused in road construction, land fillings and other sustainable construction models. But, the sustainability of the same must be validated. Nevertheless, air pollution can reduce by increasing awareness among the people and by making surveillance stricter (The need of the hour is the efficient implementation of existing rules, and not more stringent ones). However, for visible improvements, the thought process of citizens has to change. People still are unaware of the drastic aftermath of severe pollution and over-exploitation of natural resources. They have been stopped from knowing the same.
Security – National, Personal, Economical, Judicial, and Gender
- Yet another barrier is security! Again, this itself is a multifaceted issue. It can be national security, border security, women’s safety, or from a broad perspective, the security of a citizen and his fundamental rights. In the case of women’s security, it can only be ensured by proper implementation of existing legislation and by making women more confident and self-reliant. Women Self Help Groups, Cooperative societies like the Kerala government’s Kudumbasree program, the West Bengal government’s girl education scheme and Beti Bachao Beti Patao. However, this has to first happen in the minds of people. For that to happen, a massive movement is necessary. The latter view is more complex, which we will discuss in the following points.
- When we talk about the umbrella term security, we must understand the concept of People friendly borders. With Bangladesh, India has a peaceful border with lots of activities taking place to improve inter-border trade and connections. It eliminated some of the previous security threats. Though we had the issue of illegal migration at that border, we could effectively control that since the 1990s. This approach can adopt in the western border areas as well. The border of India with Pakistan is ideal for such interactive border programs. Since 2005 India and Pakistan have been trying to improve their border relationships as the two countries are a continuum of people of the same origin. Also, India and Indians are stakeholders in many of the Pakistani implements. Moreover, the only way to reduce infiltration and increase peace and security at the border is to increase economic activities and improve the infrastructure, accessibility and exposure.
- P2P relationship[5] to solve border disputes, especially in western margins. The barbarian rules such as UAPA, and CAB are more dangerous in the longer perspective. The children of Jammu and Kashmir and such Places are staying away from schools because of the security issues associated with unfriendly rulings such as UAPA, PPA etc.
After Primary Education
- After all, having a basic primary education, all students who became eligible for secondary and higher education must be able to afford and access the same. That will happen if and only if the governments incentivise higher education in India without compromising the quality of the same.
- Investing in the infrastructure of higher education centres and the interaction of highly educated people with children, such as ISRO’s Young Scientist Program[6] will help inspire children to get higher education.
- But all these will happen if and only if the government interfere at the right point with the right amount of funds because no private party will do for the welfare of the country. Hence at least in matters of basic needs, the state must be the major stakeholder so that it can cater for the universal and inclusive nature of these basics to all its subjects. It will eventually make the basement strong above which construction of economic and social goals will be easy. But everything must be as far as possible transparent. The powers of agencies such as the Central Information Commission, CBI, CVC, and Election Commission must restore, ECI must declare all political parties as public places, and the RTI Act must strengthen. Also, the sovereignty of institutions such as the Supreme Court and RBI must be protected.
All these changes are interdependent. The changes will be gradual, but a well-planned government can catalyse this by being an interplayer. The opposition parties, NGOs, and cooperative societies can also play important roles by criticising and advising the government at the right time and inviting the attention of the rulers to key issues. The social renaissance and mind-changing of orthodox and illiterate people in India are in the hands of government employees, educated people and other institutions. India needs a universal, inclusive and egalitarian approach towards cultural diversity to achieve what it aspires to in the next ten years. Yet another way to crack that goal is to merely boost the GDP through promoting mega industries and privatisation. But that will result in enlarging the gulf between rich and poor and eventually in an unsustainable economy.
However, if things progress negatively like what we see now, India will achieve a demographic disaster rather than a dividend. To avoid that, all 4(nowadays 5) pillars of democracy must be as far as possible strong and interconnected to counterpoise each other. The life of India lies in its diversity. A nation without diversity, with the least trust (people to people, people to government and vice versa) and the most stringent laws, will end up in disaster. Receptiveness is the word I prefer to use in this regard over tolerance. Ease of doing business and GDP are just measures of economic growth but not of economic development. There are so many issues yet to be addressed. But still, I am winding up. Because it’s not about ‘How to make a Utopia’.
Appendix
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_dividend
[2] Integrated Child Development Service https://icds-wcd.nic.in/
[3] https://www.globalhungerindex.org/results.html
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2519065/
[5] People’s relationship
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