Disappointingly accurate view on India

A message from another of my networks. It makes me sad and a little guilty - I ask myself constantly, WHAT can i do that will make a difference...Fay Kelly

I have sent emails to various people giving facts and figures to show that in terms of social development India is behind even Sub-Sahara Africa. Take 5 items – infant mortality; child malnutrition; child labour; pop below $2.5 per day; underemployment rate – and you can see how far behind India is compared to even Asian and African countries.

The problem is not how far behind India is. The problem is, how uncaring about it is the Indian elite (politicians, businessmen, executives, intellectuals, artists/artistes, academics, the media). As long as they, the microscopic minority, are doing well they couldn’t care less, and believe me they are doing well and believe me they couldn’t care less!

Everyone will hit back at me showing the headline “growth rate”. While it is impressive and most welcome, one must not forget the low base on which it is calculated. If the growth rate for 45 years (1947-1992) was 3% pa compared to the world average of 4.5% pa and the Asian average of 6% pa, the base in relation to others has become extremely low and India’s process of catching up shows a “growth rate” higher than others. It is like saying Unilever’s growth rate is only 5% whereas a penny share company has a 20 or 30% growth!

I am sure these are unpopular views but truth is, more often than not, unpalatable.

A Shankar

Coincidently, the above has come just as Forbes has published a list of 100 richest Indians.
The first 10 in the list have a net worth of $155 billion
The figures below are in millions
Mukesh Ambani 32,000
Lakshmi Mittal 30,000
Anil Ambani 17,500
Azim Premji 14,900
Shashi & Ravi Ruia 13,600
Kushal Pal Singh 13,500
Savitri Jindal 12,000
Sunil Mittal 8,200
Kumar Birla 7,800
Gautam Adani 6,400

And the net worth of the 100 richest Indians is $ 276 billions.

I know, these people are paying taxes to the government which is spent just on paying the salaries, perks and lining the pockets of government officers.
That is because if the government wants to do any development work, it has to sell its various industries or bonds.
The tax we pay goes down the drain no matter the government advertises a lot asking you to pay taxes for development.
It would be better if these people set up their own trust to help the socially and economically backward.
Even if one person sleeps hungry, how can these people sit on so much wealth without their conscience pricking them.
They should realize that whatever they have is a gift of God to be used judiciously to help the less fortunate, irrespective of caste, creed, region or religion.
These are divisions created by politicians to promote their own selfish ends.