Is India Prosperous Now
The recent advancements in software and services have been impressive, and our industrial production has been rising substantially.
Liberalization and its brethren seem to have created astounding riches in India, as this year more Indians figure in Forbes than ever before.
Does that make India a prosperous community? I have serious doubts, for my maid still lives under a thatched roof, eats roti with home-made mango pickle, and cannot afford to go to a hospital for her breathing problem.
Of course, now she boasts of a second-hand TV at home and her husband is the proud owner of a weather-beaten moped.
But I am averse to appreciating the 'trickle down'.
I remember when I went to Delhi in the nineties to look for a job, Rs 3000 a month made me ecstatic.
My father had served as a state government officer in small towns of Orissa all his life.
He never had to work really hard in his job, but he always had to plan months in advance to buy me a pair of decent clothes.
Now, nearly ten years later, I work hard in my job, sometimes as late as 10.
00 PM.
But every time I go to the malls, I end up buying a couple of jeans or pullovers.
Personally, the journey has been almost from rags to reaches.
And it is not a one-off story of personal success; most of my friends have made as much financial progress in 10 years.
No more do I have to stand in the queues for hours.
Starting from bus, rail, or air tickets to hotel rooms and matinée shows, everything is available on my laptop.
Ten years back, after retirement, my father built a house with his lifelong savings.
Now I am contemplating a second house just to avoid income tax, and I am hardly thirty.
Ten years back, my parents had to feed four grown-up children with a monthly income of Rs 9000.
Now, we have only one infant to feed, and monthly income is more than ten times as much.
And I know I didn't achieve all this because I am more skilled or more hard-working than my father, but because I happen to be part of a more "prosperous" India.
There are so many new malls, new private schools and hospitals, new toll bridges, and new eateries around.
If people don't have money, how do these run? Only the traditionally rich can deny this economic success of India! Not really.
We human beings, despite globalization, despite the Internet and satellite TV, continue to live in a very personal world.
We see only what we get, never bothering to look beyond.
If ever we look beyond, we look at our neighbors and reinforce our ideas.
Also, the dazzle of our new car's metallic paint blinds us to the potholes on the road, or in some cases the new technology employed in the shock absorbers makes us immune to them.
So now the road is perfect for us, no matter how many new potholes it has.
I am not a pessimist.
A new improved car is always welcome, especially when it is also affordable.
But I am not the whole of India, nor is the group of my friends.
So when I evaluate the road condition, I must realize that it has become worse for the cyclist.
Let me give an example.
Doctors are literally the guardians of a society's health.
So I am happy that they are a prosperous lot these days.
I am also happy that now they have access to state-of-the-art medical equipment in their private hospitals.
But 10-15 years back my maid used to go to a doctor even for a fever.
Now she suspects her breathing problem is really serious, but won't go to a doctor.
Why? Among other reasons, the important reason for her is affordability.
She can afford a second-hand TV now but can't afford to go to a doctor.
The doctor she used to visit 10-15 years back used to charge Rs 30 for the first visit and Rs 20 for a subsequent visit.
She had to go to him at the most twice before she was cured.
Once she had also suffered from bronchitis, but she had to spend only a couple of hundred on medical tests, medicine, and the doctor's fees.
But a month back, when she went to a so-called big private hospital, she was charged Rs 250 for consultation.
The doctor checked her condition meticulously and asked many questions.
Finally, he asked her to undergo some tests that would cost her a little less than Rs 5000.
He also refused to see her a second time if she didn't return with the test reports.
But he did not prescribe any medicine! Of course, there are Government hospitals and charity hospitals.
The couple of times she went to the nearby Government hospital, she was referred by the general physician to the ENT specialist, and both the times the ENT specialist was conspicuous by his absence.
And the charity hospital, to my maid's dismay, was charitable enough to provide her free consultation, but the expensive tests they prescribed were free only for people who belonged to a particular religion.
The point is my salary has gone up more than 10 times; so I don't mind if a hospital or a school charges 10 times more for its services.
But my maid's salary has only trebled in 10 years, and that too because I have been particularly generous with the old lady.
She doesn't get even the double of what she used to get 10 years back from other households.
One example may not drive home the point I want to make.
Last year, I happened to visit the primary school in a small town of Orissa where I had studied.
I remember some of my teachers were not only ideal citizens but also brilliant in their chosen field.
One of them was even a reputed writer.
But when I stood outside the classroom and watched a young teacher teaching the students last year, I couldn't but notice the difference.
The blackboard on the wall had big holes, and the bore well in the garden was out of order.
Also the students appeared much poorer than they were 22 years back.
And the most striking difference was in the quality of education offered.
The teacher appeared as uninterested in teaching as the students in learning.
What happened to this Government school? In 20 years so many things have changed.
Teaching is no more a noble profession; and the yearly salary of a Government primary school teacher is less than what a public school teacher earns every month.
Now only the rejects of our job market prefer to be primary school teachers in Government schools.
The school infrastructure has gone from bad to worse every year.
And now only such parents send their children to this school who cannot even afford books and stationery.
Who has suffered this change? Again people like my maid, who cannot afford decent education for their children.
So much for India's economic progress.
If India is prosperous now then probably my maid is not as much a part of India as I am!
Liberalization and its brethren seem to have created astounding riches in India, as this year more Indians figure in Forbes than ever before.
Does that make India a prosperous community? I have serious doubts, for my maid still lives under a thatched roof, eats roti with home-made mango pickle, and cannot afford to go to a hospital for her breathing problem.
Of course, now she boasts of a second-hand TV at home and her husband is the proud owner of a weather-beaten moped.
But I am averse to appreciating the 'trickle down'.
I remember when I went to Delhi in the nineties to look for a job, Rs 3000 a month made me ecstatic.
My father had served as a state government officer in small towns of Orissa all his life.
He never had to work really hard in his job, but he always had to plan months in advance to buy me a pair of decent clothes.
Now, nearly ten years later, I work hard in my job, sometimes as late as 10.
00 PM.
But every time I go to the malls, I end up buying a couple of jeans or pullovers.
Personally, the journey has been almost from rags to reaches.
And it is not a one-off story of personal success; most of my friends have made as much financial progress in 10 years.
No more do I have to stand in the queues for hours.
Starting from bus, rail, or air tickets to hotel rooms and matinée shows, everything is available on my laptop.
Ten years back, after retirement, my father built a house with his lifelong savings.
Now I am contemplating a second house just to avoid income tax, and I am hardly thirty.
Ten years back, my parents had to feed four grown-up children with a monthly income of Rs 9000.
Now, we have only one infant to feed, and monthly income is more than ten times as much.
And I know I didn't achieve all this because I am more skilled or more hard-working than my father, but because I happen to be part of a more "prosperous" India.
There are so many new malls, new private schools and hospitals, new toll bridges, and new eateries around.
If people don't have money, how do these run? Only the traditionally rich can deny this economic success of India! Not really.
We human beings, despite globalization, despite the Internet and satellite TV, continue to live in a very personal world.
We see only what we get, never bothering to look beyond.
If ever we look beyond, we look at our neighbors and reinforce our ideas.
Also, the dazzle of our new car's metallic paint blinds us to the potholes on the road, or in some cases the new technology employed in the shock absorbers makes us immune to them.
So now the road is perfect for us, no matter how many new potholes it has.
I am not a pessimist.
A new improved car is always welcome, especially when it is also affordable.
But I am not the whole of India, nor is the group of my friends.
So when I evaluate the road condition, I must realize that it has become worse for the cyclist.
Let me give an example.
Doctors are literally the guardians of a society's health.
So I am happy that they are a prosperous lot these days.
I am also happy that now they have access to state-of-the-art medical equipment in their private hospitals.
But 10-15 years back my maid used to go to a doctor even for a fever.
Now she suspects her breathing problem is really serious, but won't go to a doctor.
Why? Among other reasons, the important reason for her is affordability.
She can afford a second-hand TV now but can't afford to go to a doctor.
The doctor she used to visit 10-15 years back used to charge Rs 30 for the first visit and Rs 20 for a subsequent visit.
She had to go to him at the most twice before she was cured.
Once she had also suffered from bronchitis, but she had to spend only a couple of hundred on medical tests, medicine, and the doctor's fees.
But a month back, when she went to a so-called big private hospital, she was charged Rs 250 for consultation.
The doctor checked her condition meticulously and asked many questions.
Finally, he asked her to undergo some tests that would cost her a little less than Rs 5000.
He also refused to see her a second time if she didn't return with the test reports.
But he did not prescribe any medicine! Of course, there are Government hospitals and charity hospitals.
The couple of times she went to the nearby Government hospital, she was referred by the general physician to the ENT specialist, and both the times the ENT specialist was conspicuous by his absence.
And the charity hospital, to my maid's dismay, was charitable enough to provide her free consultation, but the expensive tests they prescribed were free only for people who belonged to a particular religion.
The point is my salary has gone up more than 10 times; so I don't mind if a hospital or a school charges 10 times more for its services.
But my maid's salary has only trebled in 10 years, and that too because I have been particularly generous with the old lady.
She doesn't get even the double of what she used to get 10 years back from other households.
One example may not drive home the point I want to make.
Last year, I happened to visit the primary school in a small town of Orissa where I had studied.
I remember some of my teachers were not only ideal citizens but also brilliant in their chosen field.
One of them was even a reputed writer.
But when I stood outside the classroom and watched a young teacher teaching the students last year, I couldn't but notice the difference.
The blackboard on the wall had big holes, and the bore well in the garden was out of order.
Also the students appeared much poorer than they were 22 years back.
And the most striking difference was in the quality of education offered.
The teacher appeared as uninterested in teaching as the students in learning.
What happened to this Government school? In 20 years so many things have changed.
Teaching is no more a noble profession; and the yearly salary of a Government primary school teacher is less than what a public school teacher earns every month.
Now only the rejects of our job market prefer to be primary school teachers in Government schools.
The school infrastructure has gone from bad to worse every year.
And now only such parents send their children to this school who cannot even afford books and stationery.
Who has suffered this change? Again people like my maid, who cannot afford decent education for their children.
So much for India's economic progress.
If India is prosperous now then probably my maid is not as much a part of India as I am!
Source...