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Sixty years ago, India was like a featherless, helpless baby bird
that had just cracked out of the egg and discovered freedom, a whole
new beginning for that tiny embryo. With its eyes closed and crying
for aid, she was ready to take in any warmth she got in the cold
world. But today, India is a grown up bird that has spread its wings
and taken off into the heights of the sky, soaring full-fledged with
poise towards the future.
Her progress is backed by the establishment and adherence to the
famed democratic way of functioning of the government. Today, India
is a role model to the rest of the world and is the largest
democracy in the world.
Right now, our country is moving from the chrysalis of an
“emerging” economy to a “surging” economy and becoming a centre of
innovation, the critical differentiator to ensure future growth for
any nation. India is working to transform its long-standing
tradition of innovation into an engine of economic and social
progress to create a better tomorrow for its citizens.
We have produced world-class scientists, engineers, journalists,
soldiers, bureaucrats, politicians and doctors who have contributed
much to internal growth as well as the world economy. India can be
proud of her sons for everyone looks up to them as their role
models. The likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr Abdul Kalam,
Kalpana Chawla, Burkha Dutt and Shashi Tharoor have given rise to a
new generation of nation builders, peace makers and have inspired
young minds to surge forward of mere existence.
Thanks to our engineers, we have built complex bridges and dams,
sent satellites and rockets into space and created a modern living
space. We have built about 20 lakh km of new roads, multiplied our
steel production by over 50 times and cement production by almost 20
times and increased our exports from a few million dollars at the
time of Independence to more than $ 125 billion now. We have also
increased the number of doctors 10-fold, owing to our educational
facilities and increased life expectancy from 32 years to 65 years,
in arrears to the infrastructural and medical facilities.
A few major achievements that have transformed the lives of our
people in a way we never imagined would happen in the past 60 years
are the Green Revolution initiated by Dr M S Swaminathan, which not
only transformed India into a food-surplus economy from a
food-deficit economy, but also triggered the expansion of the rural,
non-farm economy; the White Revolution that changed India from
experiencing an acute shortage of milk to the largest producer of
milk, thanks to the extraordinary vision of Dr Varghese Kurien,
continued ably by Amrita Pate
The Economic reforms of 1991 initiated by late prime minister
Narasimha Rao, Dr Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Dr Montek Singh
Ahluwalia opened up the minds of Indian corporate leaders to the
power of global markets, helped them accept competition at home and
abroad, and raised the confidence of consumers.
No other technology has brought India, the urban and the rural,
together as the 500-line EPABX designed and implemented by the
Centre for Development of Telematics (CDOT) under the leadership of
Sam Pitroda and Prof Yash Pal's Satellite Instructional Television
Experiment (SITE) blossomed into a full-scale television facility
giving voice to the opinions of a billion people. Development of
atomic energy is another major leap India has taken in the direction
of progress. And, of course, there is the IT boom that requires no
further detailing.
What do these eight programmes have in common? They were all led
by visionaries. These visionaries accepted global benchmarks and
settled for nothing less despite tremendous odds. In each of these
initiatives the national government was a genuine catalyst supported
by some extraordinary politicians and bureaucrats. These examples
clearly show how the people and the government can work together to
achieve what is thought impossible.
What can one expect from the India of 2067? An India where every
child will have access to decent education, healthcare, nutrition
and shelter. An India where every child belonging to every race,
religion and caste is confident that there is a bright future for
him/her if he/she is honest and hard working. An India which
receives respect from every global forum is envisioned of and we
will be gracious hosts; we will be fair; we will be pluralistic and
respect every faith; we will be trustworthy and our aspirations and
accomplishments will be high.
Like Dr Manmohan Singh said, the nation is on the move. The
challenge before us is to make the growth process more socially
inclusive and regionally balanced. We need to continue to identify
and execute changes that will benefit individual organisations and
society at large and lay the foundations for a stronger India. In
the past 60 years, people moved to where work was available; in the
next 60 years work must move to where people live.
Padma Venkatraman
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