Are You Listening, Prime Minister?

In this book, ARE YOU LISTENING, PRIME MINISTER ? A Coffee Table Analyst’s Perspective on India’s Development and Development Objectives, the author gives his insights and perspectives about the realities in India today. He is of the opinion that India is at the cusp of the great leap forward and if it can get its act together then it is poised for exciting times ahead. India has to grapple with a lot of challenges and has to address them and surge forward and it has to do this, in the shortest possible time, otherwise the initiative will slip out of its hands. He is of the view that there has to be attitudinal shift in the way we see problems and there has to be a sense of urgency in fixing issues which have been troubling the country for a long time now. India also has to find unique homespun and innovative solutions to some of its unique problems which are peculiar to it. Also it can adopt some of the success models which have been tried and tested and proved successful in other countries. It is not as though these challenges and problems are insurmountable and that the solutions are beyond our imagination. It only needs our collective will, a far sighted vision and a consciously cultivated ‘problem solving’ mindset. In terms of the economy, India has been growing steadily and is one of the fastest growing emerging economies. The mood is buoyant and spearheaded by its heady success in the IT sector, the other sectors are also raring to go. India has a lot going for it and with favourable demographics it can reap the demographic dividend. However, the author is of the opinion that unbridled population without any curbs will prove to be the country’s undoing as already it is exerting tremendous pressure on the infrastructure and the other meager resources and is causing environmental degradation. His contention is that India’s political apparatus has really not served the country well and the political culture has degenerated from bad to worse with a lot of discrepancies creeping in the political process. Unless these anomalies are addressed it could sabotage the country’s development process and be a spoke in the wheel. However he has tremendous faith in the people of the country and he is of the view that these hiccups could be addressed looking straight in the eye and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of people coupled with their enthusiasm will eventually see it through. The need of the hour is an epochal vision and a statesmanlike stewardship which can inspire the nation to reach great heights. A born again India, once more, has to have a tryst with its destiny !