The decade has seen the democratic dividend being realised. This implies that electoral results are based increasingly on delivery, performance and good governance and not on pre-electoral rhetoric and identity politics. The electorate and the common man is a clear beneficiary as competitive good governance empowers him by improving the material conditions. The country experienced the strongest economic performance in any 10-year period since independence. Even with the increase in relative inequality, this has meant a more rapid reduction in absolute poverty and a more rapid expansion of the middle class. The expanding size of the middle class combined with enabling legislation like the Right to Information and the growing power of the media, is the best guarantee against any major weakening of democratic institutions in the country. This also ensures that peoples’ entitlements will be protected.
The rapid economic growth has yielded dividend for the fisc too. Higher revenues for the public exchequer have enabled both the central and state governments to allocate larger resources for the delivery of social services by the public sector. Thus, the last decade has seen an unprecedented increase in public expenditure on education and health and also on anti-poverty schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) and Bharat Nirman. Even at the unacceptable levels of poor efficiency in design and delivery of these schemes, larger allocations have surely meant that a larger number of persons have benefited from these.
Socially there is unmistakable evidence that dalits have gained significantly over the last decade. This has been amply demonstrated by the remarkable study by Devesh Kapur and Chandrabhan Prasad published in the Economic and Political Weekly and reported quite extensively that shows that both the living standards and the social status of dalits have improved across the country.
The communal situation has improved significantly with the last major communal carnage reported in 2002. The decade has seen major strides by the minority community which has now shown unambiguous preference for higher educational and vocational attainment and away from being treated as vote banks. They have moved quite clearly against identity politics and demand good governance themselves. The greatest achievement has been the victory over polio even in the Muslim community in India that demonstrates the community’s rejection of obscurantist and backward ideology that some of its outdated leaders try to foist on it. Muslim entrepreneurs are on the rise and it will not long before they have a major presence among Indian business leaders.
The decade has also seen an advance on the gender balance with the 30% quota for women candidates in the local governments (Panchayat) now firmly established and the Rajya Sabha having already passed the bill for reserving seats for women in the Parliament. Surely more needs to be done to achieve the desired state of female empowerment in the country but it can be said with confidence that India has made the right start in the new century in this direction.
Finally, a major step for nurturing our future generations was taken with the enactment of the Right to Education for all our children. But this is an area we have to still make significant advance. Child malnutrition levels in India remain below sub-Saharan levels, a stigma that should force us to act with purpose and focus in the coming years. Despite making the right to education a statutory provision and constituting several commissions to oversee children’s rights, we still have the scourge of child labour in our country. The next decade must be focused on giving our children and women their rights, thereby ensuring that modern India lives up to the expectations of its founding fathers.
?(The authoris director general of Ficci)