Resumo de India Unbound - Gurucharan Das

India Unbound By Gurucharan Das ( 357 page book) 884 words

"It is wonderful book - great mixture of memoir, economic analysis, social investigation, political scrutiny and managerial outlook being thrown into the understanding India," Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen

Abstract

After India receiving independence in 1947, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attempted to bring about economic growth through the agency of the state but failed.

Nehru over-regulated the private enterprise with worst controls producing no benefit but successfully expanded education facilities and his successors stubbornly persisted with the same policies.

Now there are some 10 percent of the Indians who knew English. Nehru wanted to build a casteless society of socialist pattern and pushed through the Hindu Code Bill liberating women giving equal share.

Nehru's infrastructure adjustments in social and education contributed to present successful information economy.

Economic growth was only 1 percent during first half of the 20th century but 4.4 percent growth was found in the second half in which 3.5 percent between 1950 and 1975, accelerating in eighties to 5.6 percent and after reforms in 199, it touched 7.5 percent.

Indian Railways by 1947 became more than 50,000 miles long, employing some million with 9,000 locomotives, 225,000 freight cars and some 16,000 passenger coaches but its contribution to economic growth was minimal.

Alexander the great defeated India, whose soldiers of different castes lacked co-ordination. This poor team work ran throughout Indian history

Some 17 Important private industries were never allowed to take off till 1991 reforms. The Tatas made 119 proposals between 1960 and 1989 and all them were ended in trash cans.

Aditya Birla dynamic inheritor of Birla empire decided to expand outside India setting up companies in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

On 27 May, 1964 Nehru died and new Prime Minister Lal Bahdur Sastri inherited a food crisis but Food and Agriculture Minister C. Subramanium?s new wheat seed and 15 percent price increase jacked up the wheat production making India sit on a mountain of grains.

In 1966 Lal Bahdur Sastri died and Nehru?s daughter Indira Gandhi succeeded him burying the farmer?s reforms placing more hurdles on the private sector.

According to law nobody could fire a worker for not working resulting in work ethic being declined and productivity plummeted. Scooters India Limited had paid 3000 workers upto 1992 though they never built a scooter for preceding ten years.

China changed over to competition in 1978 while India's brightest economists and advisers defended its economic tyranny giving no intellectual backing to the private sector.

Sam Patroda got a foot hold in India during Mrs. Gandhi regime and revolutionized the telecom industry to some extent. He carried on further during Rajiv Gandhi tenor which ended in 1989. Thereafter, he had to leave the Country.

By July, 1991, India reached bankruptcy and Prime Minister Narasimha Rao picked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Manmohan Singh as the finance minister who called for immediate drastic reforms to pull the country out of economic quagmire.

Part of the nations gold reserves were flown to London to provide collateral for 2.2 billion dollar emergency loan from the IMF. Meanwhile the Indian rupee was devalued by 20 percent. Manmohan Singh emphatically told Commerce Minister P. Chambaram and Commerce Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwaliaya to follow suit immediately.

They decided to do away with the import licensing etc. and were soon ready with liberalized trade proposals. Manmohan Singh was pleased with the proposals which were approved by the prime minister sending clear signals that India was opening up and moving to a market-oriented economy. However, the announcement denoted that the new proposals were only a continuation of Nehru socialism.

Anil Ambani of Reliance, one of the Top most Companies of India, says it was not economic reform, it was a economic revolution. Some called it second independence

Foreign exchange reserves shot up from 1 billion dollars in July 1991 to 20 billion in 1992 -1993. Foreign investment began to double each year and it rose from 150 million to 03 billion by 1997.Economic Times were sold only 100,000 in 1989 but by March 1994 it touched 500,000 mark.

Palapuri Jains have captured half the world market share of uncut diamonds. Aditya Birla Group is the world's largest producer of rayon, Steel Giant Laumi Mittal is richer than the Queen of England. Taj and Oberoi have created world class hotel chains; India's software companies have the best software Engineers in the world and Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are at the heart of Internet revolution. Of the 19 top global software companies that has achieved highest certification for quality, as many as 12 were Indian Chains.

Reform agenda is constantly derailed by the vested interests. Politicians lack the courage to privatize huge loss making public sector for losing the vote of organized labor.

Now that the knowledge age has taken over, it may help India to rise up and transform the country. 40 percent Indians remain illiterate. It would be easier to look after the poor if their numbers came down to 15 percent from 40 or 50 percent. Indian middle class had grown from 10 percent to 20 percent and majority of the population would soon be middle class. Primary education and primary health care are the most powerful ways to eradicate poverty.

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