What next?

 

What next?

India's GDP grows by 8.75 % !

Manufacturing sector witnesses impressive growth !

Future is very bright for India !

The moment of India has arrived !

We have been reading and hearing such comments for quite some now. Comments ranging from pure facts to pure fiction have been dished out for us across newspapers, televisions, internet, office places, and practically every place we go to.

So, now what?

Will this growth continue as it is without any effort?

Or is India on that path of development, that road, where all you need is a push and the juggernaut moves forward?

For those who think it is, it actually is not.

The fuel driving India's growth is running away fast, and it needs replenishment, a boost soon. Now where will it come from?

Land Reforms ?

Education Reforms ?

Agricultural Reforms ?

Political Reforms ?

Where???

Actually the fuel will come from all of these and many other sectors. In which order it comes may be a matter of debate, but it surely does need to come from all these.

Foreign money will not continue to come to India freely for long.1991 was a massive push, some regulations here and there have been fine, but India needs one more big push now, with others to follow.

Land transaction in India for commercial as well as non-commercial purposes are a very cumbersome process. Not only does it consume lot of time, energy, and money, but it also drags the pace of growth. Its high time we do something about our LAND.

Similarly, agricultural sector, the single largest sector employing people, needs a massive push. Whether it be in terms of better seeds, better, reliable, accurate and quicker information to the farmers, better plantation techniques, better storage techniques is for the policy makers to decide. Agriculture surely needs a BIG reform.

India cannot dream to be in the top league if it does not produce researchers, engineers, scientists,managers in large numbers every year. No developed country has progresses without the help of cutting edge research across sectors. A single thought can create lots of opportunities, lots of jobs, and we need people who can some up with those thoughts in a big number. If one is not entirely convinced even now, just focus on what is common in all the speeches of US president Obama : the focus on primary and higher education. Education is THE differentiating factor.

The three sectors chosen here are just to illustrate the vast amount of catching up which needs to be done. We still lag the developed nations in majority of aspects and we need to catch up fast. The pace in the last two decades have been impressive but we still have a long way to go. 

Amongst all the euphoria surrounding India's growth story, we must continuously remind ourselves two words :

WHAT NEXT?