Has India really progressed economically?

One of my friend Nitin travels a lot and it is mostly by train and plane. We were casually discussing the topic of possible indicators to show the economic progress happening in the country at different segments of our population. Nitin told me that he realized something interesting during his last train journey. He said that over the past 2 to 3 years he noticed there is a change in the preference of people while traveling. The lower middle class people have now started traveling by sleeper class rather than by general class. The middle class seem to travel by first class. Upper middle class have moved on to planes and air conditioned coaches in the train. Obviously this transition is not happened suddenly but has happened in a fairly short period of 2 to 3 years. One of the plausible reasons for this could be increase in spending power which is a direct reflection of their income level.
In my opinion the real economic progress of a country is a measure of the growth in the income level of poor, lower middle class, and middle class people. However, the observation made by Nitin is a good indicator that the country is steadily making economic progress.

Transitioning India – a general public perspective

Not too long ago (about 6-8 years) people had to wait for 6 months to a year for a scooter to be delivered after making the advanced booking. More recently (about 2 years ago) booking a train ticket was a chore, similarly paying electricity bills demanded taking half a day leave from office! There was a time (10 years ago) when there was the “Chitrahaar” the most sought after TV music channel was aired on Friday evenings on the National TV (Doordarshan) and people waited for it with tremendous patience!
Now 10 years later we can buy a scooter of the shelf, online booking (you don’t even have to move your ass) of train tickets, same with paying electricity amongst other bill payment. Finally nobody waits for Chitrahaar anymore, there are so many TV music channels it is difficult to keep track with all sorts of video-music played, and if you are not satisfied with this there are DVDs.

The only thing that is permanent is change.

As they say, the only person who appreciates and welcomes change is a wet baby! How true! Humans have a tendency to resist change. Innovation is a rapidly changing game. Today’s ideas can be obsolete and worthless within no time. Years of painstaking effort would go futile if the innovation is not in line with the contemporary world. So, an innovator should welcome change and should be adaptable to it. Else, he would be out of reckoning. As Moore law says, the number of transistors on the integrated circuit doubles every 18 months. There were many questions raised about the need and usage of personal computers. IBM predicted there would be a need of maximum 5 computers throughout the world! They also felt hardware would drive the computing world. It is true to a certain extent but it has limitations. Bills Gates realized it and created a revolution of sorts in the software industry. People who predict change and adapt themselves successfully remain the winners.

Too many things happening leading to tiredness

In the May blog (Transitioning India – a general public perspective) what I did not touch upon was whether the speed of transitioning is good or bad. Like in all such discussion there are people who will have their views good and bad. In this blog I give my perspective with reference to the place I live which is Bangalore.
Bangalore tires me out. Having lived in Bangalore for the last 35 years is sometimes called silicon city. God knows why it is called silicon city at best one may call it software city. The city reminds of World War 2 situation (I say this by seeing some war movies of World War 2 period) because of all the constructions- private, public, political, legal and illegal; Bangalore has a nice weather. It is a city where the opportunity to become asthmatic is very high. It has still some greenery left. It has the power of magic to transition lakes to ponds to barren land to areas of residence. It takes 1.5 hours to travel 20 kilometers. Working hours are from 8 am to 5.30 pm, means actually leaving home at 6.30 in the morning and returning at 8.30 pm. Welcome to the fast growing city of India and the quality of life you can possibly live.

Accept the truth

Today every sector is facing problem due to slowdown in the economy. But sometimes I wonder why everybody is crying so much as if they would have never expected this kind of situation. At the time of boom in the economy, every business has enjoyed so much that they even forgot that this is a phenomena which is mostly cyclical. Economy corrects itself definitely after few years. Now, during the downturn, the obvious has happened which is profits and growth has come down. So if you had enjoyed high growth at upturn than be ready to face the downturn.

Bangalore now and then (30 years ago)

The effects of global warming are real. In Bangalore the temperature increase is clearly felt year-on-year for the last 10 years. People who lived here for longer periods (more than 20 years), will vouch for what I am saying. This was not the climate in Bangalore. It was a cooler and comfortable place to live without the need for air-conditioners. We have acute shortage of water; people have gone in for borewell as they no more can depend on water supply board to supply water. It takes 1 hour 30 minutes to cover 25 kilometers in this so called advanced city (Time for me to commute to my office one way). Traffic jams leading to noise, pollutions, anger, frustrations, and health problems.
The local as well global don’t care attitude is still very prevalent. I would not like to say much on the global side of things as I have very little that I can contribute to improving the situation. However, I would like to come heavily upon the local situation. I would attribute the situation of climate and environment change to the careless and vision less thinking from people who run the city in the last 30 years. The local governance is pathetic. Bangalore is classic example of how we can mess up with nature.
Bangalore the garden city 20 years ago, has given way to the concrete jungles. The rapid growth of Information Technology (IT) industry in Bangalore in the last 10 years has contributed its share to the current plight. Not to mention the illegal and small scale industry producing greenhouse gas. Enforcement people where are you?
Given the choice I would have liked to have our garden city back (I have lived here now for over 40 years). Is there a possibility to transform Bangalore to garden+silicon city? Would we want a revolution or evolution approach? Thinkers, Innovators and Implementers please help.

Forward looking Government policies

These include the deregulation and market reforms that have accompanied processes of globalization and increased global competitiveness. India needs to do well to bring in market reforms as a stimulant to economic change, notably with reductions in raw material and subsidiary for manufacturing and agriculture products. Changing views among policymakers on support for research and innovation have contributed to pressures for increased external revenue and for increased commercial outcomes. Accompanying this have been worldwide moves to greater interactivity and external engagement by research organizations in the innovation process.

India’s science and innovation system

The social, economic, political, and technological environment has changed in the last decade. The nature of the science and innovation system has changed considerably in the past few decades; some of the changes are the result of policy decisions and some by virtue of the impeding situation the country had to undergo. Some are the direct result of policy changes in the science and technology area. For e.g.- the expansion of the private professional educational and research institutes.
The system requires a long term view of the place of science and innovation in the social and economic development of India.

Integrated cross-disciplinary organisation

Recognition of the need for interdisciplinary teams to address national problems like- sufficient food, clean drinking water, healthcare, shelter and education are top priorities for the country.
There is a need for large integrated cross-disciplinary organization operating across a range of research fields. The matrix-based organization in which multiple divisions contributed to sector-based research activities