04-12-2007, 01:00 AM
<b>Anything multiplied by zero is zero indeed</b>!
<i><b>Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw." Winston Churchill on the eve of Indian Independence.</b></i><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Coming from the highest echelons of the government, these remain an authentic and a grim reminder of what has gone wrong since Independence. Consider these dismal facts from this document of the Planning Commission:
-Official poverty stands at 28 per cent. Significantly, one has to appreciate that the current definition of poverty is hopelessly inadequate. It is defined on the premise of whether a person can afford to consume 2,400 calories of food in rural India or 2,100 calories of food in urban India per day. Naturally, this limited definition ignores the other bare minimum necessities required for a decent living. Obviously, if one were to consider a more realistically defined poverty line, based on the basic needs for a decent living, the number of poor in India could be far more than the officially stated figure of 30 crore (300 million).
-The abhorrent practice of manual scavenging continues even today.
-Quality of education and curative health services are beyond the reach of the common man and those provided by the private sector are costly and of variable quality.
-A major institutional challenge is that even where service providers exist, the quality of delivery is poor and those responsible for delivering the services cannot be held accountable.
-In the health and education systems, there is a large number of staff vacancies that have not been filled up due to resource constraints.
-The cost of displacements of our tribal population is high and the compensation tardy and inadequate.
-Corruption is now seen to be endemic in all spheres and this problem needs to be addressed urgently.
-The legal system in India is respected for its independence and fairness but it suffers from notorious delays in dispensing justice. Delays result in denial of justice.
-Literacy rate is still below 70 per cent.
-The most difficult task is to ensure good quality of instruction and the position in this respect is disturbing. A recent study found that 38 per cent of the children who have completed four years of schooling cannot read a small paragraph with short sentences meant to be read by a student of class 2. About 55 per cent of such children cannot divide a three-digit number by a one-digit number.
-Drop out rate in primary schools for the country as a whole was at a staggering 31 per cent in 2003-04.
-While some of our institutions of higher education compare well with the best in the world, the average standard is much lower.
-India's infant mortality rates, under-five mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and immunisation rates are higher than that of Sri Lanka, China and Vietnam.
-The biggest constraint in achieving a faster growth of manufacturing is the fact that infrastructure -- roads, railways, ports, airports, communication and electricity -- is not up to the standards prevalent in our competitor countries.
-Indian roads are very accident-prone and claim a large number of lives representing an enormous human and economic loss.
-The Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) initiated in 2001 was expected to bring down AT&C losses to 15 per cent by the end of the Tenth Plan. In fact, the average for all states is closer to 40 per cent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<i><b>Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw." Winston Churchill on the eve of Indian Independence.</b></i><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Coming from the highest echelons of the government, these remain an authentic and a grim reminder of what has gone wrong since Independence. Consider these dismal facts from this document of the Planning Commission:
-Official poverty stands at 28 per cent. Significantly, one has to appreciate that the current definition of poverty is hopelessly inadequate. It is defined on the premise of whether a person can afford to consume 2,400 calories of food in rural India or 2,100 calories of food in urban India per day. Naturally, this limited definition ignores the other bare minimum necessities required for a decent living. Obviously, if one were to consider a more realistically defined poverty line, based on the basic needs for a decent living, the number of poor in India could be far more than the officially stated figure of 30 crore (300 million).
-The abhorrent practice of manual scavenging continues even today.
-Quality of education and curative health services are beyond the reach of the common man and those provided by the private sector are costly and of variable quality.
-A major institutional challenge is that even where service providers exist, the quality of delivery is poor and those responsible for delivering the services cannot be held accountable.
-In the health and education systems, there is a large number of staff vacancies that have not been filled up due to resource constraints.
-The cost of displacements of our tribal population is high and the compensation tardy and inadequate.
-Corruption is now seen to be endemic in all spheres and this problem needs to be addressed urgently.
-The legal system in India is respected for its independence and fairness but it suffers from notorious delays in dispensing justice. Delays result in denial of justice.
-Literacy rate is still below 70 per cent.
-The most difficult task is to ensure good quality of instruction and the position in this respect is disturbing. A recent study found that 38 per cent of the children who have completed four years of schooling cannot read a small paragraph with short sentences meant to be read by a student of class 2. About 55 per cent of such children cannot divide a three-digit number by a one-digit number.
-Drop out rate in primary schools for the country as a whole was at a staggering 31 per cent in 2003-04.
-While some of our institutions of higher education compare well with the best in the world, the average standard is much lower.
-India's infant mortality rates, under-five mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and immunisation rates are higher than that of Sri Lanka, China and Vietnam.
-The biggest constraint in achieving a faster growth of manufacturing is the fact that infrastructure -- roads, railways, ports, airports, communication and electricity -- is not up to the standards prevalent in our competitor countries.
-Indian roads are very accident-prone and claim a large number of lives representing an enormous human and economic loss.
-The Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) initiated in 2001 was expected to bring down AT&C losses to 15 per cent by the end of the Tenth Plan. In fact, the average for all states is closer to 40 per cent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->