Two India's - One Future
At the start of the new millennium, there are really two Indias. Together
they comprise one-sixth of all humanity.
The first India — the modern India — has a remarkable record of accomplishment. Since independence in 1947, India has taken its place as a power on the global stage. It is the world’s largest democracy and the 10th largest industrial power, with solid and consistent economic growth. It has the largest middle class of any nation, with the third largest scientific and technical workforce. Indian engineers hold top jobs in computer corporations on every continent. In agriculture, India is the number one producer in sugar, groundnuts (peanuts), tea and fruit. It is the number two producer in rice, wheat, vegetables and milk.
India’s diverse and ancient religious traditions, its languages and its arts, are all part of its greatness. No nation has contributed more spiritual richness and truth to humanity. The list of winners of the major international prizes in literature, including the Nobel, Booker and Pulitzer Prizes, is filled with Indian writers and poets.
The second, and much larger, India is an entirely different world. Of the one billion people living in India today, 720 million — nearly three-quarters — live in rural areas characterised by grinding poverty and social injustice. This India has been bypassed by progress and opportunity.
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, most rural Indians live with the technology of a thousand years ago. In the age of the Internet, the majority cannot read and few have ever seen a computer. Living and voting in a democracy with constitutional guarantees, they remain powerless, locked in an oppressive system of economic exploitation, class division, caste prejudice and pervasive corruption. While the economy of modern India grows, the people lack access to education, nutrition and health care, sanitation, land and other assets that could enable them to escape the trap of poverty. Rural India has an infant mortality rate of 85, compared with 53 in the cities — and a life expectancy of only 54 years, compared with 63 in urban areas.
There is a truth that many would like to ignore: India’s future will be determined in this "second India". Concern for the people of the second India is not merely humanitarian. Modern India has chosen to join the emerging global, information-based economy. To thrive in that economy, it must enter as one nation, with broadly based participation, productivity and prosperity. It cannot survive with rafts of wealth floating in a sea of poverty, and with the instability that comes with that condition. The nations that prosper in the global economy are those with a healthy and educated workforce, stable population growth and relative freedom from corruption and conflict.
India’s recent history demonstrates that action from the top alone cannot meet the challenge. It will take the creativity, resources and participation of the entire population, many of whom have never before had a meaningful role or voice. For India, this means a two-fold revolution: the creation and nurturing of genuine participatory local democracy, and a profound transformation in the status and leadership of women.
In the critical areas for the well-being of the nation, women are on the "front lines". The future of rural India depends on overcoming enormous challenges in health, education, nutrition, population and environment. Women bear primary responsibility in every one of these areas — day after day after day. It is women who know best what needs to be done, and it is women who are most committed to taking those actions.
Yet, for thousands of years, India’s rural women have been systematically denied the freedom, resources, information and decision-making power they need to carry out these responsibilities. In India, women have been kept in an almost unimaginable state of powerlessness, illiteracy, isolation and malnutrition.
India today faces an historic opportunity. As local democracy and expanded opportunity flourish around the world, India must not be left behind. The first step has been taken with the unprecedented 73rd amendment to India’s constitution. This amendment mandates the transfer of decision-making power and resources in the rural areas to local democratic councils known as panchayats. Most revolutionary of all, one-third of all panchayat seats are to be reserved for women — guaranteeing them a role in determining the future of their communities. If fully implemented, women will, for the first time in India’s history, have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
The struggle has only begun. Passage of the constitutional amendment on paper does not guarantee implementation in practice. Deeply entrenched interests oppose local democracy and women’s rights, and are working to undermine this process directly and indirectly. There is a prevailing public cynicism regarding the possibility of grass-roots women’s leadership. Removing these obstacles requires a social transformation of unprecedented proportions, demanding a concerted campaign lasting many years. The first generation of women panchayat leaders will need to possess enormous courage. Those supporting them will require great endurance.
The most strategic action that can be taken for India’s future is to strengthen the hand of women panchayat leaders. The strategies and actions required to accomplish this are being shaped even now by an emerging network of committed individuals and organisations at all levels of society.
The transfer of power to one million women elected local representatives — many of whom are malnourished and illiterate — is the greatest social experiment of our time. These women are struggling against enormous odds to improve the lives of their families, their villages and their nation. They are the key change agents for a new future for India. By ensuring that they gain access to the resources and information they need — and by allowing their voices to be heard — India can finally become one nation. In doing so, it will fulfil its destiny and reveal its true greatness.
A lifetime of subjugation, Cycle of malnutrition, Invisible producers, Violence, Awakening, Panchayati Raj, Women as change agents, Agenda for Action, The Campaign, Sarojini Naidu Prize