India’s five-year plans (FYPs) highlighted the import substitution policy under India’s inward-looking strategy. This meant that the goods that can be produced domestically should be produced domestically rather than importing from the foreign market. The domestic producers could thus sell their products in the Indian markets without any foreign competition. The main aim here was to boost the economic growth of the nation and achieve self-sufficiency. Such an economy is also known as a closed economy. Up until the 1990s, India chose to remain as a closed economy.

The system of import substitution and import restrictions was implemented with the help of a number of different methodsー through the imposition of a) Tariffs, b) Quotas.

Extremely high tariffs were levied on imported goods making them very expensive for the Indian consumers. This eventually forced them to buy goods that have been made domestically rather than the imported items.

The quota system led to the fixing the maximum limit on the imports made by a domestic consumer. Only a certain amount of very essential items such as raw materials and capital equipment were allowed to be imported and used. That means, if the producers wanted extra materials, they had to fend for themselves.

No doubt that the inward looking strategy brought a rise in the foreign trade sector with the domestic producers gaining exponentially but towards the early 1990s, the Indian law makers realised that there are many loopholes in the current foreign trade policy that they adopted. The main problem was that the domestic producers made no sincere efforts to step up the quality of their products, forcing the Indian consumers to purchase whatever was supplied by them.

In 1962, a review committee was formed to discuss the changes required in the government’s existing foreign trade rules and hence, in 1985, then Finance Minister V.P. Singh announced the EXIM Policy (short for Export-Import Policy) which formulated the export and import policies of the country. Initially, the policy was meant to be followed for a period of three years. Later from 1991, the policies were revised every 5 years in view of the changing international economic context. The EXIM policy came into being to get a better view of the trade situation of the country and to correct trade deficits, if any.

In the year 1991, India received a major setback. The Indian government availed a loan of $7 billion from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank due to its inability to manage the economic condition of the country. In order to avail the loan, these international agencies expected India to liberalise, privatise and globalise its economy. The Indian government thus announced the New Economic Policy (NEP), popularly known as the LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation) policies. Under the New Economic Policy, quantitative restrictions that were imposed after independence were substantially removed. For example, by the year 2001, import restrictions on manufactured consumer goods and agricultural products were completely eliminated. Similarly, tariffs were removed to a great extent in order to increase the competitiveness of the domestic goods in the foreign markets and to improve the quality of the products.

The first EXIM policy came into effect in 1992 and was effective until 1997. This policy aimed at removing the various protectionist measures that were taken by the Indian government previously. After that, the second EXIM policy started in the same year (1997) and stayed up until 2002. This time the focus was on making India a globally oriented economy through the adoption of a set of schemes such as the Export Promotion Capital Goods Schemes and Advanced License Schemes aimed at increasing investments from abroad. The next EXIM policy emerged after 2 years i.e. in 2004 up to 2009 (major trade decisions were taken under this EXIM policy which is why it is also called the ‘Trade Constitution’), under which newer policies such as Target Plus which focussed on providing incentives to producers and exporters with duty-free credit and Free Trade Zones. Soon after, the fourth EXIM policy came into effect from 2009 till 2014 which brought in new initiatives known as Focus Market scheme and product market scheme to help exporters compete in foreign markets and incentivise the export of those products which have high employment intensity. The fifth EXIM policy came after one gap year and came into effect in 2015 and stayed till 2020. This policy focussed on the export as well as the manufacturing services to improve the ease of doing business to increase India’s exports and thus increase its participation in the global market.

Fig 1. Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) – India | Source: World Bank

Fig 2. Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) – India | Source: World Bank

On March 31, 2020, the Government of India decided to extend the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 for one year in light of the Covid-19 situation. It was to expire on March 31, 2021, but the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) again extended FTP 2015-20 up to September 30, 2021, and it has been operational since.

References:

1. Arora, S. (2019). What are the objectives of Foreign Trade Policy in India? Legodesk. https://legodesk.com/legopedia/foreign-trade-policy-india/

2. India’s International Trade Policy – EXIM Policy. Economics Discussion. https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/international-economics/indias-international-trade-policy-exim-policy/4241

3. Soares, N. (2014). Foreign Trade Policy of India since 1980. Slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/NikhilSoares/foreign-trade-policy-of-india-since-1980

4. Saluja, N. (2021). Govt extends current foreign trade policy till September. The Economic Times. https://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/govt-extends-current-foreign-trade-policy-till-september/amp_articleshow/81777971.cms

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India, spanning across 29 states and 8 union territories, offers unique ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity. While taking a stroll in the streets of India, one can see people doing their daily stuff, whatever that is. Or they are just standing and sitting around talking in a large group of people. Whatever they are engaged in, one thing is universal. They seem to be relaxed in whatever they do and be at peace with themselves and the environment. It is as if they don’t need the word ‘happy’ in their vocabulary to feel good and relaxed: they are fine with how it is. In India, happiness is not an abstract term. that people all intend to have as their life’s goal.

Maybe the Indian version of happiness has something to do with the present activities. Maybe being happy is just equivalent to being yourself. It’s more about not wishing for anything else and not to have big desires for which we would be willing to give something dear but to find these desires and happiness in the things we already have and as a result be grateful and at peace. Maybe it is acceptance of what is instead of hoping for what may be. 

Happiness, Well-being and Human Development

It is quite understandable that the ultimate objective of social and economic development is to provide improvements in the lives of men and women who generate employment now and the younger generation who we hope will generate in the future. This makes the idea of well-being universal: achieving a state of well-being has to be inclusive everywhere, whether in developed or developing countries (OECD, 2015).

Well-being is a focal concept: human well-being provides a means of understanding the growing relationships between apparently diverse ideas and issues that abound as and often appear to compete, in the international agendas. The proper study of human well-being provides a possible way to map out the relationship between poverty and sustainability as it helps us to explore the relationship between various economic dimensions and development such as productivity and efficiency, social cohesion and governance which are vital for the successful overall development (OECD, 2015).

Following the need to study the relevance of happiness, well-being and human development, various methodologies were developed in the international conferences and meetings of the United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These methodologies presented frameworks that incorporated the socio-economic indicators which can be used to assess the improvements in human well-being. One of the innovations suggested by the well-being approach saw human well-being as a holistic phenomenon. The framework which was put forward by OECD was known as ‘How is Life’ framework. This provides a good example of this multidimensional approach to measuring human well-being that can be used to discuss its relevance for developing countries.

The above figure depicts the process of the OECDs ‘How is Life’ framework which involves three categories of variables. These three categories are listed below: 

• Material Conditions
• Quality of Life
• Sustainability 

Within each of these three categories, there are a certain set of variables upon which data is assembled. Under ‘Material Conditions’ following three variables are listed:

• Income and wealth
• Jobs and earnings
• Housing 

The variables included in the category ‘Quality of Life’ are listed below:

• Health status
• Work and life balance
• Education and skills
• Social connections
• Civic engagement and governance
• Environmental quality
• Personal security
• Subjective well-being

In the last ‘Sustainability’ category there are four types of capitals which are identified as being significant for the process that produces both material well-being and quality of life outcomes. These are listed below:

• Natural capital
• Economic capital
• Human capital
• Social capita

Thus the major innovation will lie in the integrated adoption of a multidimensional approach to understanding progress which integrally considers people’s subjective evaluation of their quality of life. 

Subjective Well-being as an Alternate Tool for Policy Evaluation

In recent times, subjective wellbeing measures have established themselves as reliable alternatives to standard economic indicators of welfare. Intertest in subjective metrics have been largely driven by the growing dissatisfaction with the conventional use of objective indicators like GDP to evaluate the impact of economic activities on public and private sector decision making. This has led international organisations such as the UN and OECD to advise against using the GDP as a measure of economic progress as it does not capture the outcomes that matter to the well-being of the people. 

Today, the governments in places like New Zealand, Wales, Iceland and Scotland have advocated and justified the use of subjective well-being matrices in evaluating public policy. As a result of which these countries have recently established the Wellbeing Economy Governments Alliance (WEGO) that aims to promote and share their expertise and transferable policy practices in regard to subjective well-being (Wiking, 2020).

The core benefit of using subjective well-being is that it measures individual experience by directly asking people to report how they feel about their lives. This is in contrast to the conventional economic metrics like inflation rate, unemployment rate and GDP per capita that focus instead on people’s market behaviour. The measures of subjective well-being have proven to be reliable across varying contexts. They remain stable over time, correlate with the third party, associate with physiological makers, respond to life changes and even help in predicting future socio-economic behaviour of individuals including suicide. 

It is observed that the United Nations for the last eight years has published national rankings of subjective wellbeing in their World Happiness Report. These well-being measures have proven to be aligned with economic objective country conditions, including GDP per capita, life expectancy and levels of corruption. Subjective wellbeing metrics are therefore poised to reveal important underlying dynamics that can help us to understand how people have felt and behaved during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wiking, 2020). 

The Lessons Learnt From Nordic Countries

From 2013 till today, every time the World Happiness Report (WHR) has published its annual ranking of countries, the five Nordic countries- Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland have all been placed in the top ten with Nordic countries occupying the top three spots in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It is of no doubt that whether we look at the state of democracy, structure of political institutions, lack of corruption, social cohesion, trust between the citizens, gender equality or Human Development Index, one can easily find the Nordic countries in the global top spots (Martela & Greve, 2020). 

There has been a lot of research done on finding the reasons that make Nordic citizens so exceptionally satisfied with their lives. Through reviewing the existing literature the prominent factors responsible for the happiness of Nordic citizens include quality of institutions, low corruption and proper well-functioning of democracy and political institutions. In addition, Nordic citizens experience a high sense of freedom as well as high levels of social trust among each other that play a significant role in determining life satisfaction (Martela & Greve, 2020). 

Denmark is one of the top five happiest nations in the world. It has consistently remained in the top three global spots in the World Happiness Report. Comparing the Indian and Danish GDP, the GDP growth rate of Denmark averaged 0.40% from 1991 to 2018 while the annual growth rate of India’s GDP averaged at 6.61% from 1951 to 2018 (Trading Economics, 2019). Indian economy is much larger as compared to Danish economy. However, there are other factors than financial prosperity and GDP that makes the Danish people among the top happiest in the world. 

If India has to go the Nordic way, it can adopt some features of the happy country as mentioned in Figure 2. It clearly depicts that Denmark does simple things elegantly and makes it the motto of their life. They seek happiness in the small happening of their life and build a hyggelig environment around themselves (Sarkar, 2018). 

Weaving the Path for India to Follow the Nordic Happiness Way: A Long Way Ahead

The happiness of the citizens in India needs to follow a six-pronged strategy to go the Nordic way of living and can be counted as a happy nation in near future. This strategy is depicted in the figure below:

Indian policymakers should carefully observe how education, transport, health and social policies will affect the happiness of citizens. Furthermore, policies that aim to promote public cooperation and equality are equally likely helpful in increasing the subjective indicators of well-being like longevity. India has been a place for poverty research for a very long period of time. With the appropriate policies in place, maybe it could become a laboratory to study happiness one day. 

Bibliography

Martela, F., & Greve, B. (2020, March 20). The Nordic Exceptionalism: What Explains Why the Nordic Countries Are Constantly Among the Happiest in the World. World Happiness Report. https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/the-nordic-exceptionalism-what-explains-why-the-nordic-countries-are-constantly-among-the-happiest-in-the-world/

OECD. (2015, April 5). MEASURING WELL-BEING FOR DEVELOPMENT. OECD Development Centre. https://www.oecd.org/site/oecdgfd/Session%203.1%20-%20GFD%20Background%20Paper.pdf

Sarkar, D. D. (2018, April 13). India and the happiness quotient. Mint. https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/n5HPI9id2l3jBrjZLut3SL/India-and-the-happiness-quotient.html

Trading Economics. (2019, August 4). Denmark and India-Economic Indicators. Trading Economics. https://tradingeconomics.com/denmark/indicators

Wiking, M. (2020, June 20). Wellbeing in the age of COVID-19. Happiness Research Institute. https://6e3636b7-ad2f-4292-b910-faa23b9c20aa.filesusr.com/ugd/928487_f35139968bca4668b456726d010e8d45.pdf

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One of the most important issues faced by the local artisans during and even before this pandemic is the lack of financial support. These artisans have the minimum amount of money to invest in buying their raw materials and other requirements. Even though the government provides loans at very low levels of interest, it is still a handsome amount for them to be able to pay at such low levels of income. The second issue faced is the illiteracy and lack of knowledge of the newly developing technological world. In this competitive world, they lack the knowledge of technology that could help them be a part of the globalization. The third and especially important issue faced by these local artisans is that they work in the unorganized sector. Since they work in the unorganized sectors, they do not have any regular security of the job. They can run out of customers anytime and there is perhaps nothing they can do about it. They do not have the guarantee of their income or job any time of the year. They are vulnerable to exploitation and do not have the support system that they deserve. Since most of the local artisans are women, it poses even a greater threat to their livelihood. There are a lot more restrictions and dependency when we talk about women artisans in rural areas. They lack financial independence and are subject to a lot of misbehaviours. These aspects have to be kept in mind while developing policies for this sector, considering the importance it holds in providing employment to a large section of our society. (Muyiwa, 2020)

The global market of handicraft was valued at US$ 400 billion before the pandemic. The handicraft industry in rural economy registered an annual growth rate of 15% consistently over the last decade. However, India’s share in the global market for handicrafts is only 2% which shows us the state of our local artisans in the global market. The pandemic, however, has only worsened the situation and led to a global crisis. For these artisans, the pandemic has been the worst nightmare as they have lost their source of income for months together and they have no one to rely on. 

Government Initiatives

There have been several measures taken by the government to support the handicrafts industries and the local artisans in rural areas over the years. The handicrafts sector had already taken a hit during the demonetization and the damage seemed irreparable without government’s support. This people employed directly or indirectly in this sector need support from the government now more than ever before. (Tyabji, 2020)

However, to discuss the various revival strategies for the handicrafts sector, it is firstly important to note some of the significant existing government policies so far:

• A Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) was initiated to help the startups in this sector coping with the existing competition. The government also set up markets for these known as Gramin Haat.
• Various skill development programmes have been initiated by the government for the upliftment of the local artisans. 
• In 2017 the government also initiated India Handmade Bazaar to help the local artisans get better exposure to the markets.
• ‘Village to market’ linkage of products is being assessed by the government to make a smooth facility for the goods to reach the markets
• The Export promotion council for handicrafts is working extensively to promote Indian handicrafts in the global economy.
• Schemes like ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna are some of the skill development programmes in the country for rural economy handicrafts.

Revival Strategies

With the onset of the pandemic, the local artisans lost their income almost altogether. To combat this loss, the government has to step in and take even more pro-active measures to revive this sector. 

• One of the important steps that the government can take is to help these local artisans gain digital knowledge. The world economy has changed tremendously over the years and digitalization has picked up the most. To tap the global economy and improve upon the exports of handicrafts, what we need is digitalization. 
• E – retail has become the new market. Anything and everything can be sold or bought one retail. So, to provide exposure to these handicraft products, the focus should also shift to online marketing. Online marketing strategies can be developed by the government.
• Brands like Tjori, Ethnic Kraft etc which sell handmade local products should be encouraged. Such brands do exist but are very limited than what we need for this sector. 
• Skill development programmes should be initiated more regularly to help the artisans hone their talent.
• Another important step that the government can take is to develop programmes for the artisans to enhance their technical knowledge with machines. Better machinery can be used to speed up production and also save labor. 
• Since most of the local artisans are generally women, (Data shows that 55% of the local artisans are women), it is important to ensure that they do not face any kind of exploitation. 
• Since the local artisans have little or no money to start their proper enterprises the government should increase financial aid to startups of this sector. To boost this sector and encourage more and more artisans to start their enterprises the government will have to increase its spending on this sector the most. Even though the government does provide them loans with lower rates of interest but it requires more than that. Even the lower rates of interest are quite high for them to be able to pay. 
• Another important measure for the government would be to exempt this sector from GST. The GST that was implemented in 2017 has been eating in a significant share of the earning of these local artisans and it is only fair to exempt them from this tax. Their earnings are anyway very less and can only accommodate ‘hand to mouth’ and the GST on top of that has been a nightmare for these artisans.
• Keeping in mind the growing competition, these local artisans are losing out even more due to the lack of exposure. Since these artisans belong to rural areas, they do not have the required knowledge of the markets and thus cannot tap suitable consumers for their products. The government can still work for increasing their visibility with the urban markets where they can sell their products at a decent price. 
• Illiteracy has also been a major issue with these artisans due to which they get easily exploited by the middlemen. Here, the government can intervene in two ways. One, by providing at least the minimum education required for these artisans to work in this sector and the second by curbing the role of middlemen. Middlemen tend to exploit these artisans the most, by shaving their profits and earning money through them.
• The handicrafts sector is essentially a part of the unorganised sector causing even more problems to keep a track of. However, there should be policies to secure their livelihood and protect them from further damage. A proper record should be maintained of these businesses and supervised regularly to check on the needs of these artisans as they are essentially the representation of our rich culture. 

Implementation of the Strategies in Rural Economy- A Way Forward

It is of utmost importance that this sector is taken care of since it has already been hit hard twice in the recent past, once during the demonetisation and the other during this pandemic. The handicrafts sector is the second largest employer of the country after the agriculture sector which shows that a large number of people are attached to this sector.

Implementing these strategies would require a lot of government involvement and also a lot of government spending which is the only way forward from here. These strategies will help the handicrafts industry in realising its full potential. If there is proper implementation of these strategies, it can also boost the demand for these products and that can actually help revive this sector. It is going to take time to come out of the aftereffects of this pandemic but we need to boost the sectors that need the most attention. If left on their own, the local artisans will lose their livelihood and the country will lose a large chunk of its culture and art. The government needs to redefine a lot of norms and be more inclusive while formulating any policy for the country. It’s the root of our country that matter the most right now. Rural India is where a maximum of Indians reside and it is important to develop and boost the small economy businesses of the unorganised sector, one of which is the handicrafts industry.
The government is working towards reviving this sector but there needs to be a more pro-active involvement of the government in terms of policies, programmes, financial aids etc. It is important that we come up with more such strategies and develop a stronger rural India that represents our strong culture and defining history. 

References

(2020). Retrieved 24 December 2020, from http://www.handicrafts.nic.in/pdf/NHDP%20(final)%20Anex-III%20dt%2001.01.2016.pdf

Handicraft exporters call on government for support. (2020). Retrieved 24 December 2020, from https://www.graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/handicraft-exporters-call-on-government-for-support.html

Government Intervention In India. (2020). Retrieved 24 December 2020, from https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/General-Studies/notes/government-policies-and-interventions.html

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2020). Retrieved 24 December 2020, from http://www.fao.org/policy-support/policy-themes/rural-poverty-reduction/en/

Jha, T. (2020). A CHEER TO ARTISANS ON THE BANKS OF GANGES IN THE NORTH TO KAVERI IN THE SOUTH – WISER WORLD. Retrieved 24 December 2020, from http://www.wiserworld.in/a-cheer-to-artisans-on-the-banks-of-ganges-in-the-north-to-kaveri-in-the-south/

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Evolution

The previous policies have focused largely on equality of education and accessibility. The first Education policy came in 1968 and the second in 1986 which was revised in 1992 and the third one is The Education Policy under the BJP Government. The cabinet approved the New Education Policy on July 29^th, after a 34-year gap. The other major development since the 1986/92 policy has been the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Act 2009 which laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education. The implementation of the policy will further depend on both State and Centre as education is a concurrent subject. The global education development agenda reflected in the Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by India in 2015 – seeks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. The major aim of the education policy is to make “India global knowledge of superpower”.^[i] The world is undergoing rapid changes in various technological, scientific and research advancement. The new policy extensively focuses on these major changes in the system of rote learning.

A BRIEF

The New Education Policy has been a mammoth task. Two committees undertook the policy various feedback was taken and widely consulted. The policy document was examined several times before being sent for approval. The new document is radically different from all its predecessors as it outlines a completely new framework for our education. Good education policy is where wide learning is offered with good infrastructure and appropriate resources are provided. The key points which the policy emphasis on are:

• Recognising and fostering every individual’s capabilities and sensitizing teachers and parents as well to promote students in holistic development.
• One of the essential fundamentals which have been left unaddressed until now is Early Childhood Care and Education. The policy says, over 85% of a child’s brain development occurs prior to the age 8. Thus, it focuses on achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for all students by grade 3^rd.
• Flexibility for learners to choose their learning projectors and choose their life paths according to their talent. Furthermore, there will be no hard separation between the streams. This also promotes the dispel of various notions of society and hierarchies.
• Multidisciplinary approach in order to promote uniformity and integrity for all knowledge. Emphasis on conceptual understanding and critical thinking.
• The vocational programs from school education. The policy has reconceptualised practical learning and give it a heads up. Which focuses on giving students an opportunity to intern at school level and learn a programming language.

The fundamental keynotes ensure integrity, transparency and empowerment of all students. 

The Vision of the Policy

School Learning

The policy envisages that the 10+2 old schooling structure will be modified with a 5+3+3+4 which will cover the age group of 3-6 and brings early childhood education. It constitutes the foundational stage of education. The restructure has been proposed keeping in mind the holistic development of the children. As the policy focuses on ‘the overarching goal would be to ensure universal access to high-quality ECCE across the country. It facilities amalgamation project led ecosystem of education which focuses on process and not just an outcome. It shifts the focus from conventional learning practices of delivering assignments. The Boards are redesigned now students can appear for it twice one for main examination and other for improvement if they desired. NEP 2020 also proposes a shift from summative assessments to regular and formative assessments. Which will focus on analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity? The government also focuses on multilingualism and suggests that students until class 5 should be taught in their mother tongue or regional language. This received a mixed reaction some says it will promote multilingualism while others comment it as a downfall for rural-urban students who wish to learn English.

The introduction to vocational studies grades 6 onwards and creation of National Committee for the Integration of Vocational Education (NCIVE) is an extremely important decision to remove the societal stigma attached with taking vocation as a career. Lastly one of the major problematic situations for every student has been choosing the streams, one of the critical factors of the new policy is flexibility. The dismantling of the rigid distinction of academics gives students much more flexibility and freedom to choose subjects of their interest and desires. Thus, it focuses on universalising education from early childhood.

Higher Education

According to the makers of this policy, some of the salient problems in the higher education institutions in our country is lack of research, limited teachers, less multidisciplinary courses and poor institutional governance.

Recognising the problems the policymakers came up with various new key ingredients. The decision to break the wall of streams and bring in flexibility, provisions of freedom to exit and entre courses, credit-based system and introduction to a 4-year degree with research.

The document also states universities among the world top 100 will be able to set up in India. However, this will only process ones the HRD Ministry brings a new law that includes the details of how foreign universities will operate. We can also see a partnership between government and private educational programmes which will result in the fruitful outcome and a shift into the latest technologies. Among the several new features of NEP 2020, one of the best is granting more autonomy to educational institutions which are providing quality education. The other is a single regulator for higher education. The other significant reform is the provision of multiple entries and exits points. This will help students to pursue the course of their choice at their own pace and without getting affected by the impact of their personal circumstances.

It also eliminates the MPhil programme which does not affect higher education trajectory at all. But it also emphasis equally on research and offers a 4-year undergraduate degree. As research is the foundation of knowledge creation and it plays a crucial role in the upliftment of any human. The policy envisages the creation of the National Research Foundation (NRF). Its main objective will be to provide areas of themes for research and coordination and build a platform for budding researchers which the nation strives for the next coming decade. However, the biggest challenge for the government would be to reduce the digital disparity which exists among students as well as teachers. Additionally, we also need to focus upon the skill development and training of educators and teachers who will help the nation in the rebuilding project. 

These are some of the pathbreaking provisions which NEP 2020 focuses on. It opens the door for hopes and aspirations. It is visionary and transformational however, the success lies in its implementation.

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Digitalising Indian Villages

According to a report by Kantar, rural India, with 304 million monthly active internet users, will be the major driver of internet usage in the country. Rural India saw 4 times more growth in active users than urban India. With increasing access to the internet, rural India has found more opportunities to grow. Farmers can now get connected to the National Mandi for their produce, the artisans can reach out to global consumers through e-commerce and the younger generation can learn better skills and get better employment opportunities. It has also strengthened Panchayati Raj governance and helped in better implementation of government schemes. Its potential impacts on the children can lay the ground for a healthier and more skilled generation.

Internet in the Education Sector

Even with the state making sure that education as a right is accessible by all, a large number of rural children are either not able to make it to schools or have to face a lack of quality education. Some of the schools are located in remote areas which makes reaching the school a challenge itself. Schools in rural areas also suffer from lack of infrastructure and shortage of teachers. According to a report by Forbes India, there are 97,273 single teacher schools in India, this is equivalent to 8.8% of the total schools in India. These hurdles are a major reason for school dropout rates as well. This makes it difficult to achieve the United Nation’s fourth Sustainable Development Goal, which aims to provide inclusive and equitable quality education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Access to the internet is fundamental to achieving this vision for the future.

Internet-based education has the potential to mitigate issues of quality and disinterest. Teaching through the use of video lessons can make the lessons interactive. Internet also opens up an opportunity to connect with the wider world outside the classroom. In addition to its use by teachers, guidance on how to utilise the power of the internet can encourage students to explore and learn from this repository of knowledge. Their skill and knowledge accusation would not be restricted by the syllabus. Internet also makes it possible for the teacher to reach out to a large number of students across various locations at the same time. This can play a major role in solving the issue of teacher shortage in the country.

The Integrative approach to technology project being implemented in the seven north and northeastern states of India is an indicator of how the internet can be utilised to deliver knowledge in rural areas. According to the teachers in the states, project-based learning through the internet has made the students more inquisitive. The lessons have become more interactive and students were able to connect even the abstract mathematical theorems to real-life situations. The internet also allowed students to access information in their local languages. Internet thus has the potential to strengthen the efforts of making the basic human right to education become universally accessible.

Internet and Social Growth

Childhood has, on numerous occasions, been considered the base of a healthy youth and an overall productive life. But there are a number of challenges in ensuring that every child has a healthy and enriching childhood. Instances of child labour are high in the country. Child marriages and malnourishment are other inhibitors to a normal childhood. Inadequate nutrition in the first 1000 days of a child’s life can lead to stunted growth, associated with impaired cognitive ability and reduced school and work performance. As per the Global Nutrition Report, 46.6 million children in India are stunted.

Internet has the potential to change this. It allows the information to reach the most remote of areas. Organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, are utilising its powers to reach out to the target audiences. Its role in the spread of education has been discussed above. All this together results in better awareness about the rights of children and the legal action that follows the breach of rules. It’s a two-way road, community activists can also use internet to reach out to organisations for help in order to stop child marriages or child labour. An interesting example of the use of internet to reduce or stop child marriages is to be found in Bangladesh. They, together with Plan International, have launched an app that allows the marriage registrars, solemnisers or matchmakers to establish the true age of the Bride and Groom. Since the physical documents were easy to forge, this app helps to digitally verify the document. It has helped to stop as many as 3700 child marriages. Government of India also launched a website pencil.gov.in to empower and encourage the civil society’s participation in the Anti- child labour programmes. It allows them to raise a complaint online instantly. Thus, through these applications and websites, internet allows for a an active community participation in the achievement of global goals with respect to Children marriages and child labour.

Another important hurdle to an active and fruitful childhood is lack of adequate nutrition. When the women in the family do not receive the nutrition they must, it leads to rising cases of children being malnourished or being born with physical and mental deficiencies. A malnourished child cannot even make use of his/her cognitive skills and usually lags behind in life. Targeting the mother and child health, thus, could go a long way in reducing malnutrition among rural kids. Ministry of Women and Child Development, recently launched ICDS-CAS ( Common Application Software). It utilises internet technology for real-time Monitoring of nutritional outcomes. It would help in better tracking of beneficiaries and would make sure that home visits for pregnant women are done on time. It digitalises data entry and thus makes nutrition statuses available at all times. It has also improved the supervision of ground-level Anganwadi Workers and Lady Supervisors. This ensure that all benefits reach the mother on time, she takes proper nutritional supplements and gets an institutional delivery done.  Internet, thus, has the potential to bring about improvement in mother-child health. This will have a domino effect on the lifelong productivity of the child.

There is still more left to do!

The Government of India has, over the years, taken a number of steps to reduce the rural-urban digital divide. Going back five years, the government launched the Digital India mission. It was an umbrella programme with schemes in areas of digital infrastructure, digital empowerment, on-demand government services. One of the main agendas of the programme is to expand internet connectivity to rural areas. The government aims to achieve the goal of a digital village – rural areas with telemedicine facilities, virtual classes and solar power based WiFi hot spots. National Optic Fibre Network will be used to ensure internet connectivity to 2,50,000 gram panchayats. Rural Internet Mission involves the conversion of some 1,50,000 Post Offices into internet-based multi-service centres. In December last year, government launched a project with an investment of seven trillion – The National Broadband Mission. The agenda is to provide broadband access to all villages by 2022. Three million route kilometres of optical fibre cable is planned to be laid and density of tower per thousand is expected to increase.

Despite the fact that rural internet users are on a rise due to the efforts of the government but there are still hurdles left to cross. Lack of infrastructure necessary for the setting up of the connections is a major issue. In remote areas and difficult terrains, it becomes extremely difficult to lay down the fibre optic cables. The rural areas also suffer from poor internet speed making the use of internet ineffective. With widespread poverty, not everyone is able to afford a smartphone or personal computer to access the internet. Fluctuating electricity availability is another issue.  We have come a long way but there is still a long road to tread.

Conclusion

Internet has immense potential to bring about a positive change in the lives of the rural kids. This can be a major push to India’s dream of reaping the demographic dividend. Policymakers have realised the importance of India’s villages in making India a digital nation. But while making all the efforts we need to stay aware of the fact that rural India also suffers from digital illiteracy. Hence,  according to a study by the World Bank, just providing them with internet connection will not lead to full utilisation of the internet potential. Even in school, teachers need to be well trained in how to prepare and disseminate an internet-based lesson. The ground level workers in villages need digital guidance so that they can efficiently use internet for awareness and monitoring. The policymakers and development experts seeking to improve the lives of rural kids must make sure that increasing internet penetration must be balanced with digitally skilled citizens.

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Within a short period of time, the country rose to be one of the high-income countries in the world. Currently, it comprises 0.42% of the World’s GDP (PPP). There was an exceptional shift from the export of labor-intensive goods like textiles, garments and basic electronics to high-value products like telecommunication, equipment, pharmaceuticals, refined petroleum, electronics, chemicals, etc. Singapore received 14 loans over the period of 1963-1975 from the World Bank and the majority of them was taken for infrastructural development like port expansions, sewage system, power and telecommunications etc. Now having one of the best infrastructures in the world, it has progressed in such way that it contributed US$10 million for the ‘Global Infrastructural Facility’ of World Bank. A loan taker to fund contributors for the same sector is a commendable evolution. Over 80% of Singapore’s residents live in public housing. Manufacturing and service sectors stand as a support system for Singapore’s evolution. 

Now Singapore is ranked NO.1 among 42 countries in the Asia- Pacific region, having the status as the world’s freest economy in 2020 index with an economic freedom score of 89.4. According to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCI 4.0), Singapore is the most competitive economy with the first rank in road quality infrastructure, the efficiency of seaport and airport services, sea transport connectivity, macroeconomic stability, public sector performance, trade openness, labour market and no terrorism incidence. Singapore’s economic policies and strategies mostly focus on long-term investment and growth. One such strategy of Singapore which is futuristic in nature is discussed below.

Smart Nation

The third industrial revolution which is also known as digital revolution came into force with rapid increase in and adoption of computerization. From then, growth of technology is associated with accelerated innovations and inventions. Technology plays a significant role in economic development. While many countries are focusing on their digital future, Singapore is yet another country with its rapid digital transformation. The success of National Computerisation and Growth of the info-communications industry of Singapore stands as a certification for its national digitalization efforts. Taking a step ahead while keeping in mind the future challenges with respect to resource constraints, rising ageing and urban population and to attain the comparative advantage for Singapore, it launched the ‘SMART NATION’ initiative on November 2014 with a vision to provide a fulfilling and meaningful life for their people.

The initiative aims to ‘TRANSFORM SINGAPORE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY’ by providing a convenient and sustainable living for its people with enhanced access to information and opportunities, space for businesses to improve productivity, innovation and growth and finally to have a government that can use the technology to serve its people better. Smart Nation would be a combined effort by people, governments and industries for their prosperous future.

The three pillars of the Singapore’s Smart Nation are:

  The Digital Economy focuses on attracting foreign investment, improving business efficiency and competitiveness along with providing wide opportunities for Singaporeans to stay ahead in the future.

• Digital Government:  The central aim of the future digital government is to create” a government that is digital to the core and serves with the heart.”

By using the technology it focuses to serve its people and business with better opportunities to get a good service experience.

• Digital Society: A complete digital society, in general, should make sure that all the people in that society have access to technology and they are in a position to adopt them with relevant knowledge and The Digital Society of Singapore also aims at digital inclusion.

Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNGG) which involves Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNGO) along with implementing agency, Government Technology Agency (Gov Tech) is responsible for building a Smart Nation.

According to the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, the initiative’s ”priority is to harness technology to address national challenges and drive transformation in key domains: health, education, transport, urban solutions and finance.”

• myENV app which provides the current environmental information and updates
• OneService app through which people can report all municipal issues in a common platform
• Smart Towns includes providing intelligent homes that make life easier, comfortable and enjoyable for the people. Example of this is the development of Punggoll town
• Autonomous vehicles which is helpful for the elderly and specially able persons
• On-demand shuttle where operations of transport services would be demand-driven so that resource management can be monitored
• HealthHub which is an online health information and service  portal
• Contactless fare payment for public transport, TeleHealth, Digital Government Services, Data Innovation Program Office, CorpPass for businesses are some of the initiatives which are paving way for the Smart Nation.  

 The Strategic National Projects are notable ones which stand as an enabler for building the Smart Nation. They are,

1. CODEX
2. E-Payments
3. Moments Of Life Initiative
4. National Digital Identity
5. Smart Nation Sensor Platform
6. Smart Urban Mobility

Smart Nation Scholarship: The best resource available in a country would be its young talent pool and a nation which utilises it in a better way will have a greater advantage. Singapore is taking a big step towards future of technologies, in order to achieve this, the country has to appreciate and develop the young brains and this scholarship is one such way to help the pillars of the nation who are going to play an active role in the transformation with technology.

In order to bring the expertise in the area of technology and engineering, they also provide Smart Fellowship so that there would be birth of innovative ideas from different individuals.

Challenges

 According to IMD Smart City Index 2019, the smartest city in the world is Singapore. In 2018 it also won the Smart City Award in the Smart City Expo World Congress. Though the nation travels towards its goal, there are also many challenges ahead on the road. According to the Institute of Policy Studies, in 2017, 55.9% of Singaporeans polled, were optimistic about Smart Nation initiatives and in 2018 it was 53.4% so there is a big responsibility in the hands of the state to retain the people’s confidence on the initiatives and to remove the fear of technological disruption. While many nations are piloting with the smart city initiative, Singapore with its brave efforts has planned it for the whole nation and the main challenge lies in reducing the gap between vision and reality. It must also increase technological accessibilities. Another big tension is about digital security.  Having openness in data availability, the state must be very cautious about cybersecurity problems. We could see the government of Singapore taking various steps to overcome these difficulties. Apart from these, there are some of the problems which are external in nature. The growing economic nationalisation, rise in anti-globalisation and protectionism among the other countries, problems like deforestation in Singapore ( It lost nearly 90% of its forest, since 1980 due to increased land usage)and other technology-related environmental problems, rising concerns on the migrant workers who contributes more to that economy may also have an impact on the result of its initiative. Technology when used in the right manner for the right purpose will be fruitful, if not then may lead to negative repercussions.

Conclusion

Despite these challenges, it is undeniable that the country utilized its best resource- the people. At the initial stage of development itself Singapore made sure to educate and upskill its unskilled labour force with knowledge on information technology, electronics etc. In the last three decades their development expenditure accounted for an average of 1/3^rd of the government expenditure. Singapore ranked 1^st out of 157 countries in the Human Capital Index , According to  that, “ A child born in Singapore today will be 88% as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.” Also HCI for girls were greater than boys. Be it past, present or future, Singapore’s focus is on its people- it invests in and for people.  Overcoming the challenges and a complete focus on the goal of Smart Nation without any disruption on the road will lead to success.  

Final note– Technology can be one of the means to a better life and not an end.

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In a city where house rents can reach even up to Rs.1.2 lakhs per month, Dharavi provides an affordable option. Rents here can be as low as Rs.250 per month. The issue of unaffordable rental housing began with the introduction of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act of 1999. The rent control markedly reduced the incentives for landlords to maintain rental properties as they would receive nominal returns for doing so. Rent control and restrictive land policies also discouraged private investment in housing. Price control has also led to a shortage of flats in Mumbai by decreasing the prospect of profits for developers, thus pushing more people into slums like Dharavi.

What Is The Redevelopment Project?

Dharavi is located at the intersection of two main train lines and just a few kilometers away from the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport lies less than 5 miles away and famous landmarks namely the Gateway to India and Colaba are also nearby. As a result, the value of the properties has soared and developers and the government have begun looking at ways to redevelop the area to capture the value of the land.  The current plan, which was put forth by Mukesh Mehta, was accepted by the government in 2004 and proposed the idea of increasing the floor-space index of Dharavi from 1.33 to 4, thus concentrating current residents into multi-story buildings.

Under the scheme, which was tweaked many times (the latest amendment was in October 2018), private developers can purchase slum land from the government at a low price and redevelop the land. After purchasing the land and obtaining the consent of 70 percent of the residents of the slum, the developer can clear the land and provide the eligible slum residents with free of cost housing. Those residents who can prove that they have been living in the slum prior to January 1, 2000, will get free tenement, and those who are residing in hutments built before January 1, 2011, will have to pay the construction cost of the tenement. The families will get a redeveloped unit measuring a minimum of 350 square feet. Those above 300 square feet will get 400 square feet, and those over 500 will get an additional area of 35 percent. In return, the developer can construct commercial and residential buildings on the rest of the land and sell them on the market. Through this model, some of Mumbai’s most prominent development projects have been built on former slum land. For instance, Imperial Towers were built on former slum land where the current model of slum redevelopment was first used.

Shortcomings Of The Model

While Mehta’s proposal was accepted in 2004, there has not been much development in the project. The primary obstacle being massive opposition from current residents who feel that the proposed amount of space is not enough.  There is no space allocated for the operation of informal businesses, raising fears that their sources of income would be shut down. Government negligence is also a big impediment responsible for the delay of the project.

The informal nature of Dharavi’s economy has limited the government’s ability to understand its capacity and the positive externality it creates by independently handling municipal waste and encouraging sustainability in Mumbai through recycling. The government has made no offer to compensate residents for the loss of their businesses. The government’s proposals have focused entirely on the strategies for rehousing of slum-dwellers, with little thought of how they will seek meaningful livelihoods once their small businesses are closed down.

These buildings will most definitely resolve the issue of hygiene and sanitation to a great extent but it still encountered resistance from the residents. They feel that a tower structure will destroy the community sentiment that has allowed the proliferation of Dharavi’s micro-industries. The huge population of Dharavi and its proximity to the business district can also pose implementation challenges.

The current model does not provide specific standards on the quality of rehabilitation buildings. The discretion is left to developers. Some of the rehabilitation buildings are designed in a way that compromises the living standards of residents. There is the danger that these buildings will become “vertical slums”.

Due to the eligibility criteria for the provision of free housing, the ineligible population is left with no option but to stay in an unauthorized manner in slums. Many of them will have to settle in a new slum after their previous slum is demolished by the government.

As the current model provides free housing to the slum dwellers, developers have to cover the cost of rehabilitation housing by increasing the prices of the commercial and residential buildings built on the rest of the land which ultimately leads to the increase of housing prices on the formal market.

Past Policy Failures

Policy failure has been a recurring theme in the story of the redevelopment of Dharavi. In 1971, the Maharashtra Government created the Slum Improvement Programme (SIP) which was intended to provide some basic facilities to the area like water, electricity, toilets, and sewage disposal but could not do so due to no comprehensive census of slums of Mumbai.

In 1976, the government attempts to give the slum dwellers with legitimate status. For this purpose, they created photo identities. However, the scheme ended due to a lack of records of residents. Also, part of the slum was not owned by the government and was under de facto control of the slum lords who did not want to give it up by allowing redevelopment.

In 1985, Slum Upgradation Programme (SUP) which was funded by the World Bank came into effect. Slum land was leased out to cooperative groups of slum dwellers at affordable prices and loans were granted for environmental and housing improvements. However, it was unable to overcome a key hurdle which was that a large portion of the slum was on private holdings.

In 1995, the government put in place the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to address the issue of slums in the state through a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS). The scheme took into account many of the shortcomings not addressed by the previous schemes. Though the plan was not successful as it required consent of 75 per cent of the slum population but was unable to do so. Several residents who did receive the redevelopments under the scheme rented them out for an additional source of income and continued to stay in their shanties. Out of 100,000 units, only 3486 units consented for the programme by the year 2000.

Some Amendments

Dharavi has grown into its own ecosystem over the years. Residents rely on the micro-enterprises, some of which make use of the outdoor spaces to operate their businesses. It is imperative to residents that their livelihoods are supported during this change. In order for the upgrade to work for the residents, it’s crucial that the redevelopment also considers the economic and social activities that flourish in slums. The businesses need to be provided with some liberty. By creating an area for industrial and commercial purposes, Dharavi can grow beyond imagination.

The housing stock which is created in the formal market is mostly in the luxury or semi-luxury segment which does not cater to the demand for affordable houses by low and middle-income groups of the population. The government should consciously create housing stock for low and middle-income groups. Under the current laws, 19 percent of the total houses in Maharashtra are lying vacant. The government must create an environment to bolster the rental market.

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We’ve heard the word superpower in different contexts over media and academia, the word, superpower for most children across the world would mean an exceptional or extraordinary power or ability, mostly in the form of superman or superwoman, a fictional character that possesses the power to make a significant impact on the world, while keeping the very crux of the word alive, we will talk about a very specific nation, India, and its journey to be a superpower. However, we need to go back to the century that went by to understand how the idea of a superpower came about. 

The rise and fall of two superpowers 

Until the 20^th century, the world knew only two superpowers, USA and the Soviet Union, the landmark emergence of two world superpowers stems from the end of  World War II marked by the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the USA, critics over the world suggest that the US knew that Japan was about to surrender and that it was Unnecessary to bomb the two Japanese ports. However, the USA went ahead with its decision to stop the Soviet Union from making any military and political gains in Asia and prove that America is supreme. The end of World War II led to every newly decolonised country had two options in front of it, either be friends with the US or Soviet Union. At this time, countries in Asia and Africa had got independence and most of these countries wanted to claim their sovereignty and didn’t wish to side with either of two power blocks. One would say it was the emergence of Non-aligned movement (NAM) as India’s bid to stay non aligned that can be seen as a sign of non-adherence to power systems.

India’s economic policy from 1951-1991

India’s economy at the dawn of independence was in distress. For over 200 years, India served the purpose for the good of the United Kingdom, the good that was bought on the ruins of India’s economic tradition. Post-independence, one of the major questions in the mind of policymakers was if India’s growth should be agriculture or industry-led and we went ahead with industry-led growth primarily because there was almost no presence of infrastructure sector, i.e, power, transportation and communication, there was the negligible presence of the infrastructure industries like iron and steel, cement, coal, crude oil, oil refining and electricity, lack of skilled manpower, absence of a market of industrial goods.

However, the obvious choice for India would have been to go for the agricultural sector as the prime moving force because India had natural resources from Rajasthan in the west to Odisha in the east and the fertile plains to feed the country. By organising our land ownership, irrigation and other inputs of agriculture, India could have gone for better prospects of development, once we as a nation would have achieved self-sufficiency in food grains, food security, national healthcare infrastructure, a shelter for all and universal education we could’ve realised one of biggest goals in human development. The most prosperous countries in the world today are not the most industrial in their approach towards development, they mostly have an all-round approach to human development that focuses on improving the standard of living of its citizens by ensuring excellent health care system and education.

However, learning from these prosperous Scandinavian countries we must plan our future course of action. In 1991, the government in power under late prime minister P.V  Narasimha Rao led LPG reforms right after the Current account deficit wherein India was only three weeks away from welshing on its external balance of payment obligations. International Monetary fund asked India to go for the reforms in exchange for an emergency loan of 2.2 billion dollars. Reforms formally began on 1^st July 1991 when RBI devaluated Indian rupee by 9% and by a further 11% on 3^rd July. The economic policy reforms yielded good results, dramatically improving the quality of life in India and a new boast to the banking industry. However, like every action has equal and opposite reaction, trade liberalisation corresponded with a dramatic rise in inequality and associated social issues. The Indian GDP rose from $266 billion in 1991(inflation-adjusted) to $3 trillion in 2019 (1100% increase) while its purchasing power parity rose from $1 trillion in 1991 to $12 trillion in 2019. Now let’s move ahead and understand the challenges ahead of India in becoming a superpower. 

India’s strengths in achieving its goals

India’s demographic dividend 

India’s biggest strength lies in its demographic dividend. India is the youngest country in the world with 2/3^rd of its population in the working-age group, the young blood in India should be channelised to achieve the goals India has set for herself. However, this aim can only be realised if our educational, manufacturing and service sectors are given a boost along with a steady medical infrastructure

The abundance of natural resources

Among India’s many other strength lies, its abundant natural resources and varied topography. Our land is endowed with a range of topographies ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the northern fertile plains, from the coal mines in Jharkhand and Odisha to gold mines in Karnataka and copper mines in Rajasthan. The fact that we’ve such a wide variety of natural resources puts us in a strong position to utilise our resources effectively while depending less on imports from our neighbours. The recent strides made by India in utilising solar, wind, thermal energy will only bring in long term dividends to India’s energy sector while cutting down our imports.

An ever-growing service sector

 One of the major advantages for India lies in its service sector. The service sector accounts for 53.66% of India’s Gross value-added product (GVA) while the industrial sector is at the second spot and contributing around 31% of the Indian GDP, this means that both service and industrial sector are contributing to the Indian GDP effectively. The only matter of concern here is, even though both service and industrial sector are the highest contributors to the GDP, the maximum number of people are still in the agriculture and fishery sector.

Strides in ease of doing business

India has continuously improved her position in the ease of doing business report published by the World bank year after year. The report measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions ranging from how easy or difficult it is to start a business, get access to construction permits, resolving insolvency, electricity availability, credit availability among others. India maintains its 1^st position among South Asian economies which was 6^th in the year 2014. Our performance in ease of doing business has created enough room for foreign investment in the country that will ultimately employ the youth, nurture their skill set and increase saving which will ultimately lead to economic growth. 

A growing economy

 At present, the Indian economy is passing through a rough time but it is expected to recover soon. As per the latest report of ‘World economic league table 2020; India has overtaken both France and the UK to become the world’s 5^th largest economy in 2019. Well, that certainly is some good news. Isn’t it?

India’s weaknesses

Inadequate health and education infrastructure 

Every country has its set of problems and so does India. Our problems are varied, the most important being inadequate health and educational infrastructure. Our health and education spending is hardly 3% of our GDP, i.e one of the lowest in the world. It is indeed alarming that a country of almost 3 billion people are not given appropriate health and educational infrastructure and has aspirations of being a superpower. In most modern democracies, health and education fall under the wider umbrella of duties of the state and it is indeed the responsibility of the state to make sure that an appropriate share of GDP is allocated on the two primary pillars of human development. 

Red-Tapism

Bureaucracy in India has long been plagued with Red-Tape. Excessive regulation and paperwork in every department and delay in the processing of documentation to achieve the desired goal makes it an uphill task for a common man to get the work done in Indian offices, corporations and other large organisations. The foremost solution to decrease red tape is by bridging the digital divide between the have and have nots and along the process digitalise most government offices and grievance redressal mechanisms for the benefit of the citizens at large. 

High interest rate 

The central bank is infamous for asking Indian banks to charge high-interest rates from its customers especially when inflation is predicted to rise more than the target. However, even when inflation rates are rather in control we often see Indians under the gloomy cloud of high-interest rates, with the high interest rate, the payment of interest rate and loans become ever more expensive, this in return discourages people from borrowing and further spending. Those who have taken loans will have less disposable income at their end that will ultimately lead to less consumption. 

A growing divide between the rich and the poor

The Indian economy is among one of the largest in the world. Its free-market principles post-1990 has brought significant dividends for the economy but at the same time, wealth distribution has been highly unequal. It is alarming how the richest 1% of Indian’s own 58.4% of the wealth. With the trend only going upwards every year. The irony of the situation is that even to this day, 22% of Indians are below the poverty line. What is particularly worrisome in India’s case is that economic inequality is often being added to a society that is already divided into the lines of caste, religion and gender. Income inequality when analysed and understood in terms of caste, religious and gender lines bring to us a blurry picture of shattered dreams and dual reality. This dual reality is of an India that is indeed an emerging superpower but at the same time, 22% of her population still does not know where its next meal will come from.

What needs to be done

We’ve made significant strides in the years gone by and it won’t be an understatement to give ourselves a pat on the back, but it’s time we accept the challenges ahead of us and strategise our plan of action accordingly. For starters, India needs to focus on strengthening health and education infrastructure, the healthier and educated our young ones are, the easier it is to achieve the goal of holistic development. Along with boosting our infrastructure, we must realise the principle of sustainable development. Since last 30 years world has been ever more conscious about preserving the environment, even though India has been given certain advantages because it’s a developing country, we should not undermine the importance of developing our infrastructure and our way of life on the lines of environmental ethics. 

Analysis 

It’s been over 70 years since India achieved its independence, it was a hard battle but we won it our independence by our very conviction in self-reliance and will to hold the baton of self-rule in our very hands. What India needs to do now is work towards achieving economic growth that has its roots in human development at large. We have indeed come far, but there’s still a long way to go. Being a superpower is not merely about a number or a spot on the world map, it is battle to become a better nation for ourselves and for those who dreamt of a nation that was united in its spirit, ever-growing, ever-flourishing, in letter and spirit.

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Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the top sectors in Africa with immense growth potential. The sector contributes to over 15% of Africa’s GDP and has shown a good growth rate due to prior government policies that prioritise the sector to retain its sustainability and competitiveness. The top-earning agricultural products are coffee, cocoa, maize and wheat with Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Uganda as the top producers.

Large areas of arable land, increasing use of technology, massive youth dividend, increasing government support and a large demand base make agriculture an attractive sector for investment despite the problem of erratic rainfall pattern in some places.

By the year 2050, it has been predicted that Africa’s population will almost double with a growth rate of 2.7% per annum. To meet the growing needs of the population, substantial investment from its global peers is absolutely necessary. That will also help the sector to grow and enhance its status as a global competitor, help in economic diversification and also mitigate the prominent problems of undernourishment, poverty and hunger that exist in the region.

Manufacturing Sector

Africa possesses an abundance of raw materials that can be easily turned to manufactured products for greater reliance on local products and increased exports of the same. The top three manufacturers in Africa are Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.

The growth of manufacturing can greatly drive economic growth and development in Africa. However, the sector faces challenges like lack of skilled-workforce, infrastructure gaps including low power supply and inadequate regulatory measures to address the prominent challenges. The import to export ratio of manufactured products in Africa is very high as Africa mostly exports unprocessed commodities. The growing manufacturing sector is making great advances in this aspect. It has already increased the total export goods from 18.7% in 2012 to 35.6% in 2017 and caused a significant decrease in imports implying greater importance to domestically manufactured products.

There has also been a shift in the focus of FDI projects from the dominant extractive industry to consumer-facing industries like retail, technology, media, etc. This trend is expected to continue in the near future.

Retail Sector

The African Development Bank is expecting the current 350-million-strong middle class to grow to under one billion by 2040. The growing middle-class demography is contributing to the growth and modernization of the retail sector which is greatly devoid of supply competition and requires investment to meet the growing consumer base. The market for essential goods constitutes the majority of consumer spending owing to the low-income levels in the economy and as the income-level status is not expected to undergo a drastic change in the recent future, the comparatively smaller market for luxury products will have a low growth rate.

As a large amount of consumer spending in Africa taking place in informal markets, due to the absence of prominent formal retail presence, is unaccounted for, Africa is projected as an economy with low household retail-spending despite that not being the case.

“The Brookings Institute’s latest analysis on trends of the African consumer market shows that consumer expenditure has grown at a compound annual rate of 3.9% since 2010 and reached US$1.4 trillion in 2015. This figure is expected to increase to US$2.5 trillion by 2030.”

There are several cyclical challenges related to the retail sector, like low GDP growth, high inflation, dwindling credit extension. The challenges can be used as opportunities to enhance the growth of the sector by focusing on the development of the retail infrastructure and modern logistics spaces to satiate the demand for high-quality space from retailers looking to expand in Africa.

Finance

Finance is one of the top sectors in Africa which regulates the funding of all the other sectors. Financial innovation guarantees the diversification of banking sector services and facilitates the incorporation of capital market instruments to reduce investment risk.

Rwanda, The Gambia and Senegal have shown massive progress in financial system rankings. However, there has been an overall decline in Africa’s global financial standing from 2017 – 2018 due to a fall in the pace of reform of this sector.

The impact investing industry has shown substantial growth and is quite relevant as several countries in Africa lie below the global average score for Human Development (0.8) with declining levels of official assistance. The industry has made an abundant impact across a wide range of sectors like Healthcare, Agriculture, Housing, Education and others. This provides ample opportunities for investment in several initiatives which will reap both financial and environmental returns.

Some of the prominent threats to this sector include underdeveloped market infrastructure due to limited funding, difficulty in gathering viable investment to meet financial and social targets, limited capital supply, unclear regulatory environment, inconsistent impact-measures and so on. These might prove to be a disincentive to many and hinder their investments. However, a far-sighted investor might implement innovative measures to meet the pending gaps and turn these challenges into opportunities to optimise social and environmental investments.

Infrastructure

Infrastructural inadequacy causes a huge hindrance to investment and growth in all sectors of Africa. There is a wide gap between the infrastructure needs of the continent and the amount being spent on fulfilling the need. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap through sufficient investment to meet the growing needs of Africa.

In countries like East Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania, infrastructure investments in the form of new roads, energy support, transportation networks and others have led to guaranteed growth and transformation of the prevailing sectors. Construction has been primarily responsible for high economic expansion in Egypt. Infrastructural developments lead to employment generation via contractors, boosting aggregate demand. Investment in infrastructure by foreign players can prove to be very beneficial as it would provide the required sophistication to the local industry by supplying goods needed for large projects.

Real estate has evolved significantly, providing higher returns on investments, thus, becoming increasingly attractive to potential investors. Despite having good growth potential, real estate has certain risks attached to it like complex legal considerations, such as property ownership rights, social instability resulting from inequality, and others. However, the growth drivers like sustained high demand driven by urbanisation, improved capital regulation, technological advancements in banking leading to a boost in investment rates, and expected GDP growth supporting the demand for housing easily overshadow the challenges.

Conclusion

For many years, Africa’s growth potential has been understated and misunderstood. It has been treated as a non-friendly investment destination due to the several challenges posed. However, there has been a worldwide lack of understanding of the ease of converting the insurmountable challenges to opportunities. Africa’s growing population and the prevailing problem of excess demand need to be met via increased investment and innovation which will, in turn, lead to increased employment, decreased poverty and increased infrastructural development. Thus, despite Africa’s slowing global growth, if the prevailing challenges are addressed adequately, growth is inevitable.

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Challenging Factors

While the sector continues to grow, there are some factors that may challenge its growth in the near future. Lack of stable pricing, drugs in India is not affordable for some people. 60% of the population in India does not have regular access to essential medicines just because they are pricey. Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) work hand in hand to review the prices that are carried out on such products. Currently, the DPCO regulates 74 bulk medications. The second factor is the lack of technological capabilities. So maybe improving the innovation space would help with pharmaceutical growth.

Jan Aushadhi

The Indian Government’s Department of Pharmaceuticals has also initiated operations for a people’s medicines shop, called ‘Jan Aushadhi’, in various locations. These shops sell generic medicines at much cheaper rates than the price of corresponding branded medicines.

Vaccines

Vaccines are another prominent area of growth. India is one of the largest vaccine producers in the world, with many new vaccines set to be launched in the next 5 years. India currently exports vaccines to about 150 countries. PWC says that it meets around 40-70% of the World Health Organization’s demand for the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis or whooping cough, and tetanus).

OTC and Ayurvedic Medicines

Indian consumers also put greater focus on prevention and well-being, which should lead to continued growth in the sales of OTC vitamins and mineral products. The demand is already starkly rising. Artificial sweeteners, emergency contraceptive pills and nutritional supplements are some profitable OTC drugs.  Some of the leading OTC brands in India are registered as ‘Ayurvedic Medicines’ because of their plant-based natural active ingredients. There are no price controls on ‘Ayurvedic Medicines’.

Joint Clinic Trials for Ayurveda

India and the US intend to launch joint clinical trials against the novel coronavirus for formulations of Ayurveda. The two countries partnered to support Ayurveda through a joint program of research, teaching and training. Via collaborative activities the Indo-US Science Development Forum has also been instrumental in fostering excellence in science, technology and innovation. 

Ministry of AYUSH

AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy. The Ministry of Ayush focuses on developing education, research, and propagation of alternative indigenous medicine systems in India. It has faced strong criticism of funding schemes. Clinical quality was poor, and medicines were implemented without any clinical trials and studies. Concerns have been raised about AYUSH based healthcare.

Future Prospects

The future of the pharmaceutical sector in India would be good because-increase in the burden of diseases, rising income of individuals, improvement in healthcare infrastructure and many more things. The sector is already growing so much because of the leading coronavirus pandemic.

Pharma and Coronavirus

The impact of the pandemic and the lockdown triggered a visible effect in financial markets. Drugs that are Made in India are supplied to developed countries such as the US, EU and Japan. These drugs are known for their well-being and standards. People are going crazy over a bottle of Sanitizer. Hospitals are full. Pharmacies are always crowded. If we talk about the future, we don’t know what is ahead of us. Corona is probably here for a long time. We can’t say that no other disease will hit India in the future, so, pharmaceutical sector is expected to grow multifold and continue to be an attractive investment destination.

Economic Boost

India’s population is increasing day by day, as its economy, so demand is likely to increase for the drugs. Income levels of households will rise very steadily. Government coming with ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) segment will also be profitable for the pharma sector. Also, the acceptability of modern medicine and newer therapies will increase due to aggressive market creation by players.

Conclusion

India’s pharmaceuticals industry has risen in faith and firmly moved onto an accelerated growth course. The main issue now lies around the real culture and the full scope of this market ‘s ability. Backed by strong fundamentals, the market is giving rise to a range of business opportunities.

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