Day 16-2011 : Vibrant Gujarat!

In a lot of my posts last year I have been mentioning the superior infrastructure in my home city of Ahmedabad compared to some of the cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, where I have lived within the last decade. 

I am truly amazed by the amount of development work that has happened in the city.  Some of it is of course very apparent.  The roads are great, wider than ever and no potholes.  The BRTS has been a success.  I saw a note in this morning's papers that the old city is going to get the Monorail on an experimental basis for 15 kms.  The Kankaria lake has been transformed and marketed in a big way.  You can feel the buzz of progress when in Ahmedabad.  And I am told that this focus on development is not only restricted to cities like Ahmedabad.  The interiors of the state are also witnessing a change.  Some of the captains of the Indian industry seem to agree with me as they have endorsed Gujarat as the country's premier investment destination by committing investments of 250000 crores within an hour of the first day of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2011! 



Industry captains @ the summit.



Vibrant Gujarat campaign

How has this transformation been possible from the ravages of the riot ridden state a few years back?  Good governance is the only answer.  However, it is also important to understand the background and the context in which this transformation has been achieved. 

Chief Minister, Narendra Modi has been projected as the main catalyst and change agent for this transformation.  However, just a decade ago, Modi was the face of communal politics for his hard line views on Hinduism and his antics in the Godhra massacre aftermath.  I am no fan of his, because of exactly these reasons.  However, I have to admit that Modi has successfully diverted the attention of the classes as well as the masses from his narrow focus on communal politics, to the larger vision of driving the agenda of development in the state.  There has been a deliberate attempt to 'let bygones be bygones'.  Modi, in this process, has transformed himself into a CEO of the state.  Political stability since 2002, in the state has helped matters.  Something else that has made this work has been the image of the CM as well as his government.  This government is seen as a honest one; integrity being one of the cornerstones of Modi's image itself.  On top of all of this, the decision making process has been super-fast!  A good example is the Tata Nano factory at Sanand.  The land for the factory was allotted in 3 days flat, after Ratan Tata was hounded out of WB by Mamata.  And, last but not the least, the state was the leader in the agriculture sector as well last year, with a growth rate of 9.9%.

All of this makes me very happy.  I hope this good story continues and Gujarat truly becomes the engine of India's growth in the next few decades.  I am still not a supporter of the political views of the CM and his party.  However, I am definitely impressed with what he has been able to achieve on the development front. 

And, there is still a lot to be done.  For example, offer me something which will make me move back to my hometown!

Take care!

Day 227 - Mera Bharat Mahaan!

It was interesting reading Chetan Bhagat's column in this morning's newspaper.  This little piece of prose was about a conversation between the Prime Minister and his speech writer to discuss the content of the PM's Independence Day speech from the Red Fort in New Delhi.  It was a funny take on the apparent lack of focus of the PM and his government to deal with the real issues and only wait for the instructions from 'you know who'!

Jokes apart, on the eve of India's 63rd Independence Day, as is the custom every year, there is a multitude of material written with the intent of analysing India's progress in the 63 years that we have had to define our destiny as a country.  There are umpteen number of television shows on the same subject in this period as well.  Obviously, patriotism, and more importantly, the criticism of how we have progressed as a country after our independence in 1947, is big business and makes good newsprint.

I have a slightly differing view.  I think, as a nation, we have progressed wonderfully well in the last 63 years!  True, we haven't done as well as a Singapore or a Thailand, but the fact of the matter is, that these countries have not had to work on such a vast and complex landscape, that India has had to.  A country where there is a multitude of religions, castes and creed, a country where the dialect of the various languages spoken changes every 500 kms, a country which is large enough to have all the natural resources, a country which has many rivers, mountain ranges and deserts, a country where the difference between the rich and the poor is large that it cannot be bridged ever, a country where there is complete freedom of speech and a country where there are the resultant large number of political parties and their definitions of progress!

I think we have done very well in most sectors; agriculture, manufacturing, technology and services being at the forefront.  We have had lop-sided development in some of the socially relevant sectors such as education, health and sanitation.  Nonetheless, we have still moved forward.  Some of the sectors have received attention a little late; infrastructure being the best example.

The one sector that we probably have not been able to progress much has been the 'mindset' sector.  Majority of the populace of this nation seem to be plagued by a disease called inferiority complex.  For example, even today, the fairer your skin, the more respect you are likely to command!  We have a long way to go to be able to respect ourselves as an able nation, have the confidence to be the best in the world, able and willing to participate, collaborate and lead.  This is the sector which I intend to track our progress on.  I think this is what will expedite our progress in all the other sectors in the years to come.

Happy Independence Day!  Take care.