'India's growth can and must be symbiotic'

OPINION: Rahul Gandhi

There are two distinct voices in India today. One of these voices is a louder voice. It is easily heard and is the voice of empowered India, an India that has shown the rest of the world what it is capable of doing, an India that is educated and is moving forward rapidly. There is another voice in India today. This is a deeper voice and is heard reverberating around the country. It is not as loud as the first voice, but it is the voice of a decent franchise, people of India. These people are no different than the people who are doing well.

Some believe that India can shine only when we direct attention and resources to those Indians who have already soared. While ignoring the aspirations of the disempowered, others believe that the poor will progress only if we strive for our nation's entrepreneurial energy. Our government believes that India's growth can and must be symbiotic. The two India's are fundamentally inseparable. Our philosophy is not to choose which India to nurture but to grow together. There are two reasons for this view.

First, the poverty of our people is an assault on our principles. Freedom from poverty is not a matter of charity or luck. It is a right. I am proud that under the leader of the prime minister, our government has recognised and institutionalised this idea. The NREGA delivers employment as a right. The Tribal Act delivers ownership of land as a right. The RTI delivers information as a right. The Rehabilitation and the Resettlement Bill seeks to deliver basic minimum rights to those being displaced.

Second, the speed and continuity of our economic growth depend on inclusion. A small resource-rich section of India cannot grow indefinitely while a vast disempowered nation looks on. Permit me to give an example to illustrate why it is crucial to connect these two Indias. On the one hand, we have thousands of young Indians looking for jobs and on the other, we have a galloping industry with massive manpower demand. But we have invested too little in developing the skills of our youth. This renders them unqualified to do the jobs our industries require. Indian enterprise will realise its full potential not by distancing itself from the poor but by fully connecting with their aspirations.

The true magnitude of our economic potential will only be realised when the voice of the empowered and the aspiring speak as one. I compliment the prime minister and the finance minister for giving us the Budget that stays true to this goal.

A strong voice begins with effective education. The allocation of Rs 34,000 crore to education will allow for two lakh more teachers and five lakh more classrooms. It will also provide for programmes such as the mid-day meal, meals-based scholarship and schools for children so that the most vulnerable are clearly heard. Our investments in expanding IITs, IIMs and other institutes of higher learning will ensure that our brightest minds continue to shine on the world stage.

The UPA has given the nation an education budget three-and-a-half times what it inherited. However, we must acknowledge that there are deep structural issues with our delivery infrastructure. It is my conviction that our schools and universities will become worthy of our nation's voice only when the education sector undergoes a revolution of the kind we saw in telecommunications.

This year's Budget has specially heeded the plea of the debt-ridden farmer. A historic decision has been taken to free 40 million of our poorest farmers from the bonds of indebtedness. This decision has corrected a grave injustice and given our small and marginal farmers the ability to look to the future with hope.

I would like to put forward some suggestions. First, the current ceiling of two hectares for eligible farmers does not account for land productivity and excludes deserving farmers in poorly irrigated areas. I refer specifically to dry-land areas like Vidarbha. Perhaps we could consider making the land ceiling variable based upon land productivity.

Secondly, in some parts of the country, the cropping cycles are such that the bulk of loans that have been taken out have been taken out after the cut-off date of March 31, 2007. A single cut off date unfairly penalises farmers in these regions.

(Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi speaking on Budget in the Lok Sabha on March 13, 2008)