It isn't difficult to imagine why Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his Bhutan visit will remain 'etched' in his memory for long. Its strategic geo-political significance aside, the Himalayan kingdom, dotted with ancient monasteries, robed monks and fluttering flags flying across pristine mountain ranges bares out the impression of an idyllic way of life that has enticed travelers, campaigners and politicians alike. Bhutan in some sense also dispells the preeminence of the global consensus on resource driven laissez faire development that the rest of the world has taken for granted.
Its most successful export - the concept of the Gross National Happiness has now become part of global conversation on replacing existing measures of economic prosperity and wellbeing. And its peaceful transition from absolute monarchy to thriving democracy has lent further credibility to the country's firm resolution to chart its own exclusive course of 'progress' while selectively embracing modernity, becoming in the way the envy of a region wracked with political turmoil.
Good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation are the 4 pillars on which the idea of the GNH rests. Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay warned last year about not letting the positive stereotyping of it distract attention from Bhutan's pressing problems of low standards of living, burgeoning unemployment and corruption. But for the Modi government which has hit the ground running to reinvigorate India's moribund economy, there are lessons to be imported from the development model that this tiny kingdom nestled between two of Asia's biggest superpowers subscribes to.
For all the problems that Tobgay elucidates, Bhutan has seen considerable success in improving its social indicators, doubling life expectancy and enrolling near 100% of its children in primary schools in the last 20 years, according to press reports. Hydropower is the backbone of Bhutan's industrial ambitions and the approximately 1500 MW its 4 stations generate contribute to a fifth of the nation's GDP currently. Bhutan has a declared aim to increase this capacity to 10,000MW by 2020 for export to India, which has ecologists worried about the environmental risks associated with such ambitions. But the country's “run of the river” projects are still far less damaging than the big hydroelectric dams being built elsewhere including in India's North-Eastern belt.
Environmental protection is a constitutional pledge in Bhutan and the country has vowed to keep at least 60% of its land under forest cover, helping it largely transcend the usual conflicts between development and environmental protection that have plagued the India growth story. Similarly in areas of education (through the Green Schools for Green Bhutan program) and tourism, which is carefully regulated to generate low volume, high value visits, Bhutan has used the tenets of the GNH to effectively shape policy.
There is much India can learn and embrace from this Bhutanese project. It is undoubtedly a difficult paradigm to follow given our size, complexity and also the vastly different aspirations of the youth in this country, who would perhaps dismiss such goals as deluded and impracticable for a modern industrializing economy with ambitions to become a global superpower. But for the newly elected PM, facing intense pressure from industry and global investors to deliver GDP growth at any cost, Bhutan's inclusive approach provides a valuable framework for keeping social, human, environmental and economic rationales at the forefront of public policy, than merely chasing a captivating GDP number come what may.
In times of crisis, the latter can be a very tempting proposition. But for the larger goal of sustainable growth, and importantly to avoid the inevitable tensions and injustices that arise when new models of development fuel ground level resistance movements, such as in India's mineral rich tribal belts, governments must feel obligated to utilizing this multilateral model to gauge the impacts of its policy actions on society.
In Modi's own state of Gujarat the decision last week to raise the height of the Narmada Dam by 17 meters has had activists up in arms. 2.5 lakh people residing in the submergence area are likely to be affected by the decision. More such instances of dissidence must be expected in the days to come as fast track clearances for infrastructure and mining projects in ecologically and demographically sensitive areas are doled out.
An explicit assertion thus by the government, of its intent to keep the interests of all stakeholders in mind even as it undertakes grand growth spurring initiatives is the absolute need of the hour. Modi could do well to publicize a new holistic approach by making 2-3 big pronouncements - the acceptance of the recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil Panel on the Western Ghats, or a relook at the over 150 hydel power plants coming up in the North-Eastern part of the country for instance - to drive a new paradigm for inclusive growth.
If a tiny mountain kingdom can think up big ideas for a sustainable future, there is no reason why a visionary leader in the world's largest democracy, elected with a thumping majority mustn't.
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