A Letter to the Prime Minister

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6, Shri Balaji Society,

Pioneer Area,

Panvel – 410206

Maharashtra

Dear Mr. Prime Minister

My chest swells with pride as I write to a leader of your stature and also to the leader of the largest and arguably, one of the most diverse democracies of the world!

I was born in 1987 and started my life much around the same time when you opened up the economy of this country. And that is the reason I relate my growing up with the growth of this country. Having lived in a bubbling town near Mumbai, I have witnessed the landline telephone getting installed in my house as well in all the houses around me! I have seen multi-national brands setting their feet in this country. I saw the decline of bicycle riders and the surge of motor cycles and two-wheelers on the streets.  As I grew up I saw my little town setting its sight to become a city and cities setting their aims for a Metropolis!

However in this rapid surge towards development we also experienced an extreme neglect in terms of city/ town planning. Haphazard acquisition of land resulted in a complete mismanagement in terms of housing projects. Buildings were constructed almost everywhere, at times forcing the roads to be trimmed! Many open spaces were hijacked. Playgrounds vanished. Gardens are on the verge of getting extinct! The landscape of the city today mostly constitutes vehicles parked on both sides of the road. A poorly planned and carelessly space-crunched city – this was not the concept of the city/ town with which we grew up!  The cities in most of the developed countries are planned to the extent of having lawns along the road side, along the buildings and around every possible raised structure.  These lawns help in absorbing the dust in the air and as a consequence further help in keeping the air clean! Unfortunately in our country, this is not the case. A large quantity of dust always occupies the Indian landscape. A frequent construction activity, owing to the developing nature of the cities, adds a heap to this every minute. An average urban Indian commuter is thus exposed to dust every single minute he spends on the road. As a result, we are generating a tired workforce for the nation. Lack of proper infrastructure adds to the exertion! Is the Indian workforce more tired and health-compromised than the other counterparts?  If we wish to increase the productive output of this country, we should not compromise with the health of the country’s workforce! Unfortunately in India and especially in the cities, the workforce at the end of the day is a tired lot. On the other hand, a constant decline in the playgrounds and gardens of the city would result in discouraging the attitude of sports in the children. How strange would it be for a kid to practice in an indoor sports academy and all of a sudden represent his country in an outdoor stadium? A growing city should have enough lawns, gardens, libraries, playgrounds, auditoriums. However what we are seeing in our city is a surge in housing projects and nothing more than that! I first request to you, Honourable Prime Minister, is to look into generating planned cities. How will a city without playgrounds, gardens, libraries, auditoriums, museums contribute in the all round development of its citizens? It will just be, I am afraid, a hub of monetary transactions!

As I grew up, I must admit, there was a huge change in the connectivity across cities. A journey from my place to Pune began taking 3 hours from the previous duration of 4-5 hours. Train services improved. And we began going places. Our visits were not only restricted to nearby cities for a cool vacation but they also included some distant villages. Our textbooks said that India’s life lay in its villages! But the experience of village life in most (if not all) villages was that of a delusion, disappointment and utter embarrassment! Whenever our car approached a steep turn, I could see some hurried movement of people around that turn. A close look at those people made us realize that they were defecating in public! My head hung in shame when I conversed with one of villager about this. There is no adequate toilet facility in most of the villages in India. And even if they have some, no drop of water is made to reach those. Bluntly speaking, these villagers pray that no vehicle negotiates ‘that turn’ during their turn. And this ‘alertness’ is a part of their life now!  One of your ministers rightly said that India needed more toilets than temples. But he was criticized for hurting the sentiments of people in India, making it clear how this issue is handled in India! This example is just a start to stress on the extreme urban-rural divide this nation faces today! And this is my second request to you, honourable Prime Minister! Bridge the gap between these two Indias!

We entered college when there were talks of India becoming the next big thing in the world!  These talks made us happy. We felt proud of the stature this country was going to attain after 60 years of its independent existence!  India had a global presence. The World listened to her voice. Our brands bravely acquired foreign brands. Our industrialists expanded their bases and crossed the Indian shore. However, we at college were clueless about how we could contribute in this modern India! Colleges and Universities for us continued to be ‘degree- churning’ institutes and places where the education we took was in no relevance to the existing market around us!  Every talk of higher studies made us think of either the United States or the United Kingdom! Australia and Russia also entered the Indian higher education landscape but we never believed in our own country – neither have we done it now! Also, a scarcity of quality research institutes and a lack of innovative education and research exposure at the college level is the main reason for this brain drain! Like my fellow countrymen, I too wonder how India could be called a superpower when most of its talent pool is not in the country. Current superpowers do not have their talent outside the nation, do they? In fact they attract a lot of talent from outside. When will India reach this stage? Or is India destined to become a superpower based on its purchasing power and per capita consumption san the innovation and talent? Ground level reform in the education system is thus my third request to you!

And today as youth of this country, we see a second phase of transition in India. Your government is soon to allow 49% FDI in India. A second wave of economic reforms will sweep the nation. Will India be more globalized? Will the landscape of Indian market change completely? While the details of economics are not known to commoners like me, I am aware that most of the Indian population still thrives on the local market. This market, though at times largely unregulated as per market standards otherwise, has been a support system for the nation since time immortal! Breaking this will result in breaking the backbone of this country. Moreover, the world has seen a collapse of the middle class in the developed countries due to exceeding ‘global tending’ policies! And we would definitely not want that to happen in this country. Imagine the country with only the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’!  Hence I request you, Mr. Prime Minister, to have a global – local equilibrium in all the economic policies henceforth. Because it is ‘now or never’ for India in this phase of transition! And I have faith in the economist in you.

I am aware that the points I have presented cannot magnify to the larger picture of the problems of this country. But I am sure, we all will relate these problems somewhere to the problems we encounter daily.

Jai Hind !

Aashay Gune

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