Yes, Prime Minister

It seems as if India's current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, may have it right. Whether PMs in the past have felt the same way, I really cannot say; but at least being able to speak about rural poverty in a non-technocratic way wins him some brownie points.

My trips into villages revealed a lot - that despite the growth that India has been proud of, not much has changed for the poor. The poverty level has remained the same, despite India's growth in the technology and services front. The concept of the trickle-down economy hasn't really worked, because almost 65% of the population lives in rural areas, where there are very few linkages with industries based in urban areas. Incomes for the poor seem have remained the same over the past 5 years, while the cost of living has increased geometrically each year. The debt trap is rampant; most poor people I've interviewed have no bank accounts and owe a lot of money to money-lenders. Finally, the government's policies are suppressive and implicitly support extortion and corruption at every level, particularly in the informal job sectors. In terms of equitable development, India has quite a long way to go.

The recent suicides of farmers throughout the country reveal the depth of utter despair of our rural citizens. The Prime Minister, during a visit to Sewa Gram where Gandhiji had set up his ashram to practice his 'Experiments with Truth', gave an impressive interview to the Economic Times. Perhaps one could presume that India is finally being led by a man who dares to not part with his principles while being progressive in his thinking, and who is smart enough to realize that 'Mahatma Gandhi was the most modern Indian'.

Asked about Gandhiji, the PM says, “This is where Gandhi becomes more relevant to our economic growth and prosperity. It is here in Wardha that you realise that austerity is a necessity that is built into our social and economic fabric. We cannot afford to have a situation of excessive and wasteful consumption. And that philosophy must be adhered to by our leaders of society, business, politics and other walks of life. We must adopt Gandhiji’s principles of simple living and high thinking.”

On the environment: "“By any yardstick, western levels of consumption lead to wastage and even the West has to cope with problems of excess consumption and wastage. Those consumption patterns are also damaging for the environment. In India, we cannot raise our consumption patterns to levels that cause havoc with our environment. That will not only prove costly for us, but by raising our consumption levels, we will also not be able to eradicate poverty even if we wish to do so,” says the original Sardar of reforms.