“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free”
Rabindranath Tagore composed this poem in 1900 and read it out at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta in 1917. The piece was then titled Indian prayer, as it was what the Nobel Prize winning poet hoped free India would be. Thirty years later, as Jawaharlal Nehru gave his speech as the first Prime Minister of India, he mentioned, “The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity,” and that “we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams.”
Cut to the present day. On our 73rd Independence Day, where do we stand? We rank 130 on the Human Development Index, and over 42 per cent of total employment is under the poverty line. Have we come close to former president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s India Vision 2020 which calls for a nation where the rural-urban divide has been reduced to a thin line with an equitable distribution of, and adequate access to, energy and quality water, where agriculture, industry and the service sector work together with symphony, the best healthcare is available to all citizens, and governance is responsive, transparent and corruption-free? Though one can say that we still have a long way to go, we ask citizens about what kind of change they would like to see in the country to make it the India of their dreams.
I imagine that giving citizens equal access to quality education can make a difference in all certainty. Education elevates possibilities and gives citizens the confidence to dream and be what they truly aspire to. While some children study in government schools, others get the opportunity to go to private schools, and there is a stark difference in terms of the standard of education between the two.
Also, giving every citizen equal status would eventually eliminate any discrimination and make us more open-minded. This equality needs to also extend to tax allocation and its dedicated use for the society and its upbringing. Development is important but selective advancement can be dangerous.
— Vastupal Ranka, director, Ranka Jewellers
We need to participate towards digital transformation of the millions of small and home-based businesses. Digital economies are the future and nations which enable digital penetration to the grassroots will be able to join the elite club of developed nations. We need to bring the digital age to the bottom 80 per cent of the economy.
As a country, we need to strive to create a balanced economy by helping micro-businesses retain and increase their share of the pie in India’s growing crowd of large retail chains. Understanding that ‘Communication is the key’ and more so, digital communication, streamlining of connections and making the consumers demand the ‘king’ in the equation of sales is the best way to upscale business.
— Raj Gujar, director, Bulb and Key
The nationalisation process that was initiated in the 1950s, consolidated economic power in the hands of the state with the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, that gave the government absolute control over various key industries and products. The State’s powers were cemented with the Industrial Policy Resolution or the ‘Licence Raj’ that further strangulated economic growth by curbing entrepreneurship and putting the country’s fiscal future entirely in the hands of state bureaucrats.
While the reasons for adopting a centrally directed strategy of development were understandably against the background of colonial rule, the actual results of this strategy were far below expectations.
The success story of India’s economic growth began after the path breaking fiscal reforms in 1990s.
— Jayati Bhatia, student
As a country we need to eliminate the issue of poverty by providing job opportunities to at least one member of every family. Even the educational standard should be raised. The issue of inflation should be looked into and resolved so that every citizen — rich or poor — can afford items in the market. The agricultural sector should get an upliftment with the right amenities in order to maintain the quality of products which would ensure good health of the people.
— Rhea Matta, Student
India is the largest democracy in the world, and our culture and vibrancy has stood the test of time. Initiatives supporting education for all, irrespective of cast, creed and financial status should have been focus areas for us. Along with that, we should focus on building easy and affordable access to technology, to proliferate the Indian culture all across the globe, and stay connected with the rest of the world!
— Anupam Kulkarni, founder and CEO, iauro Systems
There is a dire need for revolutionary changes in India’s education system. Not just the syllabus and pedagogy, but also the attitude towards the marks system need to be changed. With an effective learning system, India can successfully utilise its vast human resource. One should focus on skill-based education, rewarding creativity, original thinking, research and innovation and getting qualified people to teach. There is a need to implement a massive technology infrastructure and redefine the purpose of the education system.
— Rishab Bafna, owner, Bafna Logistics and Fleet
The division and bifurcation of states on a linguistic basis must cease, and instead the country should be divided into states or sectors that have equal access to natural resources and useful land.
The current division of states has led to several ongoing disputes over the use of natural resources, and has slowed down development and growth considerably. Another fundamental challenge that India faces today is overpopulation, which has resulted in poverty, scarcity of resources. To address this, there must be implementation of strict population control laws, as the massive amounts of government spending to help curb the problem is just money that could be better spent improving the quality of life for a smaller amount of people.
— Chirag Gidwani, business analyst, Merkle Sokrati
‘Make in India’ is a great drive today, but Indian companies should have always been the priority. Our country has immense home-grown talent, and the more we capitalised on this, the better we can evolve to be. We should have got the appropriate tools to strengthen our indigenous efforts, thereby making India a great place to work, with far more opportunities than we offer today. Additionally, a head-start on equal gender opportunities can make us stronger as a society and as an economy.
— Lubeina Shahpurwala, co-founder, Mustang Socks and Accessories
The system of reservation in India nourishes the historically disadvantaged castes and tribes, listed as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the Government of India, also those designated as Other Backwards Classes (OBCs) and also the economically backward general. It means reserving access to seats in the various legislatures, to government jobs, and to enrollment in higher educational institutions for the aforementioned citizens.
Dr B. R. Ambedkar, as the chairman of the drafting committee for the Constitution, intended the reservation to remain until the time these citizens, who were trodden upon, rise to the same stature as the others.
Now the SCs, STs, OBCs and BCs have become a vote bank. In light of this reservation, the deserving and more talented people lost their educational seats, jobs and even basic medicare. I want this provision to be abolished so that India can turn into the nation it promises to be in the Constitution — a equal nation.
— Mihir Vora, student
The government could focus on signing on more MOUs with MNCs which involve them training our unskilled labour in exchange for entry into the Indian market. This should’ve actually happened in the 1990s, because India seemed best placed to attract foreign investment at that time.
Back then, 60 per cent of the Indian economy was driven by the agriculture industry. This option would seem very lucrative to a majority of the labour, i.e farmers, as a means to gain assured income in the off season for their crops, while simultaneously setting up the country as a major production line of that time, and hopefully set us up for an economic boom similar to China. As for the labour, the government should set up an assured minimum wage programme.
— Sanat Bhargava, student
In India, we need stricter implementation of the laws. Why is it that even after The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Nirbhaya Act) related to sexual offences, we hear more and more stories of cruelty and rape of women?
Change begins from us, and equality, acceptance and respect for our legislation is what will take our country to newer heights.
— Nimisha Vora, student
Very few of us are actually aware of India’s past, true traditions, natural history, culinary richness. We have reduced ourselves to mainstream stereotypes and repetitive syllabi, drawing us away from our own reality. There is an immense disconnect between rural and urban India. We are racists and separatist towards people who are rural and native.
We are even racist with one another. India is one of the most unsafe countries for women, which is ironic considering how many men and women pray to female goddesses. We need to give the women of this country the opportunity to help it develop. The moment women are in charge of their reproductive system, marriage and education, India will progress twice as fast as it is now.
— Ishan Sadwelkar, Filmmaker, writer
India is a nation that is quite obsessed about growth, budgets and deficits. China grew at 10 per cent for three decades (1979-2009). India has grown at 7 per cent from 1991 to 2016. Its growth trajectory has been interrupted by politics of a kind only native to India that China avoids, and by a continuing hesitancy about economic reform.
Current performance in 2014-18 is disappointing. In my opinion, India can only become a truly developed nation if it sticks to its preamble. Division on the basis of creed, caste, sex and religion continue to create factions. Capitalists drain money off the lower middle class and control part of the bureaucracy.
As a result, India finds itself in the category of a developing country.
— Pranav Kastury, software engineer
To begin with, the reservation system should be abolished. Education shouldn’t become a business. We should not be focused on getting good results or ranks, but a practical approach towards learning should be adopted. Areas of studies should not be limited to just engineering and other fields should be explored equally. For the growth of the economy, we must focus on product-based companies.
It’s true that technological advances, industrialisation and advances in warfare have provided the West with the edge to the conquer the rest of the world. But, if India wants to become a developed and pioneering nation, it should stop aping the West and start looking within.
— Sreepad Nandan, Election strategist (digital media)
History isn’t just about rise and fall of a dynasty. An Indian student, has only learnt about how a ruler wages a war either to acquire another dynasty. We haven’t really learnt anything great about the empires of Southern India, or about a country’s rich maritime history, Indo-Roman trades, or how the Odiya merchants were exploited. We usually tend to mix up the evidence of history and our opinions. Let’s not be biased anymore, at least when it comes to our history. We need to learn that it’s not always about who wins or loses. It’s not always about who has what and how much. It shouldn’t be like the person who has earned so much should be respected. War isn’t the only way to freedom. After all, history is a set of lies we have agreed upon.
— Himani Sharma, student
Compiled by Alisha Shinde, Saloni Dhumne and Ilina Navani
