Political slogans often overrun reality. When Rajiv Gandhi coined the slogan “Mara Bharat Mohan” (My India is great), people appreciated the sentiment, but very few actually believed in it. Then came along the BJP with its new slogan “India shining” riding tall over the feeling of economic optimism which was backed by the plentiful rains in 2003 and the success of the Indian IT boom.
Although the BJP failed miserably at the polls, the truth was and is that India continues to shine on. Sixty-five years after independence, India has emerged from the shadow of colonialism to position itself as the world’s biggest and rowdiest democracy matching its political freedoms with financial ones, unleashing a surge of growth and wealth creation that is altering the lives of its millions.
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Twenty years ago the world equated India with snake charmers, elephants, half-naked fakirs, the rope trick, the holy cow, crowds and pollution.
Now it is just as famous for its educated person power, its Bollywood movie stars, literary giants and its steel magnates among other things. Poverty remains, but there is renewed hope. There is a palpable feeling of excitement and promise everywhere.
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The new slogan is “Mera Bharat Jawan” (My India is young). It is incredible that despite India’s, ‘current’ third world status, she has guarded herself from dictators, military rule, civil war or foreign invasion and she continues to shine as the world’s largest democracy. It is no small achievement that India is now the top ten industrial world powers, reflective of the country’s self-sufficiency. It is a matter of great pride that Indians have made it to the Forbes list of richest men in the world.
The private health care infrastructure in India is comparable to any of the developed countries in the world. This has led to a boom in medical tourism with patients the world over arriving in India for medical treatments. Yet the challenges faced by young India in healthcare and medicine are many and enormous.
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Although, the infant mortality rate has been cut down by half the female infanticide rates still loom large. Although increasing numbers of children are receiving vaccination, many Indian infants still succumb to malnutrition. Infrastructure strains hard to keep up with the economic boom while corruption, discrimination, religious violence, child labour and female dowry deaths still prevail. Severe disparity is shown by its various states.
While states like Kerala, boast of 100 % literacy and health indicators similar to those of developed countries, other states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh show appalling statistics. One third of the married women and 45% of children under the age ten have nutrition deficiency problems. However despite this, it remains that India’s massive shift in global perception is not a mere illusion.
India has achieved a lot in the Sixty-five years post independence however; a lot still needs to be done. Population was and remains one of our largest concerns. It also remains the number one reason why our infrastructure is compromised, why corruption is rampant and why our children die due to malnutrition.
The emphasis has to be on education of the populace and sincere efforts need to be made towards providing better health care services in the public sector. Nevertheless, six decades after her independence, the world’s eyes are focused on India and it is only a matter of time before we evolve from a developing country into a developed country.