India of the 21st century faces many challenges in the emerging world order. With a planet in peril, eroding citizen’s trust in public institutions, rising automation, disparity among citizen rights and many such issues, the young India needs to continuously and constantly evolve and rediscover itself. The past year was no different and the executive, legislature and judiciary came together to move forward towards a more inclusive and responsive India. The shift towards New India!!
In an era of automation, constant disruption and evolving technologies India stands at the brink facing its two biggest challenges- jobless growth and unemployment. These issues have evolved despite India being the largest growing economy in the world and having a young favourable demographic dividend. As Fourth Industrial Revolution looms around the corner, government of India has taken various initiatives to empower India to sail through the benefits of the revolution.
Countries around the world are facing deficit of citizen’s trust in its public institutions. The constant tussle between institutional autonomy and public interest breeds a negative political climate and reduces citizen’s participation in the development process. This issue needs to be nipped in the bud as it does not bode well for democratic systems and needs to be addressed.
An apparent transition is evident in the world towards rights based approach. The fundamental principle that all people are born with inalienable rights and social conservatism should not be a cause to hamper this human progress has been recognized by the Indian judiciary. The past year brought forth many significant judgements that moved India towards a more equitable society.
In the backdrop of rising calamities due to climate change, India has braced itself to shift towards climate resilient policies that address its unique aspirations and also do not cause hindrance to its developmental challenges. The government of India to fulfill its pledge in Paris Agreement has propelled India towards a better green economy.
India's Transition To Fourth Industrial Revolution
Ever since the WEF summit in Davos highlighted the continuing transition of world economy from third towards fourth industrial revolution, it has caught the minds of public imagination. The fourth industrial revolution proposes to fundamentally change the way we live, work and relate to one another. Examples of our transition to a new age industrial revolution include mobile computing, self interactive robots, self driving cars, etc. All these things enable us to create opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world with the computer based systems.
What is Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Fourth Industrial Revolution is defined as a technological revolution which will revolutionalize the current global business models and thrive on constant technological disruptions in the face of increased global connectivity and innovativeness. It comes as a continuum of third industrial revolution which relied heavily on applied electronics and information technology in production processes.
India has taken many steps to ensure that it is at the fore front of the transition to New Industrial Revolution. Programmes like Digital India, Skill India, Make in India and Smart Cities Programme are all relevant policies pointing to the willingness of the Indian Government to educate and uplift its masses to the new era of Industrial Revolution. Let’s focus on the relevant policies and discourse taken by Indian government on this front.
Institutional Autonomy Vs. Public Interest Debate
In young democracies all over the world a constant tussle is visiblebetween an elected official (having the legitimacy of the public vote) and an unelected one (representing the autonomy of the institution he holds). In a society this power tussle is necessary to maintain a vibrant democracy and is of utmost importance provided that the common objective of all parties involved is to ensure, “welfare of the public”. However it is a sad reality of today’s real politick that where common sense and political maturity should have prevailed, cynicism and abuse of power is evident. In this regard young and diverse India is no different.
Realizing Equality Through Rights Based Approach
Indian Judiciary has continuously strived to promote equality in all spheres of human life, be it addressing gender inequality, wealth inequality or socio-economic-political inequality. The aim of the court has always been to evolve Indian society and push it towards a process of human progress which aligns with the principles of Fundamental Rights provided in the Indian Constitution and with directives of Universal Declaration of Human Rights at large.
The Indian Judiciary has thus taken a proactive stance through judicial review (Article 13) of laws prevailing in the society and struck down various provisions which violated the basic rights provided in the Constitution. This year also Supreme Court gave many landmark judgements that promoted equality among Indian citizens through rights based approach.
Stride Towards A Climate Resilient India
Global Climate Risk Index 2018, assessing 193 countries exposure and vulnerabilities to climate change related risk has clearly stated in its report that India is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world in terms of threat posed by extreme weather events due to climate change which includes flash floods and the resulting landslides in Himalayan region. The report specifically mentions the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report, which warns nations that the delay in shifting towards climate adaptation could triple the Global Adaptation Costs by 2030 compared to 2015 costs.
With rising urbanization and related developmental challenges indian government has taken overarching steps to realize the pledge of paris agreement focusing mainly on three things – improved policy planning, increased governance and capacity building and shift to climate resilient infrastructure .
India aka Republic of India, is a union of states, which is Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. In the states, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head of Executive. The Union Territories are administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him/her. From the largest to the smallest, each State/UT of India has a unique demography, history and culture, dress, festivals, language etc.
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Misc. Facts Coldest Place: Drass, Ladakh Highest Rainfall: Mawsynram, Meghalaya Largest Glacier: Siachen Glacier, Himalaya Mountains Largest Waterfalls: Kunchikal Falls, Karnataka Longest River: Ganga Tallest Mountain: Kangchenjunga State with Highest Population: Uttar Pradesh State with Least Population: Sikkim Largest State: Rajasthan Smallest State: Goa State with Maximum Districts: Uttar Pradesh State with Minimum Districts: Goa Smallest District: Mahe Largest District: Kutch Smallest Union Territory: Lakshadweep Largest Union Territory: Andaman & Nicobar Islands Largest Delta: Sundarban Largest Alluvial Plain: Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra Plain Largest Riverine Island: Majuli Island, Assam Largest Lake: Wular Lake Eastern Most Point: Kibithu, Arunachal Pradesh Western most point: Ghuar Mota, Gujarat Southern most point: Indira Point, Nicobar Islands Southern most point of Indian mainland: Cape Comorin, Kanyakumari Northern most point: Cape Comor Pass, Siachen Glacier |
India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy and is home to 1.34 billion people, which is about 17.4% of the global population. To reap its ‘demographic dividend’ the infrastructure must also develop simultaneously. Quantity and quality of infrastructure is a sign of development and prosperity of a country. With the improvement in the economic scenario, there have been various investments in various sectors of the economy. But, agriculture is still an important part of India’s economy and at present it is among the top two farm producers in the world. Agriculture is the only means of living for around 48.9% of the total workforce which is an informal form of employment. This section also dwells in poverty, unemployment, which also needs to be looked into, so that we might develop into one of the top 3 economic powers of the world.
Contemporary Indian Economy
India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world and is expected to be one of the top three economic powers of the world over the next 10-15 years, backed by its strong democracy and partnerships. Numerous foreign companies are setting up their facilities in India on account of various government initiatives like Make in India and Digital India. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is also expected to reach US$ 6 trillion by FY27 and achieve upper-middle income status on the back of digitization, globalization, favourable demographics, and reforms.
Social Development
Social Development is a multi-dimensional phenomenon where some of its dimensions include: level of education, level of health services, status of women, level of nutrition, quality of housing, access to communication, etc. In India, the progress of socio-economic development among major states is not uniform. But, the Central and State Government Departments is committed towards overall development of all sections of society. Schemes such as, the ‘Make in India’ aims at bridging the digital divide whereas the ‘Skill India’ aims at training nearly 400 million people by 2020.
Agriculture
The agriculture sector employs nearly half of the workforce in the country. However, it contributes to 17.5% of the GDP (at current prices in 2015-16). Over the past few decades, the manufacturing and services sectors have increasingly contributed to the growth of the economy, while the agriculture sector’s contribution has decreased from more than 50% of GDP in the 1950s to 15.4% in 2015-16 (at constant prices).
The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. The Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 per cent of the sales. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. It contributes around 8.80 and 8.39 per cent of Gross Value Added (GVA) in Manufacturing and Agriculture respectively, 13 per cent of India’s exports and six per cent of total industrial investment.
Infrastructure
The Infrastructure sector acts as a key catalyst responsible for propelling India’s overall development and enjoys intense focus from Government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world class infra-facilities in our country.
Our country needs massive investments estimated to be in excess of Rs. 50 lakh crore in infrastructure to increase growth of GDP, connect and integrate the nation with a network of roads, airports, railways, ports and inland waterways and to provide good quality services to our people.
The Government of India is taking every possible initiative to boost the infrastructure sector. In the Union Budget 2018-19, a massive push was given to the infrastructure sector by allocating Rs 5.97 lakh crore for the sector. Some of the steps taken in the recent past are being discussed hereafter.
India’s foreign policy seeks to safeguard the country’s enlightened self-interest. The primary objective of India’s foreign policy is to promote and maintain a peaceful and stable external environment in which the domestic tasks of inclusive economic development and poverty alleviation can progress rapidly and without obstacles. Given the high priority attached by the Government of India to socio-economic development, India has a vital stake in a supportive external environment both in our region and globally. India, therefore, seeks a peaceful periphery and works for good neighbourly relations in its extended neighbourhood. India’s foreign policy also recognizes that the issues such as climate change and energy and food security that are crucial to India’s transformation are global and require global cooperative solutions.