Economy opening up in India

After working abroad for nearly twleve years, I notice a lot of changes as I settle down in India. The change is largely due to liberalization of economy. Added to this, IT and bpo boom are pushing up the economic growth. However, the dispersion of wealth is not equitable. The skilled laborers' (especially in hi-tech areas) income has increased enormously, whereas, unskilled and rural laborers struggle to meet their ends. This indicates that India is going through a transition phase. I understand that around 20% of the population have moved to middle class from poor class after economic liberalization. I also see productivity increase due to use of technology.

The first sector that has seen stupendous growth after liberalization is telecommunications. There are many major players now in this sector against sole state controlled one, a decade back. I had to wait for four years to get a connection myself those days. Now, it is done within forty eight hours. These companies use latest technologies and the failure rate is minimum. Even the support system is automated and one is able to connect to the telephone office immediately. The redressal mechanism is also streamlined and resposive, barring a few bad examples. Free market has definitely improved the performace and reduced the cost. BSNL pushes down the market prices while the private operators like Airtel push up the service level. It is a healthy combination and competition benefiting customers like me.

The second sector is financial sector. The proof is in the calls, e-mails and fliers I get regularly from a host of banks and other financial institutions. I would like this opening up and growth to spread in all other sectors too. Though the technology brings in effectiveness and efficiency in products and processes, they increase unemployment for unskilled workers. Further, it reduces inter-personal activities, They cause a lot of behavioural changes and friction in the society.

We are in a stage, where we can not shun technology. If we do, then we shun economic growth. So, liberalization and use of technology can not be stopped. So, what can we do regarding uneven distribution of wealth? This is mainly between urban and rural population. Thrust for rural development is the answer. Promotion of agri-based industies, rural infra-structural developement and technologies suited to rural areas are the answers. We need to applaud some of the efforts of some corporate houses like ITC. They initiated projects without waiting for any push from government. Though their motives may be the growth of their market, they are doing good to rural population.

When deveopment is welcome, we need to be cautious about wastes produced by industries and excessive consumerism. Indians are coming out of their conservativism as far as consumerism is concerned. We also need to evolve effective waste management without degrading the environment and nature. These are already degraded by our old civilization and the ever-growing population. Inustries may aggravate this. There is no fix all solutions to all these, but our vibrant democracy is also simultaneously evolving to provide checks and balances.

I have added an animation with this blog to show that I technologies do wonders. This animation was created by me through PC applications.