Ring in the new: Let's take a fresh approach to development

As we enter 2009 some sad memories of 2008 could obviously cloud our outlook. But the world and this country must move on in the new year. The unhappy developments that took place in the last year should provide us with determination and will to improve our governance and refurbish our institutions by taking care of structural infirmities and systemic failures that contributed to the economic meltdown at the global level, and the easy passage of the terrorists involved in the Mumbai outrage. In defining our solutions for the future, it would be heartening to see positive signals in some very recent developments.

The United States has elected as president a person whose main message is one of hope and urgent change. President-elect Barack Obama has very wisely decided to revive the US economy, which would have major implications for the world, by creating green jobs arising from retrofits and energy efficiency measures in buildings across the US, as well as making investments in wind and solar energy, with a major step up in research and development.

These proposed initiatives could provide us with opportunities in India too, because if we develop our own renewable energy industry differently from the miserable record that we have had over the past quarter-century, not only would we succeed in solving some of our own energy problems but also provide Indian business with market opportunities in the US and the rest of the world. India certainly is not an exception to the global economic meltdown but fortunately the problem here is not as acute as it is in some other countries. Conservatism and excessive regulation of banking in this country, for instance, has perhaps helped us in this instance, but that should not give us reason to halt reforms in the future.

The current economic crisis provides us with a timely opportunity to review our basic pattern of economic growth and development. Despite the warning that Mahatma Gandhi repeated on several occasions before and at the time of independence we have largely pursued a form of development that emulates that of the western industrialised world. That this model is largely unsuited to our conditions is now becoming increasingly apparent to us. It is now seen as flawed even to citizens of the developed world. It is this model that has created high levels of economic disparity between different sections of society, particularly in North America, and contributed overwhelmingly to the problem of human-induced climate change.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the world at the beginning of industrialisation was 280 parts per million. As a result of industrialisation, based on growing use of fossil fuels as well as deforestation and other activities, the concentration today is now in excess of 385 parts per million. This problem, along with increased emissions of other greenhouse gases, has led to changes in climate across the globe, which are not merely in the nature of significant increases in average surface temperature, but an increase in the frequency and intensity of floods, droughts, heat waves as well as extreme precipitation events.

Climate change is also affecting agriculture in a significant way and also poses a threat to a large number of species. Thermal expansion of the oceans as well as melting of large bodies of ice across the globe are leading to sea level rise, which imperils a number of small islands across the globe as well as low-lying coastal areas such as those in Bangladesh and the Sundarbans in our own country. In the case of India, shifting to greater efficiency in energy use, and greater use of renewable energy resources, would meet our need to pursue sustainable development. India\'s growing dependence on oil imports is fraught with economic and geopolitical implications that justify a shift to larger use of indigenous and renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind and biomass. These technologies, if used on a growing scale, particularly on a decentralised basis, can generate tens of millions of jobs and bring about a radical transformation of rural life with blossoming micro enterprises and small industry across the country. Lower growth in the use of fossil fuels will also improve air quality at the local level, thereby providing large-scale health benefits to those who would otherwise be exposed to growing air pollution.

That the Indian public is ready for some major departures from business as usual can perhaps be read from the results of the recent state elections. By and large the voters in the states have expressed, through the ballot box, their emphatic preference for performance. The large-scale turnout in Jammu & Kashmir and the rejection of those parties that supported separatism are profound testimony to the objectivity of voters and preference for development. This, of course, places much responsibility on those who have been elected, because the same voters who have brought them to power would also be impatient for the benefits of performance and better governance. The public will, undoubtedly, support actions towards change, if the people are taken into confidence and the rationale for change is explained to them carefully. Elected leaders and government officials will have to get off their high horses and bring government closer to the people.