Why the Optimism?

The preparations for the Commonwealth Games have been a complete and utter disaster. Footbridges and false ceilings collapsed even before the games had started. A budget overshoot by a factor of 30 times; you can imagine the scale of corruption.

On the other hand, there’s the Goldman Sachs prediction about India becoming the world’s 3rd largest economy by 2050.

How exactly do we manage to be so corrupt, so incompetent and so behind schedule on so many fronts and yet seem to be racing ahead overall? Despite the corruption and inefficiencies that are so obvious, why are so many (foreigners and Indians alike) still confident about India’s growth prospects?

Part of the answer seems to be the faith in the private sector. Not just in getting the work done but increasingly even in funding it! Take infrastructure funding, for example. Around 50% of every incremental rupee in Indian infrastructure is being funded by the private sector. Case in point: IDFC just launched an infrastructure bond issue to raise Rs 3,400 crores.

I think Vir Sanghvi got the other part of the answer when he wrote about the “old India” way (“The people in charge of the Games typify old India: corrupt, slothful, incompetent, chaotic, unconcerned with the pursuit of excellence, unwilling to benchmark against global standards and convinced that in India, sab chalta hai”) v/s the “new India” way (“…one that can do things to global standards, whose competence and intelligence are highly regarded all over the world, an India where people work hard, where there are high levels of accountability and where commitments are treated as sacred.”).

Maybe the hope and optimism comes from the fact that “old India” is, well, old and will die away.


Comments

  1. KumarOctober 3, 2010 at 8:01 AM

    I am saddened not just by the fact that we are a highly corrupt, dreadfully incompetent nation; what really saddens me as day pass by is that, most of us also feel helpless hence go about it in a resigned way. "If we have come this far despite high corruption plus inefficiency' how much better we can make progress with less of them" is not much in the air. I have heard some government officers openly saying corruption is just fine! And, in the private sector, no manipulation to suit one's own end is too bothersome - they can go to any level of wrong-doing. And they do it all the time.

    Because of this, I would rather not believe that 'more private - less government' is the only better approach, though a needed one. We need to train the minds of people more and more towards greater discipline and honesty.
    I may be a relic already, but I am not still able to shake of my ideal - sort of youthful conviction: no police or the judicial system can enforce behavior, but only act as some level of deterant sp?)from individuals going criminal. But the mighty human mind can achieve anything - even moving towards a minimally corrupt and greatly efficient nation.

    Before that we have to believe it can be done! Do we?

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