Where the Left is right
EducationWorld June 04 | EducationWorld
In the recently concluded 14th general election, Indian voters have expressed extraordinary maturity and wisdom. Analysis surrounding the collapse of the NDA and the rather unexpected rise of the Congress has overshadowed the most significant outcome of the elections — the fact that the Left parties won the highest number of seats they have ever won in any Lok Sabha election thus far. What does this reflect? Fanatical proponents of free markets view it as a vote against capitalist expansion. Others see it as a vote in favour of labour power that will be detrimental to industry. Unfortunately, very few regard it a vote in favour of ending human deprivation, discrimination and inequalities. This is the element of socialism in Left thinking that matters most not only to the poor, but to the future of India. To caricature the Left as being opposed to economic growth and market expansion is absurd. Left intellectuals are principally concerned with people’s livelihoods. More jobs cannot be created unless markets expand. But all market expansion doesn’t create jobs. The Left is opposed to job loss and jobless growth. Their concern is the millions whose very survival has been threatened by the patterns of growth characterising the Indian economy. The NDA government was mesmerised by the quantity of growth. The focus has to be on the quality of growth. Good growth generates jobs, benefits everyone — not just the wealthy — protects the poor, nurtures the environment and reduces inequities. The Left focuses on poor people and their anxieties. And that makes the Left right. Such thinking is important if India has to become a ‘developed’ country by 2020. A rather simplistic position to take is that if India’s per capita income grows at 3.5 percent per annum, it would cross $735 (Rs.33,000) by 2020, and India can easily graduate from being a low income to a middle-income country. The question however, is whether India can become a developed country just by increasing its annual per capita income to $735. The answer is certainly not. A developed country is characterised by the quality of life that its citizens enjoy. India cannot aspire to join the league of developed nations with its serious shortfalls in human development. Today, this nation is home to 36 percent of the world’s poor living on less than $1 (Rs.45) per day; 25 percent of global maternal deaths; 23 percent of the world’s under-five child deaths; every year, and 30 percent deaths from poor access to water and sanitation. If India is to stand tall in the community of nations, ending human poverty must become a national — and political — priority. To achieve this, the State has to take the lead, increase its engagement in the social sectors, ensure greater efficiency and better outcomes. Therefore attaining developed nation status requires addressing four deficits. First there’s the financial deficit. India urgently needs to increase allocations to the social sectors. Public expenditure on health, for instance, is barely 1 percent of GDP as against 6-7 percent…