Haves and Have Nots.

In looking at what the 9% growth of the Indian economy has brought, I was impressed by the rapid development in the cities like Pune, Mumbai and Delhi. I was also troubled by the riots of the 30th of November. I started to realize and also read some small articles in the dailies about the impact of this dizzing growth. On a day that the Sensex hit 14000, I saw news channels break out the champagne, the brokers on Dalal street break out into Bhangras, I called my dad to congratulate him on the value of his own portfolio, and was asked by a kid from a slum near my house for Rs.10 to clean my car.
The middle class, upper middle class and high class families in India are enjoying the benefits of this 9% growth of the economy. Gone are the clichés of the educated-unemployed. Any person with basic education and knowledge of English can now work in the popular BPO’s and call centers. The base salaries in these places are Rs 10,000 – Rs. 12000. These type of salaries approve the people to gain home loans and auto loans and every other loan known to man. The banks that have become more independent due to government dis-investment and entry of foreign banks have become despondent to lure customers. This is the class of people now who live in the grand constructions of DSK and drive their latest model Chevy’s and Honda’s.
When you look on either side of these constructions or out on the road during one of those long rides in your Honda, one can see the Indian have-nots. These people have been left out of Mr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Chidambaram’s globalization party. They are still un-educated, still un-employed, still the ones causing the well-publicized population problem in India and still the ones that have to resort to child labor to feed families. These people are growing more and angrier, militantly angry at the country and the government and their affluent neighbors. It is obvious they must also want to try the new restaurants in town, the new stores in town. This is where the daily incidents of home breaking, chain snatching come in. Every day there are reports of these incidents occurring in influential neighborhoods of Pune. Somewhere the economists of this country have to realize that the policies to improve the education rates and providing minimal employment to these class of people is not working. They are creating a social time bomb that will go off like it did on 30th November. This is a problem that will not be resolved by the age old policy of go-slow, generational change. The entire current generation of these uneducated classes has to be improved now. India will not survive this present generation becoming disinterested and militant against the citizenry.
The fast paced MNC’s have to be convinced that this is their job. The government has proven in 60 years that this job is too big for it to complete. The multitudes of SOP’s enjoyed by these companies have to come at a price, a price of involving themselves in the basic education of Indians. They have already opened up their own training institutes and also involved themselves with some of the premier educational institutes in India. They have stood upto the government on certain key issues. They need to have a civic responsibility towards the cities that they set up shops in. In the US, there are various employee groups that volunteer to tutor the needy, prepare tax returns for them, build houses and clean and paint support homes. All these activities are supported by the employers. They match monetary contribution by employees and hold such voluntary contributions by them in the highest regards. These are celebrated in various company functions and in print.
This is the termite infection at the heart of this magnificent wooden palace of India. This is the image foreigners take with them when they leave this country. This is the image imprinted on the minds of foreign CEO’s who visit this country looking to invest here. Forgotten are the beautiful expressways and flyovers and exotic cars running on those streets, forgotten is the aromatic food served to them on silver platters. The image of a 12 yr old girl wearing torn clothes carrying a dirty baby in her arms at a traffic light begging for a few rupees is what haunts me. Will someone please let me know how to get in touch with Mr Singh and Mr. Chidambaram because I visited their homes and their offices and the dirty little beggar girl was kept far away from both by their imposing security guards. I am also sure her home is blocked out of their view by the heavily tinted windows of their glistening BMWs. Please sirs she is out there, teach her, help her, her kid might not be so forgiving to your glass homes and may pick up a stone.