Atmanirbharta

In order to fulfil the dream of making 21st century India, the way forward is to become “Atmanirbhar” or self-reliance said our leader. The conviction augurs well for the wellbeing of the nation. The Cambridge dictionary describes self-reliance as the ability to depend on oneself or on one’s own abilities. He further, remarked that self-reliance will prepare the country for tough competition in the global supply chain. The government even announced a financial package of Rs 20 lakh crore to extricate India out of the economic quagmire owing to the coronavirus pandemic. These are profound presages and perspectives indeed. However, do these thoughts not belong to an egalitarian world outlook? A belief that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Maybe the Constitution provides for such. In reality however, is every citizen equal? If not, how will it be ensured that they will have equal rights and opportunities?  How then, can they be self-reliant? If the people of a Nation are not self-reliant, can the nation itself be self-reliant?

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of America's most celebrated and best known and best-loved 19th-century figures. His essay on self-reliance published in 1841 can be a self-rejuvenating guide in these times of multiple sermons. He urges his readers to follow their individual will instead of conforming to social expectations as self-reliance. This means one should follow one’s own voice rather than that of an intermediary. It does call for honesty in relationships with others but that is a matter of ethics and modern credo. Self-reliance can also be seen as getting things done for oneself without relying on others, being able to “pull one’s weight” by paying one’s own bills and taking care of one’s own self properly. As a process of social empathy, it may even call for altering religious practices, encouraging people to stay at home and develop their own culture, and focus on individual, rather than societal progress. If this were to be true, can it then be a tool in nation building?

Every thesis has an anti-thesis. In Bhagvad Gita Lord Krishna counsels “karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kaddachana, maa karmaphalaheturbhroorma te sangostvakarmani” Translated, it means “You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction”. If I am not entitled to the fruits of my actions, how do I become self-reliant? Self-reliance calls for self-sufficiency, for that alone will give the freedom to attain one’s true independence.

We live in a networked world. Anything we do is dependent on a certain supply chain. No business is really independent and no individual is really free of shackles of some kind. ‘harward.edu’ describes the networked world as an artisan in a rural village using her community centre’s computer to sell handicrafts on the World Wide Web (WWW), or healthcare workers accessing online databases to research recent health advisories or students in different countries collaborating on a science project over the WWW or Programmers creating customized software for distant clients through the Internet or the Government procurement officers using the WWW for purchases and contracts or even farmers using a wireless handheld device to research market prices.

How is Atmanirbharta realized then? Several hundreds of bright young students join IIT’s, IIM’s or many other prestigious institutes, each year and graduate to be engineers, scientists or similar. Most of them eventually migrate to greener pastures and the remaining join the bureaucracy rendering technical training they get redundant. They do become atmanirbhar, but do they make the nation atmanirbhar? The country needs entrepreneurs and startup mavericks to raise the current GDP bar. Should we not dispense with the current format of JEE and create a format that admits, at least into one division, creative and innovative individuals, who may not have unbelievably high marks, into the IIT system, who would eventually build enterprises for atmanirbharta of the nation? In fact, we should build universities of the future that seamlessly build entrepreneurship into the curriculum making our nation atmanirbhar.

The government's Rs 20 lakh crores relief package for an Atmanirbhar Bharat had legal, economic, fiscal and liquidity measures. Almost all sectors seem to have been covered, though there was little direct cash transfer to the needy like the migrants, who were leaving the states in hordes for home in the absence of either a job or food due to the lockdown. The Supply chains have been hit, Manufacture has been hit and so is the demand. Will the relief measures be sufficient to address the crisis of mammoth proportions? Many of the measures take time to germinate within their embryos. Was this then the right time to bring in such big bang reforms?

Businesses have been complaining about lack of liquidity in markets. The government seems to have tried measures to inject cash in the markets. What happens if the banks do not lend in the same spirit of the reforms? or if the fire in the belly of the borrowers snuffs out? Big bang reforms are good for the system when economy is doing well. The converse is true as well. It will cause more pain at a time when economy is on a downward trend.

This pandemic has proved to be unpredictable, gigantic and devastating.  It has hit economy of all countries so much so that some may end up in dire straits when finally, the virus is shown the door. India with much better metrics, may still suffer, with GDP growing only at 2% to 3% in 2020. It could even be zero or negative. This economic whirlpool needs to be addressed effectively. In deference to every institution and individuals’ predictions, this virus has shown that it has multiple peaks. Several pundits predicted a peak around May-end and a gradual plateauing after that. However much we wish it to be true, the virus will have multiple peaks, rising all over again just when everyone is lulled into sobriety. This is reason enough to be seriously concerned about its spread and further devastation it can cause. The right way to counter its effect probably lies between two extremes. It is the narrow channel between the rock and the whirlpool. That channel, however narrow it may be, needs to be found.  

Various estimates by analysts point out the actual expenditure by the government will probably be about a lakh crore of Rupees. About 50% of this is expected to boost private consumption with the rest contributing to public investment and spending. Remaining elements of the reforms package are time and legislation dependant and currently intangibles. The indirect benefits of reforms can help only if the system runs like a well-oiled machine. Can this pitchfork our economy upwards then?  It will depend on each sectoral reform of the 20-lakh crore package and the legislative amendments required in making them operational. It is observed more often than not, the delivery on outcomes of the government measures will only be a percentage of the direct cost to the government which means, if the direct cost to government is less, the benefits to people will also be less.