New India For Millenials

By Cearet Sood

Edited by Namrata Caleb, Senior Editor, The Indian Economist

When I was in high school, I, along with my friends often used to wonder about the state of affairs of our country. The atmosphere was gloomy, there was uncertainty all around. We weren’t even sure whether we would get a job when we would graduate, the unemployment rate was around 7.6%, with the highest ever recorded at 9.4%. There used to be a lot of discussion among my parents’ circle also about the declining GDP, growth rate etc.The growth rate had stunted, with it touching 4.4%. Inflation was at it’s high at 9.6%. Even the security markets weren’t doing well. Our path ahead indeed looked glum. The people weren’t happy with the government at all and often put them to blame for all these issues.

There was much pleasure and pomp when the 2014 General Election results were declared, with NDA coming to power and forming the government. People welcomed the new government, more so because they needed change from UPA, which had served two, rather controversial, consecutive terms, filled with scams, accusations, corruption, unemployment and what not! Because of all the muck created by the UPA government, expectations from the NDA government have increased manifold. The road ahead of them is certainly not a smooth one, with having many promises to fulfil, many policies to reform, many obstacles to overcome. Every section of the society expects certain things from the government, the youth and working class want more employment and more wages.

The current government has certainly given us a tiny ray of hope. Implementation of the right policies would be the key to success here. Crucial bills like Insurance Bill, Pension Bill, foreign investment in supermarkets, FDI in defence and railway infrastructure which had been stuck in the parliament for a very long time, have been finally given the nod by the government. These bills are still work in progress, they are yet to be taken up by the parliament. With the current reform agenda, we can definitely expect good times ahead, in terms of employment opportunities, GDP, growth rate and other economic demographics. These reforms will improve sentiments and there will be an invariable increase in employment. With the ease of setting up new stores in retail, e-commerce and improved infrastructure our economy will definitely grow.

Another way to increase employment would be to increase investment in education. Narendra Modi’s Digital India campaign could prove to be very effective, if implemented properly. Herein, the government would try to impart world class education to the children in rural and semi urban areas through massive online open courses. Popularly known as MOOCs, they would change the face of our education system entirely. Our current education system needs certain reforms as well. Inclusion of applied education with practical application would provide opportunities to students to think independently and innovatively, thus preparing them better for the future. I, and other people of my generation aspire to study in the Harvards and the MITs of the world, so we would want the government to bring institutions of those standards to our country.

I would like to quote from the 1991 speech made by Dr. Manmohan Singh, then the finance minister, on the embarkment of India on Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation policies. He said that no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. After one and a half decades of good growth rates and few years of slowdown, once again the time has come for India to revive it’s status of being a golden sparrow. The powerful statement made by Dr. Manmohan Singh finds it’s place in the world in the years ahead. People of my generation would aspire to live, work and take pride in a new India.

Cearet Sood is a first year student studying Economics at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She likes to spend her time by reading books, whose genres range from social drama to thrillers to economics or by brushing up her general knowledge. She is a curious person, who wants to know more and more. She loves to participate in quizzes and paper presentations, where she gets different perspectives and views.  She’s a person who doesn’t talk much. An introvert, who doesn’t quite fit in, but she doesn’t want to.