Land Acquisition Bill

Land for agriculture and environment vs land for development is a vicious cycle. 

Recently the Madhya Pradesh government sent a proposal to the Central government seeking permission to flatten the centuries old Chambal ravines to make the land available for agriculture. Can you play with vast creation of nature? What will be the cost, both material and to the environment? Who will cultivate the land thus created ?

As the population increases, there will be an increasing demand for land for housing, industries and for creation of other utilities. It will also be a greater demand for food, jobs, water, electricity. There will be a larger creation garbage (mostly non bio degradable) and sewage. 

For all these agricultural land and forest land will be acquired. That will thus, leave lesser land available to grow grains and vegetables, for which the demands will continue to increase. Lesser forest cover means lesser rainfall, lesser groundwater and higher temperatures. Taking away agricultural land will push more people towards the cities, but the jobs and capacity building will not move at the same pace. This will lead to increase in crime in the urban areas. The increase in industries and larger quantity of sewage and non biodegradable wastes will poison and kill our rivers and soil and make our air unbreathable. The signs are already visible in our cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Lo;kata etc.

It is against this backdrop that the land acquisition bill must be seen.

Countering America's Inshoring

I was watching a documentary on BBC about America's efforts at insourcing or inshoring - bringing back jobs to America. Someone made a statement that the way India made its Silicon Valley in Bangalore, US is trying to build its Bangalore in South Dakota.

It might not seem serious now, but the signs are ominous. Last year US brought back an equal number of jobs as compared to the number of jobs that went out of the country. This is a significant change from the last couple of decades when large number of jobs fled America to China and India.

What India must do to counter this?!

For one, listen to Raghuram Rajan. It should not be just "Nake in India", but also "Make in India, for India".

India for long, has focussed on building software as per client requirements abroad, i.e. the idea and design came from abroad and Indians only implemented it. It must change now. Focus must be on new ideas and innovations. Not just in the area of IT, but also in other areas like manufacturing and agriculture.

India must also focus on quality, in every sphere. Anyone will tell you that a Lux soap made and Sold in India, is far inferior to the Lux soap that you can buy in, say, Dubai. The emission quality from our vehicles, and the safety standards in the vehicles sold in India, are far inferior to the vehicles that we export to Europe. The government must ensure that we get the same exacting standards in the country that we provide for European countries. Yes, the vehicles will get more expensive, but we will breath a better air.

We cannot forever continue to be the price leader. We need to raise the bar. We need to make innovative and quality products, in India, for India. And this need to start from ensuring quality school and college education, quality teachers and innovation built into the curriculum. Can the government do it ?!