India’s top science and technology official is in China, making excuses about why his country’s infrastructure is so shoddy. Shanghai has brilliant new skyscrapers and museums and parks and trains – and Mumbai can’t manage to have a decent airport. According to Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, it’s all because of democracy. “There is a different model of growth in our country,” Sibal told reporters in Beijing, according to this report from wire service PTI carried on Indian portal Rediff.com. “We can’t, for example, build a Pudong overnight.”
Well, neither did the Chinese. Pudong today is the result of more than a decade’s worth of work and planning and investment. The place is hardly paradise; Pudong can feel overwhelming, especially along the district’s broad boulevard. I’m not saying that Indian officials should be trying to replicate Pudong in Mumbai. But falling back on the old “We’re a democracy, don’t expect too much of us” argument doesn’t cut it. Yes, the Chinese don’t have elections. But the Japanese do. So do the Koreans and the Taiwanese. They manage to build things anyway.
I agree democracy is not an excuse for incompetence but some of the examples are inappropriate to use for India or Pakistan. Japan was built by US as a guilt dividend. I don't know how Koreans and Taiwanese made it....so won't say anything
At a sticker price of $2500, it will be possible to charge my new car on my credit card. The next Model T is not going to be manufactured in Detroit but is “outsourced” to India. Before you sneer, remember that the Hyundai sells 450,000 units each year in America. There is a demand even here for low cost cars.
Most manufacturing experts consider the work in India better quality than China. India is second in population after China with almost a billion people. Many people think it will overtake China and become the number one economic power in the world. Indian Central Statistical Office estimates a growth in GDP of 9%.
It is a fact and not an excuse that decisions get delayed in a Democracy. In a democracy the government cannot tell the citizens to get the f… out of here because we have to build a dam. Even after this we are on the right track.
I think the mojor problem in India is corruption.
^ in terms of corruption, how come people in india have time to protest the cricket teams failure at the world cup but they never protest about why the “rule 49-0” in the conduct of election rules is not actually enforced by the officials at the voting booths.
I think this is the first step to get rid of the corrupt politicians. http://www.eci.gov.in/
there is loadz of hunger of money (corruption) in india
furhter i m illustrating is not my analysis…there is a person i know worked in some chinese manufacturing company n said they work crazily like 15-18 hrz a day. that person also quit cuz wanted to sleep peacefully.
n other good example my sculpture professor gave was “look at their strongly made houses of bambooz…they are artistic and very dedicated n skillful ppl.” (we should also not forget china is communist country wid over polulation). whereas having third degree material in construction is normal in india
furhtermore india is still under british influence. elite indian class adopted western culture n sure they can afford…whereas average income, n poor class look up at them or bollywood movie. who r heavily ruined by SRK stupid styles.
india:
where everyone wants to be in “kaun banay ga crore pati”, or indian idol. where religion, politics, cricket n movies are dominating issues for discussion. where family system dominates along wid family problems. where AIDS n kidney theft are also flaming issues. where rich is getting richer n poor is getting poorer (Imran khan said this for Pakistan though), where so far innovation is seen in femalez sariz. where earht quakes, tsumani, n defence needs more capital…, etc.
HOW ON EARTH THEY CAN NEGLECT THESE THINGS AND SELFISHLY BECOME A MACHINE!!!
A free democracy comes with it's chaos, particularly in our part of the world....and corruption is a side effect of this free democracy, corrupts are beyond reach of law beacuse either they or their coteries are the lawmakers.
You just can't compare India and China in same line.
An example, in Singur, West Bengal commies government went a Chinese way and wanetd to create a plant for Tata motor for world's cheapest car...what happened is known to all...Mamta started fasting and protesting, whole world came to know that some farmers lands are taken to contruct a car manufacturing plant, and finally this whole plan to set up a plant in West Bengal is derailed.
Above is just an example...there are several examples I can give where our "democracy" and "over-freedom" has back-fired us in development.
Now imagine if China decided to open a car factory, nobody can even think of protesting for farmers rights...any such protesters never survived under communazis rule.
Majority people are not aware at all about their voting rights…educated youngsters have limited themselves till Cricket, Bollywood and internet.
You see any election and there are hardly 50% people turning out for voting. Most of the educated people have never voted.
Officials under able guidance of politicians have exploited this very well.
Even so called Prime Minister has been addreesd by Election commision…I read the same website where he has been proposed with electoral reforms (particularly Part-1-7 is interesting —neutral/negative voting or 49-O)
I hope no action will be taken by the PM or any political party or even our tabloid looking media–after all it’s matter of their survival in future :grumpy:
I agree, but the fact is that a democracy takes time to mature, because the people have to get used to it, they have to understand that they have rights and the people who know they have rights have to understand that they have duties too.
US democracy took 250 years to mature. Not long ago the skin color and the sex mattered for even the right to vote. In that respect India is doing pretty ok, not because India is better but because we have examples like the US and Britain to learn from. Even having discussions like this is part of learning, thanks to gupsgup for that.
I agree India could do better.
Firstly, I think that Indian - as well as other South Asian - leaders need to stabilize their political system. For example, China's authoritarian (Communist) rule has actually benefited the country a lot, and the people as well in the long run. They took a good approach to family planning, economic infrastructure, and political issues. As Mathrubhoomi said in post#7, in China it's like the govt says this and nobody can do anything about it. A democracy can only work if it is functioned properly - something clearly lacking in South Asia. Of this, a big role is of the leaders chosen, and cooperation of everyone from grassroots to apex level; so democracy is a quite complicated setup compared to Communism. Up until then, no matter how much India's GDP swells, it will still have over half of its population in poverty.
Another thing that pisses me off is that out of inferiority complex or whatever, many developing countries skip the basics and go directly over to the complicated. Example - South Asian countries' approach to IT. I mean you have most of your population below poverty level - and a vast number of illiterates, shouldn't you be flourishing your services sector first? Plus, it is very likely that most of IT work will be done by machines in the future, therefore the market keeps dividing. The population needs to be educated and employed to reduce poverty; IT is not a kind of field that invites a large number of people - especially in a third-world country. Bottomline: the kind of economic APPROACH a country is also crucial in determining the benefit of its people.
who knows if all this is happening then what’s to stop the corrupt politicians from rigging the elections in their party’s favor.
I still feel like if education was given top priority then atleast some thing positive will happen. China’s literacy rate is 91% and India’s is 60%.
I feel like it’s a vicious circle because if education was given more importance then literacy rates would be able to go up to the 90 percent range then all people would be better equipped to decide which candidate has the best interest of the country in his/her mind. But then who controls how good the school systems will be?---->the politicians. So again we’re back to the corrupt politicians and their filthy ways.
I still feel like if education was given top priority then atleast some thing positive will happen.
When there is education people can think long term and make better choices in every sphere of life. Which would lead to better choices in elections, which would mean less corruption and more progress and less poverty.
I absolutely agree with Mallika.
then again I never grew up in India nor am I a citizen of India but as much as I love America, i’ll always have India in my heart so half the time my mind’s always on what’s happening in India:bummer:.
Unfortunatey, I find people here in India are less caring about country and growth (probably they are too busy in their daily life)…same time, I have noticed, NRI’s and people of Indian Origin have better and more matured thinking for well being of country.
Up until then, no matter how much India's GDP swells, it will still have over half of its population in poverty.
Exactly right!
Infact symbols of widening gap between rich and poor is evident in any city in India, and that's the main worry.
No doubt India is growing and I can see a new shopping mall is erected each month in metros.....but their lies a harsh reality of poor, underpaid/unemployed lower and below poverty people, their number is big enough to cause a social unrest in future.
Noble laurate economist like Amrtya sen have pointed it out to Indian policy makers long back.
India needs to focus more towards manufacturing and infrastructure with a viable system and minimum beaurocracy which can allow companies to operate freely.
I think PM Manmohan tried to plan many future SEZs-- some of them are real big plans and can create bulk jobs in each area.
But problem is many such SEZs cannot be implemented due to myriads of problems of law, land, opposition...and ususal chaos of free, vibrant democracy in South Asia.:(
Chinese* r smart ,they change their weakness aka huge population into something strong n that is cheap labour .Now their factories r just producing money for them n every thing for them is going for the best.I hope the same happen to Pakistan.*
I can't imagine India as a communist country though and controlling how many kids a family can have and there not being any freedoms for the common person. They should teach family planning rather than forcing people to abstain after 1 child like in China.
With some of the positive things happening in India these days, none of them are enjoyed by the poor class. Why isn't public school admission free in India so even the poor can educate themselves?
There is a price for everything. One has to evaluate if the price is right. The price for China's development is Freedom. I, like most Indians, think it a high price to pay.
Killing of over 10,000 students in the name of development is a very high price, and India should not have to pay such price. I would rather prefer India to develop at the good pace that it is developing now.
Democracy will never work effectively in India or Pakistan as long as people are illitrate, ill informed, biased, corrupt and easily manipulated. So learn to live with it because things are not going to change soon on these fronts.
