Note: Use this blog and comments for constructive feedback, not for India bashing. Can somebody translate this blog in regional Indian languages? You can attach the link in blog comments. Thanks.
India has been screwed up country for a while.
There is still a majority in India that believes everything that is bad is outside India or influenced by factors outside India - a mundane stereotype created by Indians.
After 50 years of independence, India is still hanging on to systems (without much improvement) that are created by British (Railway, Post, Law etc.). What the f.... Indians were doing for last 50 years - increasing population?
Service/IT sector is primarily developed under market conditions and mercy of developed countries and globalization. What are the glocal qualities of India for last/next 50 years? Under same cheap labor mentality, now Indian companies are setting up shops in China etc.
India has a flawed school system that focuses on rote learning. In this cramming, everything else is forgotten: the capacity to think... India has technical institutes that seldom have electricity, and colleges with no computers. Textbooks can be decades old. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070407/ap_on_hi_te/india_scarce_workers
Plagiarism is still a badge of honor in India. Most countries are developed using research in science and technology. In billion plus population, India doesn't even have 2% share in research in world.
Indians don't show respect to Intellectual Property Rights. The copyright protection is a joke in India. After China, India ranks second in piracy growth among the top 25 countries. Indians don't even try to understand how many jobs are lost because of piracy, how many bad elements (people, black money) are involved in piracy, how much tax country is loosing that could be used to build country/world. Piracy is considered as norm of life in India.
Though I give benefit of doubt to generic drugs (not fake drugs) produced in India, Indian metros (Delhi...) have become bases for manufacturing counterfeit goods. Though there are laws (just like anti-corruption, child labor, child marriage, anti-sex determination using sonogram, dowry, domestic voilence etc.) in India against counterfeiting, their enforcement is painstakingly tedious and often yields no results.
India is such a f__ed up country, they have billion people but don't have better disaster management programs. Check history of natural disasters in India (Orissa quake, Gujarat earthquake, Tsunami, Floods etc).
India still doesn't have good waste management programs. Now, I don't have to tell this to any Indian (especially those who live in urban areas). You just walk out of your house and you will see this problem. India's sewer system is actually a pathogen-dispersal system. It takes a small quantity of contaminated material and uses it to make vast quantities of water unfit for human use, often simply discharging it into nearby rivers or streams. Some idiots in India are pitching water-based sewage systems (another western solution), which is expensive and not environment friendly, when there is already scarcity of water in India. Rural India has used bio mass solutions that are environment friendly. Compost toilet is one of them. May be, urban India should follow it.
Ref: Plan B - Lester Brown...
There are anti-dumping laws, ban on import/export of hazardous waste in India. India is becoming a wasteland/junkyard (9/11 waste episode-Sabari Exim, plastic waste dumping, e-waste...). Sadly, Indians don't have good environmental standards. Even they stop importing waste, the country is/will still be a junkyard due to lack of proper environmental attitude of Indians and increasing mismanagement of waste in country itself.
http://www.ban.org/ban_news/india_as_dumpyard.html
http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/articles/wastefact.htm
India's defence budget is increasing year by year. Thanks to tax money of people like us. India is the largest arms importer in the developing world. Prioritywise, Indian politics is chasing wild geese of false security, terrorism, religion conflicts, false patriotism... India's real 4 top problems are - Energy, Water, Food, Environment. Clean water, fresh air, safe environment, carbon free energy should have highest priority in India before corporate profits. India has at least 300 sunny days per year. Why are we not exploring/research solar energy option seriously on national level rather than pursuing nuclear energy? Do we have creative (not slave) companies/groups in India who can innovate/create cheap solar energy solutions? Countries who are using nuclear energy for more than 50 years are already facing nuclear waste problem. India is self-sufficient in producing food, still at least 20% Indians are undernourished. These are internal problems and are greatest inside threat for current/future generations of India. As far as I know, those 4 problems are directly connected to responsibilities of citizens of India. You don't need any external entity to create these problems. So, why would Indians allow to increase defence budget year by year (under whatever false ideas)?
Public health expenditure in India is amongst the lowest in the world as a share of GDP, at less than 1 per cent. Infected water causes an estimated 80% of diseases in India, according to the WHO. Most globalised of all Indian industries, the pharma sector however makes huge profits on the kinds of drugs the country does not really need. Polio is still lingering in India. More indians die by malaria and tuberculosis than all other diseases. Diarrhoea claims 450,000 lives annually in India. Chronic diseases are on rise due to unhealthy lifestyle of Indians. Using a poverty line measure of US$1.08 per day, out-of-pocket health expenditures increased the poverty rate in India.
http://indiatogether.org/2007/jan/hlt-hltcare.htm
Industrial revolution is a failed revolution. I am not sure, Indians really understand that. We need new efforts to sustain this planet. Global economy is out of sync with the earth's ecosystem, as evidenced by collapsing fisheries, shrinking forests, eroding soils, and falling water tables. India is a part of this out-of-synch phenomenon. Indians should not be proud of creating concrete jungles and harmful industries to environment.
Ref: Plan B - Lester Brown...
India (i.e. we) still can't provide basic necessities (food, electricity, water, quality mass education etc.) to all citizens in India.
77% of Indians -- about 836 million people -- live on less than half a dollar a day in one of the world's hottest economies, a government report said. The state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS) said most of those living on below 20 rupees (50 US cents) per day were from the informal labor sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty. Where is that MERA-BHARAT-MAHAN global gang in India and abroad? I tried to submit this blog to various India related blogs/groups/newsgroups. I am not even 1% successful. Indians are absolutely good at systematically ignoring such responsiblities. My apology to few Indians who are exceptions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/wl_nm/india_poor_dc
http://nceus.gov.in/Executive_Summary_08082007.pdf
Most donations given to develop volunteer programs in India directly/indirectly come from outside India. India has 15% population share in this world. Why don't they donate 15% money and 15% of their time to volunteer for few years to develop their own country so that these outside donations can go to other poor countries?
India still doesn't have good mental health treatments (e.g. treating natural disaster victims). Of around 30 million mentally ill Indians, over seven million suffer from schizophrenia. Mental patients are being systematically and continuously ignored and denied the social rights they deserve. INDIANS are absolutely good at being systematically and continuously ignoring such responsiblities. (India mental health country profile, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.)
India still lacks the community spirit and mostly in favor of armchair things (cricket/films/tv/chats etc.). That is why citizens elect illiterate politicians, lack of transparency in governance of India, no volunteer programs etc.
Indian political system is in shambles due to inactive/passive Indian society. People with criminal backgrounds are fleeing the law to find sanctuary in political office. It is a slap on face of all Indians to see such politicians sitting next to members like Oxford-educated Mr. Manmohan Singh. Even Mr.Singh's party had to take cooperation of politicians with criminal records because his party can stay in support of a coalition. Following 2004 elections, almost quarter of 535 elected members of parliament have criminal charges registered/pending against them. Let us not go into how many are not registered, delays of Indian Justice System. The criminal justice system remains vulnerable to political pressure. Cronies of such politicans build schools (not for really helping people) using government/donated funds and run these schools and cuts from construction fees and tuition are kicked back to the politicians. How many politicians have created schools/colleges in your village/city? These politicans always take advantages of sectarian ideas of religion, caste and create sporadic events of generosity to handful people to demonstrate how helpful (rather harmful) they are to society. Politicians continue to lavish attention to new buildings and roads, but neglect less lucrative public services. Due to influence of such state politicians, implementation of development programs, especially in poor areas, remains a problem. Irrespective of progress in economy, India is falling behind in several basic measures (health, nutrition, immunization, literacy etc.) of human progress.
Wall Street Journal, Fri, May 4, 2007 - Lawless legislators thwart social progess in India, Page 1
All of us want true globalization. But controlling trade by controlling WTO, IMF, and World bank with corporate science of big corporations to exploit underdeveloped countries is not true globalization. Big corporations are keeping monopoly on knowledge - that corporate science is appropriated/manipulated by commerce, is generating threats to environment and health. Indian agri-culture is loosing hold because of such ideas. Farmers are loosing their lands. Banks are providing low interest loans for buying motorcycles than for farming. Privatisation without regulations has created more problems for farmers. Indian government and global companies like Cargill, Monsanto, BT have already created problems like more-yield-per-acre greed, terminator seeds, genetically modified crops, soil erosion due to harmful fertilisers/pesticides, driving down the prices of agricultural produce. Green revolution has failed and eroded soils for last 30 years. We have 60% farmers in India. Farmers are also illiterate (that is one more problem) and follow advertising campaign of Nana Patekar, Ramayana and Mahabharat to buy these products normally under debts of people who have control over selling these products like seeds. Farmers are signing loan papers under right-to-sell-of-land for stipulated loan period. That is helping evil mentality (primarily urban rich people) to grab lands of poor farmers. Farmers are getting displaced (Narmada etc.). Probably, dams and rivers will be controlled by such big corporations with the help of evil minds of Indian government, that will increase more water tax for farmers which they can't afford to pay right now. They prefer to rely on nature (rain). Privatising water like this is really dangerous. All these issues are increasing suicidal rate of farmers in India. Why do we (Indians) always forget we are farming country? All globalization ideas or new policies of India should be based on agriculture/villages that should support sustainability of planet, not profits of coroporations/lenders. We need genetic engineering labs right now in India that can weed out all the bad products like terminator seeds, genetically modified seeds and spread that knowledge in local languages to educate farmers in villages. We need to provide education to farmers that can understand the science/global politics behind these evil ideas like terminator seeds. We need common knowledgebase (may be through agri schools/universities/genetic engineering labs/indepedent scientists) that can be translated in local languages in text/audio/video/Internet format to teach farmers in villages.
Earth Democracy- Dr. Vandana Shiva
There are some Indians who got money now are applying western solutions to solve problems of India. That is gonna lead to disaster. If tata gives a $2000 car to every adult in India, think how many problems it will create in India itself. Some of them are providing mortgages, credit cards, unncessary insurances to people without teaching them how exactly they work. Customer Service in India is treated like it is for people from other planet.
There is still rampant cheating of taxes in India that is mostly in educated people. As per Directorate of Income Tax (Systems) - In a country of over a billion people, only 31.5 million people pay taxes, and 54 million Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) had been allotted till July 5, 2007. Why don't you pay taxes? You don't want to develop your country/neighborhood, forget about the world.
America has 5% population of the world, using 25% of resources of the world and contributing over 30% pollution (John Perkins). This is not sustainable in any country of the world. Few Indians, especially globalized urban Indians have this vague notion of following America as lifestyle. If India follows such example, India will need 75% resources of the world. It means only India and America can survive and remaining 80% population of the world can't. This is a recipe to create not only social unrest all over the world, but environmental destruction of earth as well. I always wish retired indians (born after 1940/50s) to volunteer in remaking of sustainable world, not just India. I believe in retired people in India should be nothing-to-loose generation for good cause. Ideally, I wish all generations should spare 15% time to volunteer. There are over 30% illiterate people in India. If they take challenges like this to resolve in their own neighborhood, we will not see extremist ideas in India and world.
Arundhati Roy - Come September Speech
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=945405493000735497
In modern India, rural folks are more sensible in terms of raising girls. Urban India's sex ratio of girls to boys is lesser than rural india, since urban india goes for more abortions if it is a girl.
Disappearing Daughters by Gita Aravamudan - http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/05/27/stories/2007052750110500.htm
In modern India, most indians spend time following bollywood/cricket/idle gossip. If you are in southern India, it could be tollywood/mollywood/... This is a prime example of mediocre mentality.
This is not about Parents and Senior Citizens bill, 2007 or getting our own social security system in India. It is about responsible ageing / aging since India celebrated 60 years of Independence. By 2025, North India’s population would still be very young. Its projected median age would be just 26 years compare to south India's 35. Social/Family interactions are crucial for well being of old people. In all that glitter/noise of social modernization and touting of family values, Indians are forgetting that loneliness is/will be a problem for India's seniors. India is poised to (may have) become home to the second largest number of older people (after China) in the world. People over the age of 60 will make up more than 12% of the population by 2026 up from nearly 7% in 2001. According to HelpAge India, 11% of India's elderly live alone or with nonrelatives. By 2025, it is estimated that 25% of those over 60 and 40% of those over 75 are likely to be living alone. Some 40% of older people living with their families reportedly face abuse, but only 1 in 6 cases are actually reported. Urban India (especially developed/developing cities/metros) will face this problem more in coming decades. Research commissioned by UNFPA and carried out in India and South Africa in 2001 showed that the main concerns of older people relate to conditions associated with extreme poverty, including inadequate living conditions; lack of access to social services; and inter-generational violence and abuse.
Ref: Help Age India - http://www.helpageindia.org/ ,
OASIS (Old Age Social and Income Security) Project, http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070827/wl_csm/oelderly,
Population Ageing and Development - Operational Challenges in developing countries - http://www.unfpa.org/publications/detail.cfm?ID=67&filterListType
In India, during the 1860s, marriage meant girls getting married below 8 or 9 years old. The Manu, Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana decreed that the man should be three times older than the girl.
http://almapintada.puellula.com/Non-Western/india.htm
India has the largest number of child laborers under the age of 14 in the world.
http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2360.htm
Existing studies show that over 40 per cent of women sex workers enter into prostitution before the age of 18 years.
http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2360.htm
Unreported world-India Land of missing children - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wm4nasex
Children and women subjected to commercial sexual exploitation:
100,000 in the Philippines
400,000 in India
100,000 in Taiwan
200,000 in Thailand
244,000-325,000 in the United States
100,000 in Brazil
35,000 in West Africa
175,000 in Eastern & Central Europe
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr97.htm
India has second largest population of people living with AIDS. Indians still don't want sex education.
http://www.who.int/countries/ind/en/
In India, 50% of new AIDS infections are between 15 and 24 years old.
http://www.unicef.org/india/hiv_aids_2587.htm
From Bangladesh about 300,000 women and children have been trafficked to India. In addition between 100,000 and 200,000 Nepali women and girls are said to be working in India’s sex industry.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_23464.html
I haven't mentioned poverty, pollution, corruption, malnutrition, domestic violence, casteism, illiteracy, rural/urban divide, water/electricity shortages, questionable oppresive beliefs, so many idiotic cultural taboos etc.
References:
India: Environmental Issues
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/indiaenv.html
Rethinking waste management
http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/apr/env-rethink.htm
Human Waste Overwhelms India's War on Disease
http://swopnet.com/engr/sanitation/India_sewers.html
India: Undernourished children
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf
The 2006 Human Development Report
http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/
UN Millennium Project - Goals and targets
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/goals_targets.htm
Global Corruption Report - includes India
http://www.transparency.org/
