BudgetBlog - Social Sector

FM Chidambaram has called education and health care the twin pillars of the social sector. The increased outlay for both education and healthcare is a step in the right direction. However, the allocation falls way short of the target of 6% and 3% of GDP as mentioned in the CMP. The countries that have achieved high growth over a prolonged period have done so because of their strong emphasis on education and health. Education can make the difference between half a billion mouths to feed and a billion hands to earn. Health care goes a long way in ensuring battle ready soldiers in the fight against poverty.

Mid-day meal scheme, a concept pioneered by the late Congress leader Kamaraj ( former CM of TamilNadu) way back in 1960s is being now introduced all over the country. Well, better late than never! Establishment of 6000 model schools, opening of more Nehru Yuva Kendra, 3 new IITs and other excellent institutes of higher learning are laudable steps. Not only this, the govt. should expend all its energies in improving the quality of all institutes of higher learning in this country. Today we have few institutes of excellence like oases in deserts. It is the right of every Indian to see a forest of excellent institutes.

INSPIRE, if properly implemented can go a long way in ensuring an army of technologists and scientists that the country would need in days to come. To sustain a position of economic pre-eminence in this century, the role of science and technology can not be over emphasized. To tackle the problem of jobless growth, the FM has proposed the up gradation of ITIs and the launch of a world class skill development programme. He should have also considered the demands of IT and BPO industry for setting up of finishing schools for the graduates.

All the well intentioned policies of the govt. would come to nought if we do not focus on its effective implementation. A system of controls should be established so that projects are completed without cost or time over runs. Our record when it comes to implementation has been very poor and it’s an historic opportunity to set the record straight. Let’s march towards our rightful place at the top of the world order. CHAK DE INDIA.

Sustainable Development

CSR has come a long way from a being a dangerous fad to one of the functions of business. I feel time is not far when CSR wont be taken up just as an act of charity but for strong economic and business reasons. CSR is just one aspect of the broader idea of Sustainable Development. I believe Sustainable Development practices will be taken up by more and more companies as they see its advantages particularly in the long run. What exactly is Sustainable Development (SD)?

SD, as I understand, has three aspects to it- environmental, social and political. When the business practices are socially sustainable, politically sustainable and environmentally sustainable we have a business model that’s economically sustainable for perpetuity. Environmental sustainability deals with practices that do not harm the environment irrevocably. The companies need to be concerned about the natural resources that they consume and if possible, replenish them so as to remain resource neutral. Political sustainability deals with respecting the regulations of the countries in which we operate not only in letter but also in spirit. It calls for highest standards of corporate governance and business ethics. This is the only way we can forge a long term meaningful relationship with our customers, employees and the suppliers.
Social sustainability relates to the idea of inclusive growth. Our business divides the members of the society in two parts- one who are benefited by us and the others who are not benefited by us. It should be our endeavour to continually increase the count in the former group and reduce in the latter group. The logic for such a step can be easily seen from the fact that most of the countries today are democracies and it’s the numerically stronger group that decides the policies (at least on paper!). So, inclusive growth is no charity but a strategic move to cover up for the potential catastrophic losses in the future. It’s like buying insurance or going for hedging.

The time has come for all of us to embrace SD for our own benefits and long term survival.