Need for a Growth Constituency
by Anshuman Goenka
A month back Business World published a quick read on the slowdown in infrastructure over 2004-09, which shows just how neglected all sectors have been in spite of the lip service. As taxpayers and ordinary citizens impacted by the slowdown, is it not surprising that there has been no remedial action. To my mind, the best explanation for this is the absence of a clear growth constituency which no political party has ever felt the need to service.
Recently, a young and rather prominent Member of Parliament visited Surat and loudly told TV channels that he found the diamond workers in that city unattended to at this time of distress, and that he, a member from Uttar Pradesh, wanted to work for these diamond workers, left unheeded by the local state government. It was noble thought well-articulated, and rather reminiscent of the 1971 slogan Garibi Hatao, which just cannot be debated against. Because the plight of the Surat diamond worker is no different from the IT employee in Hyderabad or the garment-maker in Coimbatore. I do not know what can be done to revive these export-serving cities in the face of an economic slowdown. What we get is a fresh face, when we actually need a fresh idea. The difference that we must seek of our MPs and the government is whether they have a vision, an attention to detail and an ability to make difficult choices.
2009 can be the one time when we make this change. If we, and people like us, stand up to be counted, to not accept a 4-6% real GDP growth when McKinsey tells us that our potential is north of 10%, if we do not want our taxpayer dollars to be wasted on meaningless expenditure, if we believe that private enterprise has the potential to create a vibrant India, and that the agenda of policy reform is nowhere complete, if we believe that privatization should not be held hostage to Left parties, 2009 is a pivotal election for India.
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2 Responses to “Need for a Growth Constituency”
Great effort. The best thing neither you insulted anyone nor praised but delivered the message beautifully
[...] the concern over diamond workers, which is not a problem unique to a state (see my earlier post: Need for a Growth Constituency) but a wrong reason to run down a genuine achievement of the one state government that is [...]