DEBATE (1)

1. Rahul Gandhi

2. Sharad Pawar

3. Rajnath Singh

4. S S Aporiya

DEBATE(2)

1. Amit Shah

2. Rahul Gandhi

3. Priyanka Gandhi

4. J Srivastava

Swadeshi or Videshi

Budget After Budget Swadeshi products don’t command consumer loyalty because of quality. Negligible investment has gone in upgrading product and service quality so far because in the domestic market “har maal bik jaata hai”. One compromise on quality can turn the customers away, like a poor zip on the jeans or button on a coat or packaging of edible goods. If the consumer demand is satisfied by videshi products, no amount of exhortation can bring them back to the seller of the swadeshi goods. Swadeshi is no more a matter of sentiments as used to be before 1947 when it filled the youth then with nationalistic fervor. Today nationalism, nationalistic or patriotic are freely ridiculed in the name of liberalism and secularism (both used without anybody able to define authoritatively and includes even violent professors and historians trying to manhandle a governor). The adjective “swadeshi” is similarly ridiculed. It was extensively used during the first 2 decades of independence along with “import substitution” and “self-reliance”, especially in the budget speech of the finance minister to tax what was thought to be “luxury goods” or “non-essential imports”. These categories are in use with the only difference that the list of items keeps changing without any application of mind for genuine high rate of economic growth. It results in stunting upgradation of higher education, research, development, innovation, proto-type development, application of technology. Demand is met by imports. While jobs meant for Indian knowledge workers are lost, the consumer gets either cheap Chinese goods or smuggled high priced goods. The daily seizures at airports are proof of the hunger of the people for imported goods. Import of real essential items like life saving drugs is another matter. The country needs to identify items (not sectors) for domestic production if we aim to provide jobs (har haath ko kaam) or become a real $5tr economy in the next few years. By way of illustration, let us look at “village industries”. The village as an adjective gives an impression as if it signifies backwardness- backwardness of the industry, producer or the consumer. Nothing of the sort. Village industries have the potential of creating millions of high-quality jobs, provided they are given modern technology support. I wonder if there has ever been a fight for the allocation of the village industries portfolio among the ministers, coalition parties or bureaucrats like we witness for Finance, coal & Mining, Home, Rural Development etc. Can we visualize the KVIC as one big MNC of the world? At least think about the artisans who produced with hands what the machines had taken over during industrialisation swallowing millions of jobs and generating unprecedented pollution globally in less than 200 years. Village industry does not mean lack of technology- it can be the state of art technology applied appropriately to strengthen the village industries and sustainable growth. The so called MNCs have developed their village industries to the level of corporations on the strength of technological inputs and sell globally their products.          

M L Gupta