Sustainable Human Development in India: Some thoughts

India is the 7th-largest country in the world in terms of area, but the 2nd-largest in terms of population. Recently, the population crossed a staggerring 1.2 billion. This means that roughly 16 per cent of the world's population lives in India. The question is, what is their standard of living? Unfortunately, the answer is "very unsatisfactory". In terms of Human Development Index, which is supposed to reflect an average person's access to what is considered as basic amenties-food, water, sanitation and education (and others), India ranks much worse than many African countries.

The Indian cities have been witnessing phenomenal growth in population. This is mostly due to migration of people from smaller towns and villages, in search of jobs. Some of these migrants are educated youngsters who come to work in the companies (Bangalore, the IT and engineering hub of India attracts educated youngsters including myself from all over the country), and many others come in search of lesser-paying jobs like drivers, labourers,  carpenters etc. Many others travel each day to the cities from suburbs as daily wage earners. The first category are paid lucrative salaries by the MNCs-there are reports of college freshers being offered 40lakhs per annum-with which they start living luxurious lives. The second category often earn as little as 40K per annum, despite severely demanding nature of their jobs. Apart from this disparity of income, the profligate lifestyles of the rich citizens tend to hamper the living conditions of the cities. Bangalore suffers the problem of traffic congestions as it has far more private cars it can handle. Added to this is the problem of pollution. I will advocate a law that no citizen should be allowed to posseess more than 1 car or two-wheeler. Moreover, private cars and taxis should be allowed to travel only if they carry some least number of passengers (perhaps 3). While this may be looked upon by some as encroachment on personal freedom, such a step may be necessary for sustainability of the system given that it is under enormous stress. On the other hand, the government has to improve the public transport system. This will not only reduce the need for personal transport, but also provide employment.

Housing is another issue in big cities. While the rich people often practically own several flats-far more than what they need-the poor people are forced to stay in slums or congested settlements, in poor conditions. We can do with a law that will allow a person to own only one flat in a city, and that too if his wife/her husband and his/her parents do not own a flat. If a family is too big to be accomodated in a single flat then additional flat can be owned, but only after a verification by a commitee.  There should be a dedicated municipal body in each city to control housing. Once the rich people consume less space, the extra space can be used to provide better living conditions for dwellers of slums and shanties.

Two of the deepest problems in India are corruption and population explosion. For corruption control there are laws which are usually ineffective, as the enforcers are themselves corrupt. For population control the government has tried out different measures over the years-from forced sterilization to awareness programs. Yet there is no let-up in population growth. I wonder if the government can observe every alternate year as "Birth-Free Year"s, in which no new birth will be allowed. Of course, it will have to be made known well in advance so that families can plan accordingly. Any birth reported in such years would be considered as an offence, and will be dealt with accordingly. The government had coined a slogan "Hum Do, Hamare Do" over a decade ago, urging couples to have at most two children. It can be turned into a law.

It may not be nice to have such restrictions on people in a democratic country. But India has serious problems with her economy, population and living conditions of the people. Unfortunate but true, Indians still consider cars and houses as status symbols, and are driven by the desire to possess more of them without caring about the larger picture of sustainable growth of the country. That is why I find it important to have such laws, even at the cost of some personal freedom.

A train journey (a completely random post)

It was a warm and sunny day in Bangalore. Around 12 noon, I put my bag on my shoulders, double-locked my hostel room, called home that i am departing and set off. I bought some snacks from the shop opposite Kabini, and went out through the main gate. After waiting a few miniutes, a Majestic-bound bus came and I boarded it. Around noon on a saturday the roads were clear, and in about 20 minutes i was outside the huge building with "Bangalore City" written on top in 3 languages. I texted mom and entered the station building.

Like any major railway station in India, it was very crowded inside. After moving about arbitrarily for a few minutes I finally found the electronic display for arrivals and departure. My train, Vrindavan Express, had been scheduled on Platform 1. So, no overbridges. I reached the platform and found it vacant. I sat on a bench and waited. The platform was clean and relatively empty. Soon i got bored and started walking up and down, looking at the various charts put up along the walls. Before long i heard a whistle and turned back. The Up train was coming from Chennai, led by a red WAP4 loco. The same rake will return to Chennai. The train stopped, the passengers got down, the railway staff locked the doors from inside for maintainance. Finally around 2PM they were opened for the Chennai-bound passengers. I pulled out my e-ticket printout and checked my coach and seat number. It was AC Chair Car, and I had booked a window seat. I was only the third passenger to board my car, and quickly found my seat and occupied it. 

Ever since childhood, i have had a deep passion for train journeys. Even at the age of 25, nothing attracts me more than train journeys. I really find it weird when i see people sleeping on the upper berth all through the day in a train. On a train I never need a companion, or even a book, and sit glued to the window all day. The ever-changing landscape, the stations, tracks, other trains and locomotives fascinate me. 

There is another kind of excitement that i feel when i first board a train. Who will be my co-passengers? Will there be a family, a group of college students returning home, servicemen travelling alone? Most importantly (though least likely) will there be a nice girl of my age, travelling alone to the same destination? I sat in my seat for several minutes, in optimistic excitement. Soon my copassengers arrived. A sikh family of 4 members- husband,wife, child and another male. The adults were in their early 30s. The sardarji sat next to me, and his wife on the corridor seat. It was time for departure. Soon there was a long whistle and the train moved. I texted mom again and looked out. The journey had begun!

The train rolled slowly, over the elevated tracks. We were travelling next to the busy main roads of bangalore. The train was crawling slowly, and the vehicles on the road were overtaking. I hate this stuff. I don't understand why the vehicles appear next to the train only when it is crawling- why can't they come when it is running at full speed? On long journeya, very occasionally when the tracks come next to a highway and I see my train overtaking the trucks, buses and cars, I feel really excited! After several minutes of rolling, the train reached Bangalore Cantonment station. Many people boarded my car. The TTE appeared soon. I gave him my e-ticket printout. He checked the name, ticked it and returned it to me without nothering to check the identity card. Sardarji got his ticket checked, and looked at me. He asked in Hindi if I was travelling alone. I replied in the affirmative. Then he asked me whether I lived in Bangalore, and then which school I studied in. I have got used to being asked this in trains. I replied that I study in a college. He looked genuinely surprised. This is the one moment I hate on trains. I would generally love to talk to copassengers- but as a 25-year-old matured person, not as a 14-year-old boy which they usually consider me (not without reason). On further questioning by Sardarji I just said that I study engineering, and was going home in Kolkata. This is what i usually reply when asked on trains what i am studying- I really hate it when people stare at me, obviously wondering how this 14-year-old boy is doing PhD....has India finally got a new child prodigy?

To avoid further questions I concentrated on the window. To be polite I kept looking into the compartment from time to time, so that Sardarji did not think i was avoiding conversation or something. When he asked nothing more for the next 15 minutes, I pulled out my earphones and plugged them into the ears, and started enjoyong the journey. The train had now crossed the city limits of Bangalore, and was moving at a good speed towards Bangarapet. There is a curious feature next to the track- a hillock with extremely large round rocks on it. As it passed, I thought of photographing it with my mobile camera but decided against. I tried to estimate the speed of the train by looking at the mileposts and measuring the time. We were taking 33 seconds to cover a kilometer- more than 100kph. I was satisfied.

The train reached Jolarpettai bang on time, and departed. I sent yet another text home, and again concentrated on the window. It was a bright sunny afternoon over the fields and meadows. The train was rushing at over 100kph again. I loved it all- the weather, the scenary, the speed, the fact that i was going home, the song playing in my earphone, and the very fact that i am on a train. The speed reduced after some time, and soon we came to an unscheduled halt in the middle of a field. Obviously the train was waiting for signal. 15 minutes passed. I was feeling disturbed. The journey resumed finally, and we reached Katpadi behind time. The sikh family got down, and two other people boarded the train and took the seats next to me. This time, the person sitting next to me was actually a girl. As soon as she took her seat she pulled out a phone and started speaking over it in Tamil. I took out my lunchbox and ate the snacks i had bought in iisc. It was getting dark. There was not much to look outside. This was a problem with AC coaches- nothing can be seen at night as the glasses reflect the interior of the car. I abandoned the window and looked into the car. The girl had an e-ticket, and had kept it ready for the TTE. At one point i gave a short glance out of curiousity- Meenakshi, 28 years, Katpadi to Chennai.

A couple of hours passed. I was getting bored inside the car, and kept peeping through the window occasionally but nothing could be seen outside. Only i could feel the train moving. To entertain, I kept following the music in my earphones. At length, lights became visible outside. We were entering into an urban area- possibly chennai. We were soon travelling next to roads, buildings and shops. Finally the train entered Chennai Central. The delay had been more than made up-we were 15 minutes before time. The passengers got down, and from the platform i gave a call home. Then i hurried to find the electronic displays- i had to find the Chennai-Howrah Mail now.