BIBEK DEBROY'S  BOOK

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India  2047--Voices of  The Young  ; Edited by Bibek Debroy; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages  162 ; Price Rs. 895/-

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Bibek Debroy, the Editor of the book under review is presently a member of Niti Aayog. He studied in the Delhi School of Economics and Trinity College, Cambridge. He has held exalted positions in the Government—Director of a Ministry of Finance Project on Legal Reforms ; Department of Economic Affairs, the NCAER. He has published  several books and many articles in learned journals. He was awarded Padma Shri  in 2015.

 The Chief Economic Adviser  to the Government of India Shri.Arvind Subramanian in a scintillating Foreword to this book calls it a “ terrific volume” where the contributors have chosen to “ disembark themselves of short view and taken wings into the future” quoting the venerable and redoubtable  J.M.Keynes.

The Niti Aayog which is the successor to the Planning Commission has an initiative known as the Y P P (Young Professionals Programme). Nineteen  YPs—who hail from a diverse and varied background—in terms of region, ethnicity, gender, caste and religion—were asked to write short essays on what interested them personally and individually, cutting away from macroeconomic kind of projection work that they normally do in Niti Aayog. The book under review is the result of this experiment. We find a ubiquitous strand of bullishness and optimism running through all the essays. One gets a refreshingly different take on “India in 2047”—A Century of Freedom.

India is a young country with a median age of around 25 years. Economists call it a           ” Demographic Dividend”. We have a generation born or brought up after 1991—an impatient generation. Arvind Subramanian points out four striking features of the  contributions to this volume. The first is “ social cleavages”—created by class, caste, religion, region, gender, language and sexuality. We have made progress in some respects. The second is the key role assigned to technology to transform possibilities for the future. Third is that all the changes imagined and devoutly wished for by the contributors are not based on revolution or struggle. The young like to see change occurring through the democratic structure rather than through its circumvention. The fourth aspect is that the young think in terms of outcomes and less in terms of how change will be brought about.

We now come to individual contributions. In a moving essay Sara Philips writes on the agony of those becoming victims of human trafficking and their harrowing lives. She pleads for ending this organised international menace.

Lakshmy Parvathy’s subject is “Transgender “. Social intolerance of transgender is embedded in a diverse range of social structures and institutions right from family, marriage, religion, media, workspace, child adoption, inheritance, access to public spaces, health services and social welfare programmes. The LGBT rights movement in India has given political space for transgenders. The Supreme Court also passed a favourable judgement in 2014. The Rajya Sabha passed a Private Member’s Bill in 2015. The NALSA  judgement is a landmark of legal struggle in the right direction.

Ranveer Nagaich writes on “The City of Kanpur in 2047” . We have driverless transport, personalized medicine, an accountable government, clean energy. Public services have been widened to cover the poorest of the poor. Manufacturing and services are growing faster than the national and state averages. The city has expanded vertically rather than horizontally as boundaries have been fixed on urban growth. Kanpur’s quality of life is the highest it has ever been.

Swati Saini studies India as the  “Wellness Capital of the World ”. India is the source of a wide variety of teas, coffees, spices, oils and herbs. In addition to the talented trainers and teachers in the fields of wellness training there are some of the world-renowned places in India that contribute majorly in its booming wellness tourism. Kerala boasts of its world famous Ayurveda and Kairali massages ; Uttaranchal has become  the Yogic and Meditation Capital ; Goa is famous for holistic living and Rajasthan for its heritage living destination.

Simi Thampi presents “ Vision 2047 ”—Smart Living in Megacities of the Future. Such a life requires three tangible components. They are smart public transport system, smart housing and smart waste management. We should have air buses, intra-city elevated buses and electric buses. We should have elevated rapid transport systems and multi-level highways and expressways to facilitate faster movement. There should be no slums in India. Affordable pre-cast technology will make available full apartment in a single day. Transportable houses are also envisaged. Urban waste must be disposed off scientifically and speedily. As Japan has done with great efficiency   in “ Dream Island” in Kyoto we should create artificial islands to contain waste. Effective Planning will ensure success of megacities.

A warm welcome to this volume bursting with great ideas of how to make India a glorious place to be in.Nineteen crisp essays on diverse  subjects guaranteed to buoy up the readers hope and enthusiasm.

P.P.Ramachandran.

16 / 04 / 2017.