W. Bengal: India ’s poor can onl y be helped by correct policies.

[Harold Schiffman]

Not Through Tears


India's poor can only be helped by correct policies.

Writing in the Outlook, Anirban Bose tells the heart-wrenching story
of his refrigerator deliverymen who were not allowed to use the
elevator in his gated housing complex. Bose is appalled by the
ridiculous rules of his local community which forced the them to use
the stairs despite the heavy load. He despairs that if such attitudes
persist through an era of double digit growths and "India has arrived"
slogans, has the Indian success story made any difference to the
"have-nots" or are they being asked to eat the proverbial cake.

Bose's experience is hardly unique; India remains a feudal society
where exclusionary tendencies run extremely strong. Perhaps, the
strongest indicator of it remains the English language; those lucky
enough to know the language treat the rest as something less than
human. It is not confined to the fact that English is an essential
pre-requisite for success in the knowledge economy; it has an
independent effect on social class by it self. An industry which calls
it self the largest film industry in the world conducts its own award
programs in English not so much to be more inclusive but more as a
confirmation that its top stars and auteurs can speak the language.
That is the level of in-confidence and cultural acquiescence which is
the hallmark of modern India.


Here arises an important question: What should be the appropriate
response to policies of exclusion? For much of India's
post-independence history, India's politicians have attempted to
protect their constituents from the winds of change. Take the language
policy as an example. In West Bengal, the Communist government has
only in recent years reversed its "Bengali First" policy which had a
deleterious effect on future of at least two generation of students.
In states like U.P, English continues to be neglected and millions of
students who come from the poorest strata of the society are deprived
of one tool which would guarantee them an entry into the knowledge
economy. This malaise has lately spread to states like Maharashtra and
even Karnataka. In each such case, the poor are the real sufferers;
the middle class and rich anyway don't patronize the municipal
schools.

And yet, language and cultural zealots continue to defend their
policies. They argue that their policies protect the ''son of soil"
against the onslaught of outsiders. They will rant against the small
English speaking elite and the disproportionate power it enjoys while
conveniently forgetting it is their own short-sighted vision which has
facilitated the rise of this small minority. English remains a
predictor of social divide precisely because only a small minority has
the opportunity to learn it! The policies of protection only
strengthens the power of exclusion.

Mr Basu's heartfelt column unfortunately displays the same weakness.
That his neighbors can actually refuse to share their elevator with
people lower in the social strata astounds and pains him. But what
else can be expected in a country which remains extremely poor;
despite a decade and half of economic growth, over 250 million survive
on less than dollar a day. Naturally, those unfortunate enough not to
be part of this economic success are treated with disdain and
contempt.
The answer is not to blame the reforms–rather it is to demand that
those hitherto left out be provided with the means to participate in
the India's economic success–including access to schools which teach
English! That is the best and only possible answer to social
ostracism.

Skeptics may point out economic reforms–the market–cannot change
social norms. Caste, to give one example ,continues to thrive in
middle class India. But it is not market's job to effect social
transformation; its job is to make social biases meaningless. India's
cellular companies drastically reduced the prices of cellular
telephony so much that even the neighborhood watchman (and most
probably Mr Bose's deliveryman) can afford it. TATA group's new car,
Nano, can potentially make every two-wheeler owner a car driver. Those
who run Airtel and Tata Motors may still refuse to the share their
elevators with the poor but has it stopped them from designing
services to meet their needs? The profit motive provides a greater
incentive for inclusiveness than hundred social sermons. Contrast this
with the attitude of the government owned Indian railways which packs
the poor like sardines in second class compartments while exorbitantly
priced air conditioned coaches are accessible only to the rich. That
is real exclusion!

The biggest positive social effect of economic reforms has been the
democratization of wealth. Mr Bose may think that the number of
"haves" have not expanded but every statistic points to an exponential
rise in the strength of India's middle class. In fact, every warning
that India's poor would rise in revolt against the nouveau-rich is a
testimony to the very success of economic reforms. After all, economic
disparities existed in the pre-reform India too. It was merely that
power and wealth was concentrated in so few hands that inequality
remain largely a non-issue.

One further question: is there a role for government regulation in
ensuring that minimum safety standards are met for people who may not
be served well by the market–yet. Unfortunately, in India, this debate
invariably regresses into an ideological quagmire which ignores the
elephant in the room: any such regulations is meaningless till quality
of governance is improved. Otherwise, It will only further lead to
inspector raj and its essential by-product: corruption. The market
solution may not be perfect–indeed, it may fail to meet the
sensibilities of Mr Basu and others like him, but it still remains
infinitely superior to its alternative.

One can only hope that Mr Basu would place more faith in the market
and its processes. He may yet discover that it will not only provide
bread but eventually the cake too.

http://retributions.nationalinterest.in/not-through-tears/

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