INDIA is currently confronted by the dilemmas of development but there is a way out if we follow an inclusive path, said CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury. Delivering the inaugural address at  India Summit organised by South Asia Study Group of Sydney University, Yechury said, as a country with a working population of  about one billion, India has tremendous possibilities of high growth if the government can provide these people employment, education and health. He underlined the fact that India’s development trajectory must take advantage of the highest working age population in the world.

Under the new dispensation led by the BJP, the country has seen a drastic reduction in social security expenditure, particularly affecting the weaker sections of society, he observed. At the same time, the government is doling out enormous range of tax subsidies to the rich. He drew the attention of the summit to the issue of piled-up non-performing assets of the government-owned banks. He said that about Rs 8.5 lakh crores of loans due to banks by various corporate houses are further squeezing the resources for welfare expenditure. He said that these bad loans highlight the intensity of crony capitalism foisted by neo-liberalism on the country. He raised objections to the idea of setting up of a 'bad bank', which allows the defaulters to get away scot-free. 

Pointing out the reality of BJP’s slogan of ‘Make in India’, he said that unless the majority of the working age population is provided with an opportunity to work, we can’t realise the dream of Make in India. Taking example from expatriate Indians, he questioned why Indians armed with certain skills and capabilities are able to prosper beyond Indian borders whereas the same people with same set of skills and capabilities in the country are forced to live in humiliating conditions. He said that this contradiction points at the failure of the governments of the day in putting to better use the natural resources, including the labour, the country is endowed with. The constantly falling growth of industrial production demonstrates that merely taking care of the interests of capital is not going to solve the problems unless it is coupled with taking care of the interests of human capital as well. 

He criticised the policy roadmap charted out by the current government, where it is unable to inspire confidence of creating a better India except in big hoardings. There is a need to change policies to ensure that the benefits of growth reach the needy people.  One of the ways to ensure this is by moving away from the path of crony capitalism, which receives large amount of corporate debts which are never returned. These large amounts of bad debts must be recovered, if necessary through an amendment to debt recovery act, and those amounts must be used for the much needed infrastructure creation and employment generation. This is the only way to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth. The only way to build a better India is to build an inclusive India in which all the marginalised sections of society and sectors of economy are able to play a suitable role according to their capacities, while the government takes care of basic necessities such as education, health and employment along with the basic livelihood security. 

Addressing queries regarding the renewing massive employment generation programmes such as MNREGA, he said that the country needs a new New Deal to reinvigorate the economy as a whole in which programmes like the MNREGA play a significant role.  He also said that the current scenario of global economy is posing more problems for emerging countries such as India instead of sustaining the current growth pattern. He reminded that there is a direct relation between falling rates of export growth and industrial production. In such a situation, a new New Deal is needed which caters to the needs of domestic market rather than hoping to capitalise on foreign export markets. He explained that only such a new New Deal can pave the way for building an inclusive India. 

Responding to the questions about the cross-border tensions, he said that it was unfortunate that the government is trying to politically encash the bravery of our military personnel. The kind of claims made by the BJP government have given an opportunity to the Pakistan government to organise a visit for international media. This further forced the government to place more hard facts about the surgical strikes in public domain which is not in the interests of our military operations. He also questioned the government’s claim that the surgical strikes would stop any future terror attacks from across the border. With the recent attacks on Baramulla and Handwara, the government’s claims have indeed failed, he said. 

On the subject of foreign policy, he said that as a fountain head of the NAM movement, India stood as a champion of the interests of developing countries.  This standing has been seriously compromised under the new dispensation which is more interested in transforming India from a self-respecting nation to a subservient junior partner of America. India should instead strive to sincerely develop a peaceful neighbourhood policy, as is the declared objective of government’s foreign policy.  Becoming a subservient junior partner in USA’s grand design at the cost of developing a sustainable better relations with immediate neighbours of SAARC countries, would neither do justice to the peaceful development of the region nor to India.

On the sidelines of the India Summit, Yechury also participated in the meetings organised by Indian diaspora in Canberra and Sydney where an interesting discussion took place on the state of Left movement in India. Answering a question regarding the inflow of young blood into communist movement in the country, Yechury attributed the change to the modern times which have come with multiple influences. He asserted that the situation is changing now, and more and more young blood is focusing on reshaping India to meet the aspirations of the young generation. Responding to another question about writing of Hindu Rashtra in 1992, he said that it was his attempt to alert the nation about the impending danger, which has proved to be a reality now with the RSS hegemony over different sectors of social and economic life. He said that India has never witnessed the politics of hatred which is playing a key role now. He urged the diaspora to contribute their share in maintaining and protecting the multiplicity and diversity of India, so that the standing of the diaspora is also protected. Unless we preserve the linguistic, religious, cultural and social diversity and work towards economic advancement of the people, it is difficult to hand over a better India to the next generation, Yechury said.