Professor Satya Narayan Misra in Bhubaneswar, January 25, 2025: The Preamble to the Indian Constitution tries to balance two competing objectives before the state, one of securing all citizens ‘Justice, social, economic, and political ‘and the other of ‘ensuring the liberty of thought, expression, belief and faith and worship ‘ and equality of opportunity. Socialism added in 1976 by Indira was under legal challenge from the veritable gadfly Mr Subramanian Swamy.

The CJI Khanna has tried to put a lid on the controversy by clarifying that the idea of socialism in India meant a welfare state that provides equal opportunity and not a dictatorial dogma rammed down on the citizens. CJI Khanna was alluding to the addition to Article 38 in 1976, where it was mandated upon the state ‘to minimize income inequalities’ and ‘eliminate inequality in opportunity, which is at the heart of a highly asymmetric Indian society in terms of access to quality education, health care, and adequate nutrition.

In a perceptive book ‘India is Breaking’, the economic historian Askoka Mody takes several potshots at Nehru’s rule for fourteen years, while pulling a few punches at Mr. Modi’s ten-year rule. As for Nehru, he deplores his conspicuous lack of attention to human development, particularly -quality school education where the budget earmarked was a measly 2% of GDP against 5-6% by other emerging economies like China & South Korea after their independence.

The Meiji dynasty (1868-1912), with its attention to universal quality education, converted Japan from a feudal economy to a modern industrial power. All these three countries have become global manufacturing hubs, because of their strong commitment to human development & participation of women in the process of development. Mao famously said: Women fill up half the skies.

As is well known, economic liberalization embraced by India after 1991 has doubled India’s growth rate, exports as % of GDP, savings, and healthy foreign exchange reserves which can buy 9 months’ imports as against 15 days in 1991. Interestingly Mr. Modi carried on the free market ideology of Manmohan Singh, with greater gusto. Dismantling of the Planning Commission, privatization of Air India, liberal FDI, and the plan to privatize PSBs are part of this grand strategy. However, the continued poor performance of India in terms of human development parameters like infant mortality, maternal mortality, mean years of schooling, malnutrition among children, and anemia among adolescent girls makes India’s growth story like a glass half full.

The Kerala Model of development is often contrasted with the Gujarat model, which puts a premium on promoting private enterprise Mr. Modi’s tenure as CM from 2000-2013 was marked by subsidizing a few favorite industrialists like Adani to propel economic growth and infrastructure in Gujarat. However, such growth was accompanied by little job creation. Besides, Gujarat’s track record in terms of human development has been far from edifying.

As per the report card of Niti Ayog on the achievement of SDG targets, 34% of women are anemic, the quality of education is deficient 48%, and 46% wallow in hunger. In contrast, the human development model adopted by Kerala has ensured that 20% are hungry, 22% of women are anemic, and 80% enjoy quality education. In contrast, in terms of economic growth, industrial growth, and innovation, Gujarat has a better record compared to Kerala and All India trends.

The high level of HDI in Kerala has due to its handsome allocation of 17% budget to education as against 11.8% in Gujarat. Both the Kothari Committee in 1966 and the New Education Policy (2020) have implored the Centre & the States to spend 6% on GDP as against around 3.5% being spent, with states like Kerala & Delhi being the outliers. Education has been made a fundamental right for children in the age group of 6-14.

However, the assessment made by ASER’s reports from 2010 reveals serious learning gaps in reading, writing, and numeracy skills. No wonder, 30% of students (including poor parents) prefer to send their children to private schools. While universal access to education has been achieved in all states , the quality dimension continues to be a matter of serious concern in most states.

Women are considered the most potent catalyst in society when they are educated as it brings down the birth rate, and improves productivity, with the whole family benefitting. The NFHS V (2019-21) report brings out how anemia amongst adolescent girls has increased from 52% in 2015-16 to 56% in 2021. As per the UNICEF survey (RSOC Survey: 2014), 63% of adolescent girls are either severely thin or thin, not out of choice but due to inadequate availability of basic nutrition, proteins, micronutrients, and iron & folic acid. The states’ promise to have Anemia Mukt Bharat remains a chimera.

The Poshan program launched in 2018 has so far delivered very little by way of improving the supply chain management and using technology for connecting all stakeholders, except in terms of revving up the propaganda component. Female workforce participation shows a serious downward trajectory (23.7% now as against 70% in China). They are also most vulnerable during dystopia like demonetization.

The World Inequality Report (2023) has brought out how the bottom 50% account for only 7% of total income in India and the top 10% nearly 60% of the national pie. The recently released Oxfam Report strongly suggests that reduction in income inequality and funding the plethora of socially inclusive programs like ICDS, MDM, SSA &MNREGA should be achieved by the imposition of 5% wealth tax and 50% tax on the superrich. The present tendency to fund these programs through borrowing has the potential of being inflationary.

The global experience has been those countries like Russia, Cuba, the USA, Sweden, and China have invested handsomely in basic education and promoted female workforce participation. Prof Amartya Sen, while paying tribute to Dr Manmohan Singh has pointed out his lack of priority to foster quality education as a sad legacy. The 75th Republic Day is a good wake-up call for Mr. Modi, to make amends for this critical gap in our development strategy.