Firstly, my sincere apologies for staying away for so long. I have had company over the last couple of months in the form of my girlfriend (if I am not too old to use that term) and therefore have spent most of my free time being very couply. If there is still anyone out there will to read then I am most gracious and if not then this will merely act as an outlet.
The reason I am writing now specifically is because the power has gone. It is raining rather heavily so I do wonder if it is likely to come back any time soon… I guess the power situation across India is a testament to the vast variation in this country. Power outages are so common here in Andhra Pradesh that new apartment use “100 % full generation” as a sales tool so that the A/C can keep cranking even when the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation runs out of steam. Conversely in states like Himachel Pradesh so much power is generated from hydro electricity that they only need a fraction of what they generate to sustain the state and the rest can be pumped into the national grid.
Believe the above also highlight another fact that is true in India. The lack of infrastructure and amenities really only tend to affect the poorest people (42 % of Indians live on under $1.25 a day). Things such a lack of sanitation, power, clean drinking water, quality education are easily overcome by the middle and upper class in the form of modern apartment blocks and houses, generators, water filters and private schools. I guess in most developing countries there is an establishment of luxury for the upper 1 % in the form of 5 star hotels, private schools, etc. Noteworthy is that in 1981 the percentage under the poverty line was 60 %, meaning that 1/5 of the population has now risen out of poverty (if you call making more than $1.25 something other than dirt poor). So this country is changing. Perhaps another 25 % and it’ll be less than 20 % under the poverty line but that is also a difficult task because the poor classes are generally the farmers. The income of these specific farms cannot rise to dramatically without either heavy subsidies from the government (EU style) or a dramatic rise in the prices of their crops (not likely to be to the effect where suddenly farmers are wealthy). Furthermore the poorest rural people in India are the ones that do not own land and merely work as day labourers; no steady income and no real prospects. Hope for this very large sub-group is only in the form of a generation transition where children will hopefully get an education and get into jobs (even menial jobs in India would put ones income way above the poverty line, assuming the person is without too many dependants). Therefore the transition will be slow and come with time and will be based on that children are allowed to pursue an education and do not need to help out with carrying water, etc.
I guess the point is that development poses many challenges, but the progress already made cannot be denied. India is no doubt coming strong and will only get stronger. There are obviously some strong challenges such as the corruption that seems to be incredibly common place here. The most prominent case in point is the commonwealth games that is currently being prepared is set to being in approx 1 month’s time. The budget has swelled to several times the original estimates, there are allegations of corruption, mass delays, worries about the quality of the constructed structures and a general worry that the whole thing will not be ready to roll. Add to this the fact that the start of ticket sales was delayed and are already below the expected rate. This does not as such surprise me but
