Can India become a First World nation within the next twenty years? Definitely, say the authors, in this seminal thought-provoking book. India is a paradox in many ways. It is rich in natural resources, possesses a thriving industry and has a large pool of technical manpower, but the large mass of its people are illiterate and poverty-stricken, and in terms of human development indices it is among the worst-off nations. We started well enough after independence but the lack of progress on many fronts thereafter is a major cause for concern. An old fatalism has begun to reassert itself and we have begun to lose our confidence. In India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, our most distinguished scientist, and Y.S. Rajan, who has been closely associated with the space programme, examine our strengths—and weaknesses—to offer a vision of how India can be among the world’s first five economic powers in the next twenty years.
The goal, as they assert, is not an unrealistic one. Extrapolating from current growth rates and trends, and suggesting various improvements and directions we can take to boost development, they show that we can soon be well on the way to providing our citizens with a decent standard of living. Past successes, too, bear them out. For example, we were able to produce enough food for our population through the green revolution, although many international experts scoffed at the notion that India could ever be without a begging bowl. In the sophisticated field of space technology we started from scratch to have today a system of satellite-based communication linking remote regions of the country. Initially there were failures in the space programme, but this only motivated our scientists to try harder. The same sense of purpose can lead us to success in many other areas. The aim: an India free from poverty, strong in trade and commerce, science and technology, providing health and education to all. After a talk on the role technology could play in shaping a modern India, a ten-year-old girl came up to Dr Kalam for his autograph. ‘What is your ambition?’ Dr Kalam asked her. The response was prompt. ‘I would like to live in a developed India.’ That aspiration, simply expressed, has been the hope of millions of Indians since independence. At the edge of the new millennium, Dr Kalam and Y.S. Rajan show us how to accomplish that goal. ‘A developed India by 2020, or even earlier, is not a dream. It need not even be a mere vision in the minds of many Indians. It is a mission we can all take up — and succeed.’—A P J Abdul Kalam
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