Globalisation

Sir, - Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's call for the benefits of globalisation to filter down to the common people at the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum is good in intention at best, but going by the past experience and the future course of reforms and initiatives, it will only lead to a greater divide between the ``haves'' and ``havenots''.

We do not seem to have learnt from the experience of the last decade that reforms and globalisation have not improved the lot of poor and marginalised people. Has their quality of life improved? The answer is a resounding ``No''. It is visible for all to see, both in the urban and the rural areas.

Employment, water supply, sanitation, public health and primary education are lagging behind. At the same Forum, our Finance Minister, Mr. Yeshwant Sinha, said that the palpable effect of growth has to be in terms of providing basic minimum needs such as schools, medical services and clean drinking water. Is there a specific strategy for this? They are merely paying lip service.

It will remain mere rhetoric so long as the dichotomy between intentions and action at the ground level continues as it is. I say ``good intentions'' because there is difference between ``good intentions'' and the right initiatives at the ground level.

Successive governments have shown that they have not delivered. They cannot deliver and the only salvation is empowerment of women and the rural and urban masses. First, we have to remove the impediments in the way of empowerment - less government, not more government.

We should revisit our approach to globalisation and reforms, and on our terms, keeping in mind India's requirements and interest. Do we have the guts to do it? That the growth of IT will help solve our problems is a myth.

Top-down development is necessary but is not the panacea. Grassroots, bottom-up development, for our country with a majority of the population who are either poor or do not have a sustainable income, is more relevant.

``Despite unprecedented increase in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedom to vast numbers - perhaps even the majority - of people,'' says Dr. Amartya Sen. When will we wake up?

M. V. Murugappan,

Chennai

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