INDIA REIMAGINED
The Central Vista project is a metaphor for the radical makeover India is undertaking in its bid to empower its economically disenfranchised. EPISODE #90
Dear Reader,
A very Happy Monday to you.
Last week India buried another colonial legacy when it renamed the 3 km road connecting Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate as Kartavaya Path. It is not the first road to be renamed and neither will it be the last.
But this is significant as this stretch of road is the centrepiece of not just Delhi, but the entire country. It is the ground zero for India’s annual Republic Day parade and the prime get away spot for families. This stretch of road and the adjoining public spaces is also one of the key projects in the ongoing makeover of the Central Vista, an architectural masterpiece—check out the cover picture.
This week I argue that this redoing of the Central Vista is a metaphor for the ongoing socio-economic transformation that is empowering millions of previously economically disenfrnachised citizens. The democratisation of growth as it were.
The headline for this week is adapted from the title of the iconic book by Nandan Nilekani: Reimagining India.
Do read this week’s newsletter and share your feedback and insights.
A big shoutout to Gautam, Premasundaran, Niranjan, Vinita and Vandana for your informed responses, kind appreciation and amplification of last week’s column. Gratitude also to all those who responded on Twitter and Linkedin. Reader participation and amplification is key to growing this newsletter community. And, many thanks to readers who hit the like button😊.
KARTAVYA PATH
Last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally renamed the stretch of road connecting Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate as Kartavya Path.
It is part of the ongoing makeover of the Central Vista; a project which seeks to redefine the architecture, a colonial inheritance, to reflect the home grown cultural values of a modern India that is inclusive.
Addressing the evening programme hosted in the backdrop of an illuminated India Gate the PM made some very significant observations. I have listed a few below, not necessarily in the order it was delivered:
“Rajpath (or Kingsway), the symbol of slavery, has become a matter of history from today and has been erased forever.”
“The emotion and structure of the Rajpath were symbols of slavery, but today with the change in architecture, its spirit is also transformed.”
“Today, India’s ideals and dimensions are its own. Today, India's resolve is its own and its goals are its own. Today, our paths are ours, our symbols are our own.”
“Aspirational India can make rapid progress only by giving impetus to social infrastructure, transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure and cultural infrastructure as a whole.”
If you connect the dots, especially the ones I have enhanced in bold, the union government is not only undoing the colonial legacy—an important symbolic action—but is also laying the foundations of a new India which will be defined, like the national flag, by the country’s unique cultural traits and the mantra of inclusion.
Further, this foundation as the PM argued, rests on four pillars—including the digital economy—all of which seek to empower its people. Especially the economically disenfranchised.
To me the biggest takeaway of this ongoing architectural makeover is how it is a metaphor for the democratisation of growth. The end of status quo wherein the benefits of growth accrued only to a few.
Now, millions of Indians, who were used to living on the outside are beginning to look in, gradually becoming part of the formal economy. It is triggering unprecedented empowerment, which in turn is generating political power in the hands of the people—something that will eventually hold elected officials accountable for their action (or inaction).
Inclusion
The best example of this trend in inclusion is the spurt in the ownership of bank accounts. In 2008 only 17% Indians had a bank account as opposed to nearly100% today.
Yes, owning a bank account alone does not guarantee growth. But, it is a necessary tool which will eventually enable economic empowerment. Especially when it becomes a means of targeting welfare initiatives.
This was enabled by linking these bank accounts (Jandhan) to an individual’s Aadhaar and Mobile—christened as the JAM project. What it did was to provide an economic GPS to identify beneficiaries of social welfare. The upside of this was that it cut out corrupt intermediaries saving upwards of Rs2 trillion to the national exchequer.
The recently released All India Debt and Investment Survey conducted in 2019 reaffirms the financial inclusion trends. It found that nearly three in four Indians, living in rural or urban areas, own a bank account.
Similarly the the findings of the National Family Health Survey-5 reveal that this empowerment process has acquired fresh wings with large segments of the population now having access to a better quality of life. See the graphic below, it is self-explanatory.
Digital Swaraj
As a regular reader you would have noted that I am frequently alluding to this ongoing transformative change.
India has very impressively cracked the code on delivering social welfare by leveraging the digital economy. And this has been managed by first monetising identity through the issue of Aadhaar to over 1 billion Indians.
Sharing a highlight from the newsletter I wrote on Independence Day.
The beauty of this unique digital economy being forged by India is two-fold:
One, it is based on an open digital architecture. In other words it provides a state-of-the-art digital highway that anyone, government or private sector, can use to create innovations either for mass or niche use.
Second, it enables universal access by lowering the cost of onboarding; thereby building for inclusion and scale, something so critical for India with a population size of 1.3 billion.
The outcome of India monetising an individual’s identity and thereby democratising access to payments, health, social welfare and most recently covid-19 jabs is proving to be a game changer.
If you wish to re-read the piece please click the link below:
Subsequently I followed up and did an episode for StratNews Global on the same subject.
I discussed the theme with Pramod Varma, the brilliant tech evangelist who was also the chief architect of Aadhaar. Sharing the link below, in case you would like to watch it again (highly recommended).
The makeover of India, which gained acceleration over the last decade, promises to be the most impactful transformation ever.
Empowering 500 million people—more than the size of the population of the United States—using inclusive digital commons like UPI, CoWin, Ayushman Bharat will be unprecedented. It is the kind of story that should be told and retold.
Tragically most of us are oblivious about this makeover, preferring to operate within political bubbles. History, which has the benefit of hindsight, will however view this differently.
The Central Vista on the other hand is a tangible reminder of the transformative change that India has been embracing for the last two decades. Presumably it will inspire greater self-belief in the nation, inspiring even more renewal. Exactly why I argue that it is the metaphor for change.
Recommended Viewing
Recently excess rains devastated parts of Bengaluru, including sections housing the information technology companies. It was another example of extreme weather conditions, the frequency of which is seeing an unprecedented spike.
In the previous century India was experiencing about four natural disasters, including extreme weather conditions, a year. However in the last two decades this average has spiked to a staggering 17 per year.
If you recall I wrote recently about how the Reserve Bank of India has initiated a public conversation around climate change induced risks and the need for commercial banks to start reflecting these new risks in their books and lending practices.
This was also the focus of my latest weekly offering on StratNews Global. The guest was Neha Kumar, the India head of Climate Bond Initiatives.
I am sharing the clip below in case you missed the premiere last Thursday at 7 pm.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Till we meet again next week. Stay safe.
Anil, excellent insight. We are seeing yet another transformation, of aspirations of the masses getting priority. suddenly the voice of the last person in the line is being heard atleast. solid work in so many areas is being undertaken, that before we say goodbye to this world, India would have changed and changed for better, much better. it would really be for the people by the people and also with the people. yes we do have challenges, major hurdles but the socio economic system being created would greatly water down the effects and how dare you image of the elitist. social media and media have started asking very difficult questions to the elite political class that now they have to deliver. thanks for your weeking insightful article., always look forward to it. best of luck Anil.
It saddens me when I see very rational and intelligent people who are just not able to see all these grassroots work, due to their hatred towards Modi.