Skip to main content

Book Review : India 2020 - A Vision For The New Millennium

INDIA 2020 – A VISION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

BY DR. A P J  ABDUL KALAM & DR Y S RAJAN


Image result for india 2020 book



This is perhaps one of the best known books penned on India’s Growth Imperatives in its search for developed country status, penned by one of India’s favourite sons-  our beloved Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President, Nuclear Scientist – and, as it turns out, thinker extraordinaire with a tremendous passion for India and all things Indian.  It has been co-authored with Dr Y S Rajan, who used to be the Scientific Secretary to the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. He was also associated with ISRO and the Department of Space

This book, as it turns out, is far more than a mere problems/challenges-and-solutions stuff... it is the dream of a great Indian, a man who had given his entire life in the service of the nation. It is in every way a vision, a passionate dream; but one that is well presented, sorted out, supported with extensive research, facts & data – and does justice to most of the problems and challenges our nation faces in its quest for developed nation status. It justifies its title in letter and spirit : A Vision For The New Millennium.

  
THE NEED FOR A VISION

Before delving into the specifics of the challenges, the book looks at the need of a national vision. The best part about this section, covered in 3 engaging chapters, is the usage of real world examples of visions – both from India as well as from the rest of the world. The Indian vision : The Struggle For Freedom... this drives home the point of how, when the majority of the people come to dream one single dream – the impossible becomes suddenly within reach and feasible.


The book then moves onto real world examples of how a vision document was created in other countries, and how it was implemented, giving a more practical, deeper insight into the concept of a vision and its applicability in the Modern World. The best part – appealing to both the emotional, historical and practical aspects of the first challenge, that of selling the concept of a vision is remarkable, and indicative of a person of high intellect as well as emotional maturity, which is of course well known to all of us!


THE VISION AND THE CHALLENGES

This isn’t a coffee table analysis, done on the basis of experience – this is the result of hard, painstaking research, with solid data, field work and a series of discussions with Government, Quasi Government  and private professionals from various fields, with an effort to understand as well as analyse each  and every aspect of the presented points. This is a veritable treasure of data, and not just an ideation session that seeks to implant ideas in your mind. This is a seriously put together document that needs attention and repeated referencing for it to be properly assimilated and understood by the serious reader.


The first task taken was then to identify the specific areas or industries where we can develop a competitive advantage, and go onto build world class infrastructure, institutions and companies in these areas. And this is where the book really hits home, and hard : as opposed to the current penchant of grand projects,  high tech fields, bullet trains, and smart cities that we currently dream of – the book takes off an entirely different tangent... and succeeds in developing a workable vision for all of us. Question is : are we working on it?


That is where the concept of a Vision comes in. The authors have identified all key variables that impact and influence the current status : population distribution and dependency, GDP factors, social variables, income distribution etc in a short but deeply incisive chapter that sets your grey cells on overdrive. From that exercise, the strategy to be adopted flows effortlessly, giving a complete picture of each  sector, with a chapter devoted to each :


*   Food, Agriculture & Processing
*   Materials and the Future
*   Chemical Industries and our Biological Wealth
*   Manufacturing for the Future
*   Services as People’s Wealth
*   Strategic Industries
*   Health Care For All
*   The Enabling Infrastructure

Note the selected points and areas : no mention of Power, Education, Infrastructure, Roads, Internet Connectivity, and other terms we are so used to hearing. Think for a moment about that : why should it be so? That is the leap of thought, the leap of insight we as a people urgently require. All the ones we eulogise about are in reality the  enablers, not the end-objective. We don’t need power for power itself, it is a means to production. Similar is the case with the other points mentioned.


By focusing on the means and only the means, we are leaving the what-to-so-with-these unplanned, and at the vagaries of the market; there is no conscious plan, no strategy industry wise, where we deal with the hindrances & the available opportunities to us as a people.  This reduces the efficacy, as market forces alone will never ensure competitive strength; it requires a series of inputs and plans to ensure a competitive strength in a defined area.


The chosen sectors are broad enough to ensure flexibility, and yet have, with sufficient details inside each section, core areas of concentration identified. That brings me to my second observation – if a Nuclear Scientist can understand, given the income distribution, people dependency on and status of Agriculture – that it has to be the thrust of any developmental effort that dreams to make India a developed nation, then why cant we? Food for thought. High time we, the people of India, started giving Agriculture the attention and respect it so richly deserves!


The book was authored in 1998, and 18 years have passed since then. We are very near the target date taken for the national vision: 2020. It would be pertinent to look at how far we have progressed on the dream of a developed India as put forth in the book. That, however, is a herculean task, given the vast number of data points given, industries covered, sectors analysed with solid data – and cannot be the subject of a single article; this will require subject matter expertise, and research on each topic... I do hope some people do this exercise. On my part, I will attempt an analysis of the area of my speciality in this : the field of my graduation – Agriculture. I hope to present it someday...

Comments

  1. very good book of All the time by chetanya vasudev

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Chetanya... sorry about the delay in reverting

      Delete
    2. thanks sir for such a good review of a wonderful book for a small girl's ambition to live in a developed India

      Delete
    3. thank you sir for writing such a good review of such a wonderful book in which the 'MISSILE MAN OF INDIA ' write the book for a small girl who wants in a developed India

      Delete
  2. thankyou for such a good review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ms Dhawan... sorry about the delay in reverting

      Delete
  3. Sir can I write this review as my college work

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, but you can use the review as a reference guide, just list it in the bibliography; and be sure to consult many other articles on this book, as well as read the book

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PK, The Movie : One Of The Best...

\ PK : A Movie Ahead Of Its Time; A Movie That Is A Very Vital And Current Need! I dont normally review movies; my blog does not lend itself to such an activity, given its positioning as one that asks some tough questions to Indians. I am making an exception for this movie, not because it is a landmark movie {which it is}, but because this movie is also one that asks some pretty blunt, and to some people, offensive questions.  It is rather sad and humbling to see the vigorous protests to this movie, and some cases of active on-street protests and interference in some places. Sad, because there is almost nothing in the content that should excite such actions; and humbling because it is a painful reminder that we as a nation have still a ways to go in our quest for true development! Before I move onto the movie, I have just one question : did the protesters also protest to Haider? If no, you did not find the negative portrayal of The Indian Army objecti

Tarkeshwar Mahadev : Pune Hidden Gems

What do you do when you have something good, something that is praiseworthy, and something that can be an attraction? Answer, if you are in Pune – keep silent about it, tell no one. This is seemingly exaggerated – perhaps it is exaggerated; but I am flabbergasted by a series of unbelievable locations that I have visited in Pune City – within main Pune City, mind you . These are not well known – at least not one single localite informed me, even on asking . At least those I talked. If I didn’t talk to the right people, perhaps I am in the wrong. But – if you expand your vision to TV, Cinema, Popular opinion, hotels – the situation above gets proof. I earlier visited Pune on a family holiday, stayed in a good Hotel. Not one Hotel informed me of these; not one person – Taxi, Tour Guide – even mentioned these . Thus, it seems to me that Puneites don’t realise how lovely a city they have, how mesmerizing are its many, many tourist-worthy places, how rich and unspoiled,

Book Review : Chhatrapati Shivaji

Chhattrapati Shivaji stands as one of the most celebrated medieval heroes in Modern India; it is a name that touches a chord in almost every Indian, and is a powerful force to reckon with even today, three centuries after his death. He is present everywhere you can see; he is one of the few to withstand the onslaught of naming everything in sight after the Nehru family. A Chhatrapati square her, a Shivaji Terminus there – many cities have honoured themselves with some landmark, statue, street or square in his name. Such is his current followership, and so powerful is his presence. This makes reviewing any book related on this personality a big responsibility, a tough task  – and not one to be taken with insincerity, or with bias,  or attitude. I had always thought of The Chhatrapati as a tall personality, a commanding and great Indian; but had never given a thought to the pull, the deep connect and the powerful influence this genius had on me; as I read the current book, as I t