60 years of Independence - India's achievements Contemporary India with a scientist President and an economist Prime Minister is very successfully

treading the fast track of development Starting from an utterly ruined and exploited country under the rule of the haughty Britishers who sponged away the India wealth, the story of India's success in the last ! years, is one of the prover"ial rise from 'rags to riches'# India's development within a short span of time, to the level of a country which on its own conducted nuclear test, $oining the elite clu" of nuclear powers, and now "ecoming a rightful contender for getting a permanent seat in %& Security Council, speaks volumes a"out India's success# Statistics and facts "ear a testimony to this, that the country once thought to "e $ust a place for the 'snake charmers' is making its presence felt in the land of 'elephants'# In fact, India is flourishing in the real sense, catching the imagination of the world and thus causing "linking of the eyes of westerners who are awestruck at the sudden metamorphosis of this sleeping giant# 'hen (anwal Si"al, a retired foreign secretary says, )there is little dou"t that India "ecame a ma$or player in the international checker "oard# It forced the world to engage with India on an entirely new "asis,) there is no exaggeration in it# *he truth of this statement is vindicated "y the Prime Minister of Singapore +ee ,uan -ew, who says, )China and India will shake the world., and in terms of glo"al corporate presence and representation, India is ahead of China#) India has arrived on the world market with a "ang / five lakh engineers, 0#1 lakh doctors and 21 lakh graduates# 3oldman Sach's B4IC report sees India as the third largest economy in the world "y 0!1!# 5nother report says that "y 0!0! only, India will "e the fourth largest economy# 5ll is going well for India now / an improved investment climate, high economic growth, a young population 62!7 population "elow 89 years of age: and a"ove all positive attitude of people# India is now among one of the "est performing economies of the world in terms of annual growth rate of 3rass ;omestic Product# Mr# (umar Mangalam Birla, Chairman 5ditya Birla 3roup says, )we have emerged stronger, fitter and a leader in many ways# I "elieve we are at an inflection point, past consolidation into a phase of growth not $ust incremental "ut accelerated)# *he fact that our foreign exchange reserve crossed < = "illion, reflects the growing confidence of investors in India# *he companies of India netted over 4s# 2!!!! crore in exports when the glo"al economy was seething in 0!!0/!8# *here are < companies whose exports net over 4s# <!!! crore, <1 companies exports goods worth 4s# 1!! crore and <1! compnaies which earn over 4s#<!! crore in foreign exchange# *he >?4B@'S list has included <A Indian companies under its list# &oting these positive developments, the %S &ational Intelligence Council in its report has predicted that India will "ecome glo"al player in the 0<st century# >or the first time India has entered the ranks of the world's tenth largest economies# *he 'orld Bank has descri"ed India as an 5sian 3iant and its report mentions '*his country rose form <0th to <!th in dollar term "etween 0!!0/!9, its 3#;#P# overtaking (orea and Mexico# *he economy of India has grown "y more than 27 in the past two years# 5part from economic advancement, the performance of India in political sphere is also

praiseworthy# *he present Prime Minister of India Mr# Manmohan Singh has successfully come from two foreign trips# In >rance the Prime Minister very competently 'leveraged India's new economic clout into advancing the vital strategic o"$ective of "reaking the restrictive &uclear Suppliers 3roups'# In %S, he very intelligently coaxed President Bush to work for giving legal status to India in the nuclear powers clu", in return of giving, )voluntary) right of inspection of only the civilian nuclear facilities to the international atomic watchdog I#5#@#5# *hose who allege India to have "ecome a party to the %S unilateralism in view of India's voting in Iran's case, alongside %#S#, must remem"er that India remained on its principle and didn't $oin %S on its war against IraB inspite of enormous %S pressure# It out/rightly re$ected this proposal# *his "ears ample proof that India has its independent foreign policy# It has matured politically and has now "ecome very realistic in its approach# It takes decision according to whichever way suits "est for the national interest# &ow there is no place for misplaced idealism or shi""oleth of third worldism# Showing utmost political maturity, India shoved aside decades of sloth and signed ma$or agreement with China a country earlier thought of as a "acksta""er and talk with it was a "ig no# ?ur country has now refused to "e trapped hopelessly in the remains of a "ad yesterday, proving once again that this is a nation hardened "y history, that it suffers only to renew itself the other day and that it keeps pace with the changing needs so as to "e in consonance with the ever changing time# *alks with Pakistan, restoration of the MuCaffara"ad "us service, the historic exchange of prisoners etc are the cases in point# 5nother important factor which radiates the flourishing of India is its successful and smooth functioning of democracy# 4ight from its start, it allowed %niversal 5dult >ranchise, a uniBue achievement in itself# Many scholars at that time predicted that a country as poor, illiterate and diverse as India, could not survive on %niversal 5dult >ranchise "ut succeeding years proved then wrong# *hese days the general election in India is the largest organiCed human event in history so much so that Indian @lection experts are invited "y 5merica# Inspite of "eing not very affluent, the wisdom of Indian electorate has "een proven time and again# )*he @conomist) of +ondon has very rightly made an apt comment regarding Indian electorate that, )the Indians have more political wisdom per thousand calories than any other people)# Prof +ani 3unier of Davard +aw school says, )*he "est "arometer to measure the health of a society is to look at the condition of its minorities who are like the coal minor's canary., the first to notice toxic gases in coal mines#) Seeing with this perspective also, Indians electroate's performance is Buite good# *hey discarded the &;5 under whose aegis 3u$rat cauldron of 0!!0 took place, not with landing the hooplah of India shining# Communal forces have "een out/ rightly discarded and secularism is on its hold# 5t present the sovereign head of India is a Muslim and the Prime Minister is a Sikh "oth from minority community# Social conditions are also developing fastly# *he num"er of middle class en$oying a good standard of living is growing at a rapid pace# *he hope for an egalitarian society is fulfilling its dream as today we have <87 scheduled caste grade I officers in the I#5#S# clim"ing from less than <7 in the early 1!'s# *he Indian diaspora with their commitment and hardwork are also making India proud# *he per capita availa"ility of grain and cloth is greater than "efore and health care is "etter# &ow even foreigners are coming to India for cheaper medical treatment#

*oday India is for more integrated than it was at <E92# Pro"lems do occur "ut have resulted in stronger identities and a larger Indian consciousness# &ativism is now giving place to Indianism# ;isasters and calamities do not dum"struck us# 'e have defiantly faced the havocs of nature like the @arthBuake or *sunami on national level# *he whole country unites as a family in giving succour and solace to the victims# In the field of education also, India is progressing# *he literacy rate in 0!!< reached 9#A7 from 10#0<7 in <EE<# *his increase of <0#17 during this period is the highest increase in any decade# It is also an achievement that the rate of growth in literacy is more in rural areas than in ur"an areas# *he gap in male female literacy rate has decreased from 09#A97 in <EE< to 0<# ! in 0!!<# In higher studies the II*'s 5IIMS and IIM's of India could compete with the "est institutions of the world# 4ecently *imes Digher @ducation Supplement ranked the II*'s as 8rd in all *echnological %niversities of the world# Seeing the enormous talent of Indian students the @uropean %nion has announced <!! @rasmus Mundus Scholarship for Indian's students which was previously offered to @uropean students only# In scientific, technological and "io medical research India has made a mark# *he launching of @;%S5* / a satellite purely for educational purposes marks a great lead forward in the area of satellite education# Space technology has also got a "oost# Culturally India is witnessing a great renaissance# Indian music, dance and various performing art have "lossomed in the last 1! years# &ow these have greater audience and their appeal is "ecoming universal# +anguage of India has seen resurgence# Indian writing in @nglish, like that of 5rundhati 4oy, ,humpa +ahiri etc has "een acclaimed in the @nglish speaking world# In the field of sports and entertainment also India is shining# Sania MirCa, +ender Paes, Sachin *endulkar, Fishwanath 5nand and Shekhar (apoor, 5mita"h Bacchan, 5ishwarya 4ai, Shah 4ukh (han are the "right Indian faces in the world arena# 5ll the a"ove mentioned points emphatically proves that India's achievement in the last ! years has "een commenda"le# Syed Tahseen Raza