India's Distant Promises

It is easy to lose focus on the Viksit Bharat and Net Zero goals, unless there is clarity about what exactly is aimed to be achieved, and how

- AJAY TYAGI

Aspirations, backed by conviction, motivate an individual, a company, or a nation to achieve progress and growth. A corporation's vision and mission documents depict its aspirations. As for nations, many aspirations are embedded in various public documents, including some core ones in their constitutions. In addition, from time to time, the political leadership sets various aspirational goals, guided by ideology, expediency, and other commitments.

This article is about the two most ambitious long-term declarations made by the present political leadership in India: Viksit Bharat by 2047 and Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070. The paths to realize these two goals crisscross in many ways, and a harmonious approach is essential to reach the destination. The question is—do we have sufficient clarity about what exactly is aimed to be achieved, as well as how it would be achieved?

Let's begin with the ambition of having a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Vikas, or development, is an amorphous term with varying connotations. What exactly is proposed to be achieved? The commonly available literature focuses on how the country could possibly exit the lower middle-income trap and move its per capita income up the ladder, from lower-middle to higher-middle levels, according to the World Bank methodology.

While this should definitely be aimed at, is it enough? What about the other parameters, some quantifiable and the others not quite so, including the ones relating to betterment of social and environmental conditions, viz. the Human Development Index ranking, reducing income inequality (Gini coefficient or some other measure), improving infrastructure, including in cities, and containing environmental damage? Has there been enough public consultation on the subject to come to a well-reasoned conclusion?