‘Atmanirbharta’ is Self-reliance. ‘Swavalamban’ is self-sufficiency. Both epithets have been used in the past few months freely by both inside and outside the government. Both are vehicles for happiness. Positive psychology, a basis for self-reliance helps one explore self-worth, self-expression, self-knowledge, resilience, all needed for self-acceptance. It’s not about doing everything oneself. It’s not even being financially independent. Certainly not for shouldering every hardship alone. It’s about a reliance on internal resources to provide life with meaning and fulfilment. Is ‘atmanirbharta’ our ‘sanskriti’, our ‘samskara’ as enshrined in our religious scriptures? There is a certain conformity in our lives that can be boring. We can challenge that through self-reliance, self-trust, and individualism. Cognitive, emotional, behavioural, interpersonal and practical skills help us in that pursuit. Fear has no place in realising these goals.
Have ‘collapse of communism’ and ‘decay of capitalism’ left an “ideological vacuum” in our world? Should our economics be governed by the rules laid down in our scriptures such as the Vedas, the Smritis, the Shastras, and other literature? How does a nation become self-reliant in this context? Our legal systems are a drill down of the British model. Is there a third way of life? Will the third way of life advocate a different legal framework like an ‘indigenous legal system’? Will the change in outlook find favour with the provisions of the constitution? Is there more to ‘atmanirbharta’ than what is being spoken about?
In May this year, our PM had announced a 20-lakh crore rupee, economic stimulus package under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan ‘. This is 10% of GDP. It enables collateral-free loans to MSME’s with a turnover of up to 100 crore rupees. A generous initiative in these Covid afflicted times, for it could help at least 45 lakh companies to buy raw materials and pay wages allowing about 11 crore people employed, breathe easy. The interest However, could pile up for the borrower, if he doesn’t plan repayments. For the Banks, it could be a case of bad loans.
There is also a conscious effort to remove the government oversight from industrial matters. Can this be the elixir needed for an economic revival? Do economic packages make a nation self-reliant? The fine print focuses on land, labour, liquidity and laws expected to benefit labourers, farmers, taxpayers, MSMEs and cottage industry. ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is a campaign to increase local manufacturing. Can such a campaign along with economic policies based on swadeshi ideas make the country import-free? Has the western economics followed for the past 72 years really not deliver? We live in a globalised world. Either local markets must consume what is produced or the products must be of global quality with a very competitive pricing which can then be exported. After all, they must fit the bill of global markets and beat the bogey of protectionism.
True to the new way of thinking, the government announced launch of commercial mining which allows private miners to mine coal and minerals from the same site without any limit and store them and price them without any regulatory oversight. Every action has a reaction. Whereas Coal India had a monopoly earlier, a large private participation could promote cartelisation, price manipulations and price escalations. Another decision that has seen resistance from farmer bodies and left-wing farmers’ unions, was to remove the state’s oversight and deregulating agriculture markets. Waiving off the requirement for selling of agricultural produce in government mandated markets may not be a great idea. Some protection from the Agri Business Corporations, price support and price stabilisation for crops may be in order.
Be that as it may, the economic package promises Structural and marketing reforms in agriculture. 30,000 crore rupees to small farmers through Kisan credit cards, 20,000 crore rupees to the welfare of fishermen, 13,000 crore rupees for vaccination to livestock, 1 lakh crore rupees for Agriculture co-operative societies & farmer producer organisations, funding to post-harvest management, can all mitigate the woes of the farmers. On the demand side, ‘One Nation – One ration Card’ can give credence to ‘Swavalamban’
Entry of private companies in strategic sectors such as space and atomic energy can have a downside. The technology must be guarded and State owned, precisely for ‘atmanirbharta’ The new self-reliant social-economic order also saw the launch of ‘skill mapping’ of the workforce that returned home during the lockdown. A great initiative indeed, to provide work opportunities closer to their homes. Several of these people are peasants, the managerial and technical cadres, self-employed artisans, agricultural and forest labourers. But can all States provide such opportunities?
The Country must strive for social justice as a natural corollary to ‘atmanirbharta’. However, it cannot dilute the rights of workers in the name of labour reform-codes. The three Labour Bills passed this September, ensure greater operational flexibility to the employers. Reforms on Operational safety, Health and Working conditions were all over due. It is hoped that the Industrial code and the Social Security Code will bring a new dawn for the labour in India.
Several other provisions in the economic package like Rs. 30,000 crores, special liquidity facility for stressed Non-banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), Rs. 90,000 crores liquidity plan to provide loans for power discoms, 5000 crore rupees credit facility for street vendors, additional 40,000 crore rupees for MGNREGA to provide employment to the returned migrants are all noteworthy. Among all these welcome initiatives, why hasn’t the urban employment been addressed? One also wonders if the economic package was in lieu of a regular budget.
The’ swavalamban’ model needs support of citizens. Self-reliance, self-responsibility and self-accountability are the tenets on which it stands. The citizens need to change their behaviour and follow ‘Dharma’, since this new pathway of development goes beyond reforms in the economic model. Dharma is the unchanging, eternal, universal laws and the ever-changing socio-economic order. ‘Atmanirbharta’ needs to lay great stress on research and development. That no funding under the package for R&D is available is a concern. We need to diversify the supply chains for self-sufficiency. The question However, is, whose Dharma would it serve to open so many sectors to private participation? Would all this be sufficient to revive the economy and rebuild livelihoods that are affected by the pandemic and provide for a life better after the pandemic is for the future to tell. Does the answer lie in the third way or the new pathway to life and glory? Or in the self-discipline that we sorely lack?