What would India of 2020 be like?

INTRODUCTION
 I would like to narrate a story about a country which is 62 years old and still very young, vivacious, highly engertic and is working enthusiastically towards its betterment. It is "OUR COUNTRY INDIA". We never know how time sweeps. India was free from the clutches of Britshers in 1947. We still remember those stalwarts who sacrificed their lives to free us from Britisher's cage enabling us to fly freely, independently in the air. Now, for a change I will not again repeat the history of how India got it’s Independence. After the Independence ,India had many developments in the fields of economics,science&technology,sports,agriculture,art,culture industry, infrastructure, education etc.One of the torch bearers of modern India and the first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in his master piece’The Discovery of India’ says,”It’s not easy to discover India, her geography, language, culture, religious beliefs - everything is entirely different from other nations in the world. India has a lot of stories to say about the history of men, his growth, culture, civilizations everything, everything…….. “.Although the present Republic of India is a young developing nation, our people have a rich and illustrious history as one of the longest living civilisations in the world. In 1835, even Lord Macaulay, the British historian and politician had to admit before the British Parliament: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber… the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage…..”
Thus, it would be wrong to state that in 1947 India started to construct a modern nation from scratch. Rather, it began the process of rediscovering its rich cultural and spiritual values that had formed the foundation of India in the past. It is on this foundation that we seek to formulate our vision of India 2020.

SUMMARY
This document is neither a plan nor a projection of what India will be in 2020. Twelve years is too long a period for one or the other. Even our demographic projections, based on the most
reliable data and well-documented trends, are only able to estimate the country's population one decade hence and within a range of 100 million people. How then shall we hazard a projection of the harder to measure eventualities?
The second decade of the 21st Century lies behind a barrier that is impenetrable by statistical. Looking backwards, we become aware of how limited our horizon of certitude really is. In the mid-1960s, when India was confronted with the threat of widespread famine and was perennially dependent on foreign food aid to feed its people, who among the most visionary of us could have imagined that within such a short period food grain production would double and the country would be having significant surpluses?In 1983, when India's total software exports were only $12 million, who could imagine that they would multiply 500 times in 26 years and the country would be recognised around the world as a major IT power?

This vision of India 2020 may not fulfill all these criteria to our full satisfaction, but it can serve as a useful starting point and foundation for contemplating future possibilities and our destiny as a nation. It can serve to indicate the broad lines of policy and strategy by which India can emerge as a far stronger, more prosperous and more equitable nation in the coming years.What will India be like 12 years from now? While in some areas we can confidently estimate quantitatively the outcome with a fair degree of accuracy, in some others we only know the broad direction. In still others we are unable to say with confidence the direction that future trends will take. We can only indicate what would be most desirable and signal the opportunities and obstacles that will arise along the way.

By 2020, the people of India will be more numerous, better educated, healthier and more prosperous than at any time in our long history. Today India is the second most populous country in the world, with about 1.04 billion people, home to a-sixth of humanity. Although it is difficult to accurately predict population growth rates 12 years to the future, we expect the total population of India will exceed 1.3 billion in 2020.
In 2020, India will have the capacity to produce more than sufficient quantities of food to provide a healthy diet to its entire population and become a major food exporter. Even by maintaining the moderate rates of productivity growth achieved during the 1990s, the country will be able to meet the projected demand in all major food categories and generate a substantial surplus of food grains and dairy products. Rising productivity and rapid diversification into value-added crops could spur another Green Revolution in Indian agriculture. Production of surplus food will not, however, ensure the eradication of under-nutrition.

India’s vision for 2020 must be founded on the premise of ‘Jobs for All’. Employment must be considered a constitutional right of every citizen, backed by the full commitment of the Government. Granted that the requisite political will is forthcoming, the goal of full employment is certainly achievable. This will require a reorientation of national priorities, technology policy and government action. India’s labour force has reached 380 million approximately in 2008 will increase by a total of about 580 million by 2020. The largest number of new jobs will be created by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which contribute the vast majority of private sector jobs in more advanced economies such as the USA, Japan and Korea. International experience confirms that SMEs are better insulated from the external shocks, more resistant to the stresses, and more responsive to the demands of the fast-changing technology adoption, globalisation and entrepreneurial development.The vision 2020 identifies a number of high employment potential sectors, including commercial agriculture, agro-industry and agri-business, forestation for pulp, fuel and power, retail and wholesale trade, tourism, housing and construction, transport ,communications education, health,financial services & IT-enabled services.In 2020’s ,India will come forward as a prominent IT power. The emerging global scenario will open up greater opportunities for countries with a surplus of well-educated, highly skilled labour that can provide an attractive commercial environment for the outsourcing of manufacturing and service businesses from high and even middle income countries. Export of services is a field in which India can excel. India’s recent boom in outsourcing of IT services is only the tip of a rich vein of economic opportunity that could extend to a wide range of manufacturing and service businesses.
Computerisation, coupled with low cost global telecommunications are generating rapid growth of trade in service businesses, such as software and IT enabled services. By 2020,This trend will accelerate, opening up vast opportunities for countries with the capacity to deliver low-cost, high quality service.
Concentrated efforts are needed to tap the potentials of alternative methods of knowledge delivery for both school going and non-school going children and adults, including television,computerised self-learning and Internet-based courses. Given the huge number of young students that will quest for all levels of higher education and a severe shortage of qualified instructors, and given India’s outstanding expertise in the IT industry, the country should embark on a massive programme to convert progressively the higher educational curriculum into a multi-media, web based format and to establish accredited standards for recognition of courses taught under distance education programmes by 2020.Development of India’s tourism infrastructure, combined with modifications in air transport, hotel rates and tax policies could generate an additional 25 million employment opportunities in this sector. India will emerge as travel destination No.1 by 2020.In recent years, the potential for domestic tourism has marked a big growth with the emergence of powerful middle class in India.Thus,India gets a big source of revenue and it will act as a boon for Indian economy.

Achieving 100 per cent enrolment of all children in the 6 to 14 year age group is an ambitious but achievable goal for 2020 that should be pursued as a top priority. In this increasingly complex and technologically sophisticated world, 10 years of school education must also be considered an essential prerequisite for citizens to adapt and succeed economically, avail of social opportunities and develop their individual potentials. Literacy must be considered the minimum right of every Indian citizen and is essential for a rapid and sustained development of the society in the 21st century. Presently, the country has about 300 million illiterate adults. The Government’s goal is to achieve 75 per cent literacy within the next five years. A 100 per cent literate India is of paramount importance for realising the greater vision presented in this document. Technical education, both vocational and professional, provide the foundation for development of science and technology. A large number of the country’s engineering colleges will be be upgraded to quality standards nearer to those of India’s world-class IITs. In 2020.

It is sure that the health of a nation is a significant factor.In India, communicable diseases remain the major cause of illness. However, TB, malaria and AIDS will remain major public health problems. By 2020. India will transform to a nation where the best of health care is available to all the billion population and the diseases like AIDS/TB, water borne diseases, cardiac diseases and cancer are extinct. Food security, educational levels and access to health care among all levels of the population, dramatic progress can be achieved in reducing the prevalence of severe under-nutrition in children substantially by 2020.Also,the effective implementation of Health insurance can play an invaluable role in improving the health care system.

Simultaneous efforts are needed to strengthen the rural infrastructure relating to education, health care, transport, telecom, power and water. Unless bold steps are taken to promote a geographically more dispersed and equitable development paradigm, widening disparities between rural and urban centres will accelerate the migration to cities and the rapid expansion of urban slum areas. One promising alternative approach is to link clusters of villages together by high speed circular highways, thereby bringing 100,000 or more people into a circular community that can be crossed within 30 minutes of travel time, and promoting a balanced and distributed development of urban services along the periphery of the ring road.

Vision 2020 conceives of India evolving into an information society and knowledge economy built on the edifice of information and communication technology (ICT), of which telecommunications is the springboard. Rapid expansion and extension of the country’s fixed and mobile telecom infrastructure is essential for stimulating growth of both the ICT sector and the economy as a whole. The number of fixed telephone line services will multiply another seven-fold in the next 12 years. As the fixed line market matures, more and more users will cross over to mobile communications as well, spurring a mobile revolution in India. Mobile telecommunications and the Internet will set the contours of technological progress over the next 12 years The third generation mobile devices with access to mobile data and voice should be within reach of wide sections of the population by 2020.
Based on the projected GDP growth of 8 per cent per annum, the total freight traffic is likely to reach five times the level in 2000. Passenger traffic is expected to increase more than four-fold over the next 12 years. Our vision of India 2020 is of a country having a well-developed network of roads and railways, with adequate capacity to handle the growth in transport demand. The volume of road traffic will multiply about five-fold, carried on a 70,000 km network of national highways. State highways with at least two way lanes will link most districts. Rural roads will provide access to the furthest outlying villages. Technological progress is working towards generation of vehicles that are pollution free and fuel efficient. An efficient public transport system will lead to a reduction in the population of two-wheelers in major urban areas. We also envisage that connection of several major rivers through a network of interlinking canals will provide impetus to rapid growth of low-cost, inland water transport.For future growth to be both rapid and sustainable, the energy source needs to be as resource-efficient and environmentally benign as possible. Total demand for power is expected to increase by another 3.5 times or more in the next two decades, which will necessitate a tripling of installed generation capacity from 101,000 to 292,000 MW by 2020.
Greater reliance on renewable energy sources offers enormous economic, social and environmental benefits. India is already the world’s fifth largest producer of wind power, with more than 95 per cent of the investment coming from the private sector. Other renewable energy technologies, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, small hydro, biomass power and biofuels are also spreading. A concerted effort to implement a more visionary approach to alternative energy generation could significantly reduce India’s dependence on imported fuels while also reducing the strain on the environment. Biomass power production, ethanol motor fuel and jatropa fuel oil can generate millions of rural employment opportunities and contribute to higher rural incomes, at the same time reducing the outflow of foreign exchange.
At the national level, current water resources are more than sufficient to meet the demand, but future projections show that the supply situation could become difficult over the next half century. Total water consumption is expected to rise by 20-40 per cent over the next 12 years. India’s progress over the next 12 years will be intimately linked to events within the region and around the world. The World Bank estimates that India will become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2020. By the year 2020, India will have an annual GDP growth rate of 9 percent with 10 percent of the population below the poverty line—a significant drop from today’s position. Liberalisation of trade will open up new opportunities for export of goods, while increasing pressures on domestic industry to cope with competition from imports. The global market for textiles, clothing and agricultural products will expand dramatically, but India’s ability to export will depend on its capacity to keep pace with rising international standards of price,quality, productivity, and service.
Growth in the size of the international capital market will open up increasing opportunities for India to attract foreign direct and institutional investment, but a substantial improvement in
infrastructure and elimination of most of the bureaucratic barriers will help India in attracting a greater share of FDI flows. Mobilisation of India’s expatriate population could have momentous impact on the inflow of FDI in 2020.
By 2020, India will be one of the premiers in space technology. Scientific pursuits like Chandrayan, Adithya will help in increasing India’s contribution to the world’s scientific knowledge of universe. India through its space programme,will uniequivocally demonstrate its capability to develop advanced technologies and more importantly to use such technologies to the benefit of the society.

The challenges to peace are numerous and they come from all directions—from outside our borders and within, as well as from within our minds. Continuing to quench its thirst for pain and suffering, terrorism was yet again felt on November 26th, 2008 in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India Our capacity to preserve and build a lasting peace for all Indians will depend on the strength of our military to defend our borders, the strength of our economy to generate increasing employment and income opportunities for our citizens, the strength of our educational system to cultivate the knowledge and skills of our youth, the strength of our legal and judicial system to safeguard the rights of individuals and communities, the strength of our scientists and engineers to both develop and harness technologies for the benefit of the people, as well as the wisdom and determination of our political leaders to remove injustices and to direct the collective energies of the nation for greater achievement in every field of endeavour.By 2020, India will be a peaceful nation with the latest technologies of preventing terrorism.

ROLE OF YOUTH
Vision 2020 can be better described as vision 20/20. That is the perfect vision in American style and this 20/20 vision can be achieved only by young generation of India. It is well known that India is home to a significant proportion of youth of the world today. All the imperialists of the world are eyeing India as a source of technical manpower. They are looking at our boys and girls as a source of talents at low costs for their future super profits. The workers, peasants, women and youth will ensure that there is work for all. They will ensure that what is produces is geared towards providing adequacy for all members of society.
Young participation is important because youth are the country’s power. Youth recognize problems and can solve them. Youth are strong forces in social movements. They educate children about their rights. They help other young people attain a higher level of intellectual ability and to become qualified adults. In the book ‘India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium’,former President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam says that youth are the part and parcel of ‘Vision 2020’.
So, what should be the vision of Young generation for India 2020?
1. Instead of Brain drain, we can be the magnets for bright minds world over
2. Our Judicial system could be a model for fairness, promptness and incorruptibility.
3. Our Legislatures could be an acme of integrity, farsightedness and purposefulness.
4. Our habitats could be clean with abundant municipal services to come out as a nation that is one of the best places to live in, on the earth and brings smiles on a billion faces.
5. Our youth can be the Olympic Champions( 2020 Olympics-we should win atleast10 gold medals.)
6. Convert India to a nation where poverty has been totally alleviated, illiteracy and crime against women are eradicated and the society is unalienated. 7. The Per Capita Income can go up in Geometric Proportions.
8. We can have full employment.
9. We can earn the reputation of being the most transparent,corrupt free and honest nation.
10. We could be the most premier in Information Technology, Science & Technology (especially space technology).
India can become a developed nation only if everyone contributes to the best of his or her capacity and ability. Youth is wholly experimental and with the full utilization of the talents of the Youth, India will become a complete Nation. Let us hope for the same.

CONCLUSION
Identifying potentials and anticipating the challenges to our future progress in different sectors of the national economy does not constitute a vision of the country’s future. These disparate threads need to be woven together to reflect the integrated nature of our national life. Then, there still remains the question of whether to be preoccupied by the negative possibilities or to throw our full weight behind efforts to fully realise the positive potentials revealed by this analysis. That will determine whether we regard the following statement as a promising glimpse of what India can become in 2020, or as mere fantasy and wishful thinking.

India 2020 will be bustling with energy, entrepreneurship and innovation. The country’s 1.35 billion people will be better fed, dressed and housed, taller and healthier, more educated and longer living than any generation in the country’s long history. Illiteracy and all major contagious diseases will have disappeared. School enrolment from age 6 to 14 will near 100 per cent and drop out rates will fall to less than one in twenty. Our vision for 2020 in this regard is to see a nation free from all forms of child labour.A second productivity revolution in Indian agriculture, coupled with diversification to commercial crops, agri-business, processing industries, agro-exports and massive efforts towards afforestation and wasteland development will generate abundant farm and non-farm employment opportunities for the rural workforce. These in turn will stimulate demand for consumer goods and services, giving a fillip to the urban economy and the informal sector as well as rapid expansion of the services sector.
India’s claim to the title Silicon Valley of Asia will be followed by the diversification from IT to biotechnology, medical sciences and other emerging fields of technology, widening the field of India’s international competitiveness and generating a large number of employment opportunities for the educated youth. These developments, driven by the firm commitment of the government anda quantum expansion of vocational training programmes, will ensure jobs for all by 2020.Inequalities between different age groups, the sexes, income groups, communities and regions will come down dramatically. The old disparities between the very rich and the poor will not have disappeared, but the nature of poverty in 2020 will not be nearly as harsh and oppressive as it was at the turn of the millennium. Regional disparities will remain visible, though all regions will have advanced significantly in two decades. India’s achievements have been fuelled by the realization that the progress of the whole ultimately depends on the progress of its weakest links;

India 2020 must be one in which all levels and sections of the population and all parts of the country march forward together towards a more secure and prosperous future.
The increasingly congested urban traffic will be motorised as never before. Two wheelers will be ubiquitous and cars will be considered essential for most middle class families. City roads and rural highways will improve substantially in number, capacity and quality, but a four-fold multiplication in the number of vehicles will tax the urban infrastructure to the limit. Urban congestion will accelerate the movement of business, middle class families and even government offices into new self-contained suburban centres. Cell phones, computers and the Internet will permeate every aspect of life and every corner of the country.Computerisation of education will dramatically improve the quality of instruction and the pace of learning, so that many students will complete the first twelve years of school curriculum in as little as eight. Computerised distance education will catch on in a big way and enable tens of thousands more students to opt for affordable higher education. Computerisation in government will streamline procedures and response times to a degree unimaginable now. Perceptive observers will find that India is leapfrogging directly into a predominantly service economy.
Environmental issues will remain a serious concern. Urban air pollution will come under
control by strict enforcement of motor vehicle emission standards and widespread use of ethanol blended motor fuels, but water shortages in major metropolitan areas will continue despite a national programme to popularise water harvesting techniques in both urban and rural areas. A massive afforestation programme will reverse the depletion of forest areas, raise the nation’s Green cover to 33 per cent of area, generate millions of rural employment opportunities, and provide abundant renewable energy from biomass power production.
India will be much more integrated with the global economy and will be a major player in terms of trade, technology and investment. Rising levels of education, employment and income will help stabilize India’s internal security and social environment. A united and prosperous India will be far less vulnerable to external security threats. A more prosperous India in 2020 will be characterized by a better-educated electorate and more transparent, accountable, efficient and decentralized government.

Some may regard this vision as an anxious attempt to imitate and catch up with the west. But there is an important distinction to be made between blind imitation and intelligent emulation that draws upon the discoveries and experiences of others to address universal needs common to all human beings and all societies. India, with its rich cultural heritage and thousands of years of history of civilisation, need not aspire to become like country A or B.For India, realising the vision for 2020 is not an end in itself, but rather an essential condition for allowing the spirit of this country to emerge and flourish.
“Our future depends not on what will happen to us, but on what we decide to become,
and on the will to create it.”


We must reawaken the dormant Spirit of India.