By: Deepankar Kamboj
deepankaronline@indiatimes.com
February 09, 2004

These days media space in India is flooded with words like in ‘India Shining’ and ‘Feel Good Factor’. Most of the mainstream publications and advertisements by government of India are trying to convince us (the citizens of India) that the things are good like never before. Year 2003 was the best among the many previous years. And the credit of al this splendid phenomenon is being given to NDA government.

All this ballyhoo hurled at us makes one wonder that what the hell is this ‘Feel Good Factor’? And is India really Shining or Whining?

As far as my logic goes, ‘Feel Good Factor’ means that though the reality is bad, you should feel good. Be oblivious to the truth & stark reality and concentrate on your feelings & thought. Just feel good. Live in an imaginary world, neglect the problems on ground and feel good about the projected image of India. Pull the wool over your eyes yourself. How weird and funny?

All this propaganda generated by the adroit and well-oiled PR machinery of government is nothing but eyewash for the middle and lower-middle class of Indian population aimed to help NDA win the oncoming Lok Sabha polls. And here instead of mincing any words I would like to ask an in your face question from all the propaganda managers of this bamboozle.

Why should I feel good?

I can sense their answers for this question. They would tell me that since last year the monsoon was very good which put a ‘lot’ of money in farmer’s pocket making them happy I should feel good. This happiness led to an upswing in the rural demand of different products & commodities thus boosting the fortunes of overall economy of India. So I should feel good again. Last year was the BPO blast year and the party is till continuing, creating thousands & thousands of jobs so I should feel good. Our foreign exchange reserve is swelling more & more with each passing day after already hitting the historic $ 100 billion mark. So there is one more reason to feel good. Sensex is witnessing the greatest Bull Run ever after already touching the magical figure of 6000 points so I should feel good once more. Not only this, they will invent many more reasons & logics to coax me to feel good.

However, there is no denying the fact that all the above stated phenomena are true. No two thoughts about that. But all that glitters is not gold. Most of these achievements are veneers hiding some gruesome pictures of India.

When they talk of pleasant and good situation in rural India I wonder how can they claim credit for it? It was the sheer blessing of rain gods which gave some bright moments to millions of Indian farmers. Had it not been for wonderful monsoon, both Indian economy and government’s spin-doctors would have found themselves in hot waters. Is not a shame for our successive governments that even after 56 years of independence, the pillar of Indian economy still depends on the whims of monsoon winds?

I find it very amazing and distasteful when they acknowledge BPO boom as a result of their government’s policies. I do agree that the telecom revolution by NDA government has helped a lot by keeping India connected seamlessly with the west but it is only one part of the whole story. India has got a time difference of 10 to 14 hours which is nothing but a natural advantage. Apart from that the skilled manpower which forms the lifeline of BPO centers is not a progeny of present day government’s deeds. In fact, it can be attributed to the educational policies framed by the Nehru govt. half a century back. Here I would go to the extent of saying that this is not a real employment even. It is a kind of underemployment where young men & women trained under different disciplines for diverse fields are working as “colloquial coolies” chatting away with some distant customer in some far away land. However, I do agree that some genuinely technical and skill based work is also done in some BPO centers but that forms a very small part of the whole pie. Reality is that majority of BPO employees are earning their bread just by talking and ticking the keyboard. There is one more flip side of all this hype. The majority of the BPO workers are formed by the metropolitan people with small town guys filling the rest of places. You will hardly find any village boy there. Though our stupid and vague educational policies (thanks to former congress govts.) are largely responsible for this disparity but my point is that if the common man of India is not benefiting from a thing then it should be reexamined and revamped.

Talking of forex reserve, it is definitely a sign of healthy economy. It surely strengthens the economy in many ways but the way it is being projected is a clear chicanery. Our burgeoning reserve is a miracle produced by the remittances of NRIs and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) investing in India. NRIs send $10 billion every year to India with maximum coming from middle-east. The FIIs are buying rupees from Reserve Bank of India in return of dollars to invest in our share markets. This very phenomenon is also the reason why sensex is having a northward journey these days. The same situation also prevailed in ‘Asian tigers’ economies in 1997 which ultimately led to great crisis when the FIIs pulled out their money. Today India needs more FDI not necessarily FIIs.

Though NDA government scored greatly on diplomatic front and fairly on economic scene but I don’t find it enough to feel good. And, when millions of Indians are still unemployed (even after the Prime Minister’s promise of 10 million jobs every year) how can I feel good? This govt. has failed to provide an environment conducive for job creation in private sector. Farmers are committing suicides in many states. The condition of sugarcane farmers in my native region (western U.P.) is appalling too. India is slipping down every year on human development index. The much touted highway construction project is also crawling at a speed less than the scheduled one. Corruption is touching new nadirs with the sacrifice of whistle blowers like Satyendra Dubey. Not only these I’ve many more reasons to feel bad and complain.

There is a sense of déjà vu which I feel whenever I watch the advertisements of ‘India Shining’. After the completion of its four years the congress government of P V Narsimha Rao also ran a similar kind of ad campaign titled ‘Char Kadam Sooraj Ki Or’. And everyone knows the results of next general elections. I wonder if the history is going to repeat itself this time.

Deepankar Kamboj