India moves at its own pace

Fetishists of the "GNP per capita" measure hold that stability is dependent on economic success, that growth self-evidently helps the poor and that there is no more to human welfare than output, no more to progress than consumption. Even a visit to America's inner cities may fail to shake these market-doped convictions.

Yet Indians, looking directly at modern acquisitive capitalism in all its grossness, have resisted many aspects that cannot be reconciled with their traditions. Indians do not equate progress with the right to view "Miss World" shows where half-naked women are paraded and toyed with as gadgets of flesh.

The reluctance of Indians to allow the Kentucky Fried Chicken firm to operate in their country is viewed by Western liberal economists as obscurantist: India must be sleeping in the dark ages if it is unwilling to let its citizens contaminate their digestive systems with "burgers and fries", however devoid of nutritional value this ersatz food might be.

India must be the enemy of liberty if it will not allow its youth to see films that glamorize violence, sexual promiscuity and drug-taking, or advertisements that promote the accumulation of luxuries as a substitute for spiritual cultivation.

The achievements of the Indian economy have been deeper, more substantial than this, and at a difficult time for P.V. Narasimha Rao, his predicament is something of a triumph of Indian legalism. They can be summarized thus: thorough planning, judicious state intervention and private property ownership kept well within bounds.

The "green revolution" saw an energetic, indeed visionary government introducing new varieties of wheat, distributing seeds and fertilizers, ending famine. India found the resources it needed at home, avoiding Latin American-styled hyperinflation.

Now India is moving cautiously, purposefully toward the global marketplace. It does so free of illusions. The Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, said last week: "Nobody comes to India to do charity, everybody comes for profit. Those who believe economic liberalization will usher in a miracle are either living in a fool's paradise or trying to mislead their countrymen."

The pace of change is not to be dictated by foreigners. Planning is flexible and will adapt to circumstances. India will change, but by its own lights. The economic system may be adapted to the new conditions and brought up to date if necessary, but it should never be jettisoned in favor of a Western model wholly inappropriate to the South Asian context.

-- The Bangkok Post