RIGHT THINKING
| Date :10-Oct-2019 |
EVEN as the nation is grappling with the tough times due to what is described as economic slow-down, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has sought to lay a special emphasis on swadeshi as a matter of faith as well as a point of strengthening the country intrinsically. He has asserted rightly that swadeshi does not mean isolationism in the rapidly ‘shrinking’ world of today. In his much-awaited annual address at the RSS’ Vijayadashami programme at Nagpur, Dr. Bhagwat has emphasised very rightly that swadeshi means an idea to build an intrinsic economic strength that would make the world take India seriously.
This appears to be a correct way of looking at the concept of swadeshi and building a strong economic identity for the country in a world that is trying to reconfigure the economic activity in a clash of various definitions of globalisation, multi-lateralism and nationalism. Quite mistakenly, many world leaders are arriving at a narrow definition of what globalisation stands for. They feel concerned that globalisation has damaged their respective national interests and therefore needs to be altered suitably if not rejected. In such a confusion, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat has sought to explain how the concept of swadeshi can help India. India must build intrinsic strength in various sectors of the economy so that the country stands on a strong footing to utilise better the opportunities of globalised relations.
The world wishes to maintain ties with strong countries, and swadeshi is a way to achieve that intrinsic strength, the RSS chief has insisted. This is a critical point which Dr. Bhagwat has made so correctly. In spite of the fact that India is engaged in many global commitments in economic projects and issues, it has to keep consolidating its economy with the help of indigenous effort so that the component of self-reliance is much bigger than that of foreign investments and technological collaborations. This is a critical wisdom which India must never lose sight of.
Even in the ‘Make In India’ vision, the insistence is on doing things in India, either by Indian enterprises or by foreign ones by establishing manufacturing facilities here -- so that India’s manpower gets engaged in gainful activity and its technological talent and skilled labour gets opportunity to excel within the country. The stress has to be more on manufacturing than on service sector. However, the actual scenario in the country has many undesirable dimensions to care for. Indian industry appears more romanticised by the idea of foreign collaborations and foreign investment. For its own part, the Indian industry seems to lean more on service sector as a core activity. While that is not unwelcome, the idea behind ‘Make In India’ also relates to the indigenous component being made stronger. The rise of Chinese economy in recent decades is due to the manufacturing component. That is where more money is.
That is where a greater economic stability is. In the past quarter of a century, Indian industry laid a greater emphasis on service sector as it was found easier to handle from many angles. But even as India’s service sector grew strong, the manufacturing sector was hit hard by a general complacence on that issue. The reason behind launching of ‘Make In India’ programme was to give a boost to the manufacturing sector -- both, by foreign parties and Indian entrepreneurs. This will have to be promoted vigorously by the Government as well as industry. This is also a meaning of swadeshi, as Dr. Bhagwat has pointed out. We opted to expand upon on this point alone since he has answered a national dilemma in apt words. Most importantly, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat has ruled out the suggestion of isolationism as a fall-out of swadeshi, and, in effect, insisted upon a finer balance between indigenous and foreign components of the economy, and a greater stress on manufacturing.