Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below:
Today, India looks like it is on course to join the
league of developed nations. It is beginning to establish a reputation not just
as the technology nerve centre and back. office to the world, but also as its
production centre. India's secularism and democracy serve as a role model to
other developing countries. Fhere is great pride in an India that easily
integrates with a global economy, yet maintains a unique cultural identity. But
what is breathtaking is India's youth. For despite being an ancient
civilization that traces itself to the very dawn of human habitation, India is
among the youngest countries in the world. More than half the country is under
25 years of age and more than a third is under 15 years of age.”
Brought up in the shadow of the rise of India's
service industry boom, this group feels it can be at least as good if not
better than anyone else in the world. This confidence has them demonstrating a
great propensity to consume, throwing away ageing ideas of asceticism and
thrift. Even those who do not have enough to consume today feel that they have
the capability and opportunity to do so..
The economic activity created by this combination of a
growing labour pool and rising consumption demand is enough to propel: India to
double-digit economic growth for decades, One just has to look at the impact
that the baby boomers in the US had over decades of economic activity, as
measured by equity and housing prices. This opportunity also represents the
greatest threat to India's future. If the youth of India are not properly
educated and if there are not enough jobs created, India will have forever lost
its opportunity. There are danger signs in abundance.
Fifty-three per cent of students in primary schools
drop out, one-third of children in class V cannot read, three quarters of
schools do not have a functioning toilet, female literacy is only 45 per
cent-and 80 million children in the age group of 6-14 do not even attend
school.
India's IT and BPO industries are engines of job
creation, but they still account for only 0.2 per cent of India's employment.
The country has no choice but to dramatically industrialize and inflame its
domestic economy. According to a forecast by the Boston Consulting Group, more
than half of India's unemployed within the next decade could be its educated
youth. We cannot allow that to happen.
Employment creation needs an abundant supply of
capital. Controls on foreign investment, oran advantage of have resulted in
China getting five years. The growing interest in India by global private
Equity firms augurs well as they represent pools of patient and smart capital,
but they too face many ‘bureaucratic hurdles.
When it comes to domestic capital availability, budget
deficits adding up to 10 per cent of the national GDP impede capital
availability for investment and infrastructure.
Raising infrastructure spending, coupled with rapid
privatization, may not only create employment but also address the growing gaps
in infrastructure. China has eight times the highway miles and has increased
roads significantly in the past few years while India has only inched along.
Freight costs at Indian ports are almost double the worldwide average, just to
give two examples.
Moreover, like the Lilliputians that kept gaint Gulliver
toed down, there are some 30,000 statutes in India, of which only a portion are
even operational, and these keep the employment creation engine tied down.
Since there are no sunset provisions in any laws, the regulatory morass only
grows: every year.
In the meantime, we as citizens of the world and
descendants of India have to make a difference. We have to ensure that India
and its youth attain that potential, both through our business pursuits and the
support of educational charities, on-the-ground proporients of participative
democracy as well as other deserving organizations and initiatives.
I believe that hope can triumph and that this can be
India's century-not one that will happen as surely as the sun will rise each
day but one that many willing hands need to create together.
Questions:
(a) Answer the following questions briefly:
(i) What makes the author think India is on the verge
of joining the select band of developed nations?
(ii) Despite the fact that India is one of the oldest
civilizations why does the author say it is young?
(iii) The author feels that if certain problems are
not arrested, India would lose its opportunity.Why would India lose this
opportunity?
(iv) What hinders employment growth?
(v) Who/what in the passage is referred to as the
‘Lilliputians’?
(vi) How can we ensure that India and its youth attain
their full potential?
(b) Pick out words from the passage that mean :
Sudden rise, growth.
