If India has to get better than China, it needs more democracy not less, as some India-China observers suggest.
Anyone who has visited India and China, will tell you that the difference between the two is of a few decades, obviously China is ahead. Even the Prime Minister of India declared in 2005 that he wants to make Mumbai like Shanghai. I hope he meant only physical infrastructure because Mumbai has a history and culture of itself.
The observers also tell you in one word that the reason why India is not able to progress as fast as China is 'democracy', which delays decision making as it allows people to raise objections and demand compensation. I beg to differ. Here I will present evidence that India has far too many dictators and their whims and fancies delays progress and creates chaos.
Dictatorship begins at home:
Like all good practices begin at home, dictatorship in India also begins at home. Usually the male head of the family behaves like a dictator. He would decide things that need to be bought, where to holiday and what the kids career should be.
Like China, in India also one of the surest way to getting ahead in life is to get good education and given the size of the population there is stiff competition for every opportunity. So the kids need to study hard, many hours a day, some kids study 12 hrs a day from the age of 15 or 16. Nothing wrong with that, except that they do it not out of their own drive but because their father wants them to be an Engineer or Doctor. This goes on for many youngsters till they are 24 or 25, only the name of the exam changes.
How does it affect development? As the number of opportunities are limited only a few kids get through, the rest come out of the process after loosing a few years of life. On any given day in India there are millions of youth who are not contributing to the society in any productive manner, but only as consumers of education services. They simply sit at home and study for a exam. All this youth energy if free to contribute the way they think is right can transform the country in a little time, but the dictator will not allow it to happen. Meet any young person in India and the chances are that he/she has spent a year or two appearing for exams.
Another example of 'Dictator Dad', when the young try to marry a person of their choice the 'dictator dad' steps in and takes it upon himself to find a suitable match for his grown up boy/girl. These young people who are sensible enough to elect their own govt and are allowed to vote are not allowed to choose their life partner. The dictators find a solution within the limits of income group, caste, religion, region etc. The youth hardly get a say, they nod. Those who revolt are often murdered and it is called 'Honour Killing'.
Leaders as Dictators:
India has more dictators of mass appeal than all the communist nations combined. Even the leaders of China would envy the political leaders of India. India has a plethora of political parties and the leader of each party is a dictator. Almost all of them are Party President for life time or till they give up the position for their son/daughter or a kin. Their wish is a command for the party cadre. Even their perceived wishes are command enough to come out on the streets to protest. Some of these dictators are literally worshiped by party men everyday. They are placated by naming bridges, flyovers, markets etc after them.
No communist dictator can dream of such a thing. In India's political party, if someone is not happy with the dictator leader, he or she is free to break out and start their own party and become a dictator in it. And they do.
How does it affect development?
The dictators wish is a command for other party men, ministers and even bureaucrats. Hence all the development is concentrated in the few places which the dictators or their men favor, secondly everyone wants to be close to the dictator and keep him/her pleased.
Here are some examples of the dictators effect on development.
Even the aspiring politicians who are supposed to be close to people and understand peoples problems make a bee line to the dictators house to get nominations. So the politicians don't waste time in solving peoples' problems, instead they spend time keeping the dictators happy.
The area most severely affected by the Naxals, is mineral rich but lags far behind the rest of the country, the reason, no politician came from those areas who could find favor with the dictator or be a dictator in himself for his/her constituents.
The dictators, in order to increase their followers distribute favors, from free electricity to a law that requires grains to be packed in jute bags. For a poor and hungry country can let its grains rot in jute bags as the bags, unlike plastic bags, are not weather proof but not displease the dictators. Amartya Sen told you that famines don't occur in democracies, he was right. If India had more democracy, even malnutrition would not occur.
Why Indian dictators delay progress?
Lets comeback to the central point of discussion, the delay in progress. One of the significant ways in which Dictators in India differ from those in China is their decision making time. Indian society being so diverse and stratified, makes it difficult for the dictators to understand whom to favor and how to satisfy so many constituents. The constituents are not opposing each other or revolting against the dictator, they merely ask for their share of the pie. The share is to be decided even before the pie is made. Deciding how to share the pie takes a lot of time that adds up in the time taken to make the pie.
An easy example is the Common Wealth Games (CWG) to be held in Delhi in Oct 2010. Although everyone wants the games to take place, but everyone wants their share of the pie first. Hence the plethora of agencies responsible for the different works. The half baked pie gets created and distributed. Dictators don't make the 'sub-dictators' accountable for the shoddy work done. The work for CWG is far from complete.
Democracy is the solution:
The more democracy increases, the less dictators powers will be. More democracy will result in more people demanding rational decisions. Rational decisions results in rational allocation of resources and more efficiency. Democracy will allow people to ask for accountability. That is the path of development that India must take and as all good things democracy must begin at home.
