Here’s How You and I Can Make Dr. Kalam’s Vision Of 2020 A Reality

Just as any other Indian today, I too feel crippled to be living in a country without Dr. Kalam’s existence. He envisioned India to be a developed country by 2020, and the least we can do is make his vision a reality, for him, for us, and for the generations to come.

This is a trial to awaken the young hearts, to tell them, it is never too late. We can still be there, neck to neck with other countries if all we did is contribute in our own little, but significant ways to achieve the missile man’s visions for India, which are-

FREEDOM

The wise man wrote in his book that India had attained independence in the year 1857 itself when she first announced the war against the invaders. All he expects from us now is to maintain, protect, and respect that freedom. Because by not being able to protect our space, we allow others to build their life on it. Something that India cannot allow to happen if she wants to flourish as an independent country.

DEVELOPMENT

The report card of India as per Dr. Kalam depicts the following-

• Poverty rates- Declining
• One of the five top countries in respect of GDP
• 10% growth rate in almost all sectors
• Achievements being globally recognized

Despite a positive success graph, India has been a developing country for over 50 years now, and why? Because in words of Kalam, “We lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured.”

STAND UP TO THE WORLD

The difference between the developed nations and India is probably the lack of India’s facing the world first-hand. And unless that happens, India as a country will never garner respect. On his this vision, Mr. Kalam said, “Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand.”

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And he did not leave it at that. The visionary has also categorized the sectors that he feels are crucial in making India Vision 2020 a reality. The five specific sectors are:

1. Agriculture and food processing

Goal- To double the production rate of food and agricultural products by 2020.

Present status- While the livelihood of almost 58 percent of the Indian population depends on this sector, the growth is still meagre. The good part is the government initiatives done to promote the production and to invite investments in this sector.

What can be done- A justified application of the 12th five-year plan, smart execution and strategy by state governments to ensure that the targets are achieved.

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2. Infrastructure with reliable and quality electric power

Goal- Enable solar farming equipped with urban amenities and interlinked rivers in rural India.

Present Status- Private funding dominates the infrastructure development with limited yet focused efforts made by the government.

What can be done- While the private funding remains strong, more research projects funded by the government should be conducted to ensure that sustainable benefits are given to the masses.

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3. Education and Healthcare

Goal- To eradicate illiteracy and promote social security and overall health

Present Status- Government is keeping a check on the education status by curbing the mushrooming of fake universities and promoting girl education programs leading to a high number of enrolled students.

What can be done- General health and awareness needs to be monitored regularly by motivated Anganwadi and Samwida workers who are not just educated on papers but also in terms of mindsets.

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4. Information and communication technology

Goal- To develop tele-education, telemedicine and e-governance to improve the standard of education in remote areas, healthcare and bring about a transparency in the administration.

Present Status- Information technology is one of the strongest sectors in India with IT export services accounting for 57.9 percent of total revenue. Communication technology, on the other hand, is making a speeding progress with India being world’s second largest communication market.

What can be done- Government policies are strong enough to change the picture of the country as they include the availability of communication resources at the grass-root level. On the contrary, not much execution is happening at that level to contribute to a difference. A check needs to be maintained at that level to ensure that the resources are made available and the policies are executed.

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5. Critical technologies and strategic industries

Goal- To bring about a noticeable growth in nuclear technology, space technology, and defense technology, in order to lead India to become a superpower.

Present Status- India has traveled a long way since the economic reforms in 1991 and has achieved many landmarks with Mars Orbit Mission, the launch and application of Chadrayaan as a few to name. We have 43,674 patents filed and 1,92,819 researchers as per the last data.

What can be done- The efforts done in this field are difficult to sustain while regressive social organizations keep dragging the teams downs. Corruption in the sector leading to inefficiency needs to be curbed. Students need to be encouraged to pursue this field, researchers need to be well appreciated and paid, and stronger acumen should be hired to give results to the goals.

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While most of us reading this wonder, what can we do as common man to bring out a change that we so desperately seek, here are some guidelines that Kalam Sir left behind, and some derived by our common sense that will lead us to achieve the Vision 2020:

• Embrace Indian products, technologies and services to strengthen small and medium scale industries.
• Support and promote Indian achievements while focusing on goals and execution required rather than focusing on negative media.
• Enhance on the necessity of application in the field of education by creating a program with sound practical structure & equipment.
• Engineers, writers, teachers, students, scientists, doctors, businessmen, all should work in association to contribute in any which way they can to achieve the set visions.
• You don’t have to be exactly super-rich to help farmers. Each individual voicing out care for the food-givers can shake up the government to introduce instrumental amendments for farmer welfare.
• The issues in India can be converted into opportunities for entrepreneurship. So take up entrepreneurship and provide homes to those who now seem to have found a permanent home on the footpaths.

Seeing a developed India has been a thought dwelling at the back of our heads for years now. It hurts to ride in a posh car and dine at most expensive of restaurants of a country whose outer picture is still of a developing nation. So let’s get to work and give India the status that it rightly deserves.

To quote Kalam, “A developed India by 2020, or even earlier, is not a dream. It need not be a mere vision in the minds of many Indians. It is a mission we can all take up – and succeed.”

Authored by Ananta Sharma & Shubhi Dixit