As #BanChina has been trending not only on twitter but every Indian Household, surely, everyone wants to ban all Chinese products. India wants to stop all Chinese funding and boycott all companies that China has funded to show solidarity as a Nation. From Film Stars to common traders, everyone is doing their bit to eradicate Chinese products from India.
This is what China did many years back. They made themselves self-sufficient by increasing their production capacity and changing their policies. Today China is in a position of the World’s largest producers and we are here worrying about how to protect our country from their economic dominance.
#BanChina = #Atmanirbhar??
The question at hand is: Are we really fighting China? Or fighting an ideology or a whole system? Is #BanChina the road to self-sufficient India?
Even if we are able to ban china, we will be dependent on someone else for these products and resources. What we actually need to do is, work on a very basic level to become a self-sufficient country.
Few Years ago, in one of his TED talks, Shashi Tharoor talked about “an educated mind vs. a well-formed mind” He was very positive when he said that India is a young country and we as a nation have a bright future. But what bothered him then is still an issue now: We are a country that lacks the quality not the quantity. “Most” would be an understatement, we can say around 90% of young people are after secure jobs just after they graduate. But, they lack even the basic employability skills. We as a society are after good and stable jobs, but that is not what will make India self-sufficient. We do not need a work force that can think out of the box.
Start-ups are still looked at with a doubtful eye. Some don’t have caliber, some don’t have cash. That is how we as a country are losing our creamy layer of the young generation. It is more disheartening to see that the number of people into research and innovation are minimal.
India has successfully banned 59 Chinese apps. But, do we have an Indian alternative for these apps? If we as a nation don’t channel our young generation into innovation, research and production; rather say if we don’t think out of the box, no matter how many China we eliminate from your economic map, our position as a Self-Sufficient Nation will not improve.
Investment scenario in India
If you consider the investment sector, Risk Funding is a rare thing to see. Investors in India are primarily looking for a cash cow, they want to invest in entities that are already established. Owing to the fraudulent cases of investments, they want to invest in a business that is looking for expansion. So, how do the newbie’s in business manage? This is what we as a Nation need to figure out.
We need to work on technologies, designs, more domain specific products to eliminate root level inefficiencies. We need to ramp up our production capacities. The Government need to provide single window clearance. We need to clear the mess in our Taxation system. We need to give our young generation a platform to grow. Our investors need to feel safe working in India.
