Vaartha and Nation-Building: An Indian Economic Vision
Dr. M. D. Srinivas
Founding Chairman of the Center for Policy Studies, Chennai
Introduction
My Pranams to the distinguished guests, eminent Laudiences and respected Kanagasabhapathy ji chair of this session and my dear colleagues. So, in the brief time given, I’ll try to cover these points as outlined in the PPT and if some are not covered, you can take it that they are being covered.
The Primacy of Vaartha in Indian Tradition
First, I will say something about the primacy of Vaartha-that’s agriculture, cattle protection and trade-and that, in the Indian tradition, the king is not only the protector of Dharma but also the protector of agriculture, cattle and trade. Under Colonial Rule, this primacy of our tradition was disturbed, which resulted in decline of agri produce, trade and cattle; in turn, throwing our society out of gear and rhythm. What was once abundantly available turned out as scarcity of produce under British rule. To reverse this trend and model, I will present the arguments of Pt. Deendayal ji’s vision of economic development founded on the principle of primacy of agriculture.
Pt. Deendayal’s Vision and Critique of India’s Economic Policies
Basically, this he propounded in several lectures and all that, but he wrote a sort of a monograph in 1958 as a critique to the second 5-year plan that was being undertaken then. He has, of course, spoken about it in detail in his lectures on Aatmanad also, but the nation has not paid any attention to his advice and I would like to indicate how that has led to India really lagging behind seriously amongst the nations of the world.
Production and Distribution in Indian Economy
I will also say this about the production part of the Indian economy, but I will also say something about Indian polity, which historically has ensured distribution by following the classical Indian discipline of growing and sharing in plenty.
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry as Primary Activities
So, in India, what is commonly called economic activities today is encompassed by the basic world and importance is given to agriculture, animal husbandry, and trade. So, these are the primary productive activities in India. In modern economies, especially in the last two to three centuries, industrial production based on mined minerals and oil for energy has replaced agriculture and animal husbandry as the primary productive activity. But even then, in most of the world, agriculture and animal husbandry continue to form the basic substratum on which the rest of the activity is structured and flourishes.
The Role of the State in Protecting Agriculture
In the matter of sustainability and robust economies, this is indeed very crucial and what is required is protection. Such protection is explicitly conjoined in our tradition in all our texts upon the state-the kings of India. And so, as I said earlier, the king is the protector.
Historical Perspectives on Agriculture in India
About the primacy of agriculture and farmers, this is what Bhishma Pitamaha advised Yudhishthira. He explained to Yudhishthira that the cultivators should not be reduced to desert the country because it is the cultivators who carry the burden of the king on their shoulders. They also carry and provide for the sustenance of all others. The same thing we see Bhagavan Ramachandra reminding Bharata when he comes to meet at Chitrakuta.
Irrigation and Agricultural Development
A very important aspect of protecting Vaartha is maintaining irrigation. One of the main things that Narada in the Mahabharata pointed out that agriculture should not be left to the mercy of gods alone. We have to provide for adequate irrigation; as per all accounts, we see most of the inscriptions in India deal with how the irrigation reservoirs were maintained in India.
Decline of Agriculture under British Rule
On agricultural development in India, there are many detailed historical records; we will not go into it-but the plenty became scarcity about the end of the 18th century, and it lasted through most of the 19th century. So, how we had to rebuild the nation after our independence was the crucial issue.
Pt. Deendayal ji’s Vision for India’s Economic Development
And now coming to Deendayal ji’s vision, we all know, he was deeply learned in the Indian traditional lore and he had a very close association with the people’s mind and people’s practices. So, in his writings, he has emphasised the fact that the civilisational essence of India is what is called the Chiti and that is to be awakened with the Prana of the Virat. And then he says we need to combine this to build the nation.
The Primacy of Agriculture in Nation-Building
We as a nation should take pride in our holy, glorious past, but we wish neither to make this country a shadow of some distant past nor an imitation of Russia or America. There is a very clear vision that in today’s context, we have to have a new civilisational assertion of India, which is rooted in Indian tradition, but it is not going to be merely an imitation of the past.
Food, Clothing and Shelter as Priorities
And here, he emphasises the primacy of agriculture and the primacy of food availability in maintaining balance in the society—food, clothing, shelter. After talking about it, he talks of food as the most important one. And so, the primacy of agriculture is what he emphasised. Therefore, agricultural sector requires higher priority than other economic activities.
Skewed Economic Contributions and Lagging Growth
In fact, Nehru’s main model was to create a fairly substantial middle class in India by taking the resources-the surplus from agriculture-to support this middle class, largely composed of government servants and other allied sectors and then trade and then manufacturing and finally agriculture. This was the order of priority that independent India set for itself and what Pandit ji was trying to argue was for the exact reverse of this vision of India’s reconstruction-nation-building.
Agriculture’s Reduced Role in Modern India
So, the role of agriculture became reduced to only provide cheap food and raw materials for the other sectors of the Indian economy. And this we can see easily in the skewed contributions to our economy from different sectors. For instance, it is said that in 1951, agriculture constituted about 58% of the Indian economy-agriculture and allied services. It supported about perhaps 65% of our population.
Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Yields
But by 2013-that’s because these are calculated at what is called constant prices, agriculture had come down to 18% of the total Indian economy, though it continued to support almost around 50% of our population. So, there has been much debate, not only in India but in many countries of the world, which also got free around the same time as India and were charting out their new path.
Global Examples of Agricultural Growth
But most countries which did develop very fast showed the kind of understanding that Pandit ji was talking about-that they attached importance to growth in agriculture and then used that sort of a flourishing agriculture sector to actually support the growth of industry and services. And that way, they were able to achieve a fair amount of growth within a couple of decades after having succeeded in the agricultural sector.
India’s Lag in Food Production
They were able to demonstrate a fair amount of growth in industry and services also. But we could not follow this and to some extent, if you look at India’s economic indices, we seem to be lagging behind significantly. So, in the next two to three minutes, I’ll try to explain to you where we are really lacking very seriously.
Food Grain Production: India vs. Global Standards
So, this is the food grain production of India-food grains mean rice, wheat, millets and pulses. As you can see, we have a fairly large amount of cultivable land-more than 100 million hectares; more than China. It’s almost double that of the United States and it’s about one-third of the entire agricultural land available in Asia; yet our production rate is comparably low.
Comparative Yields and Per Capita Availability
But our food production has lagged far behind the comparable levels. The United States, which is growing in half the Indian land, has about 400 million tonnes. Currently, India is producing around 317 million tonnes and China is producing about 569 million tonnes of food grain annually. But as you can see, in 1961, China was marginally ahead-barely ahead of India.
Historical Trends in Food Production
With the advent of Economic Liberalisation in 1991, our food production went up to 243 tonnes from 131 tonnes-almost doubled and as of now, is about 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
India’s Low per Capita Food Availability
If we speak in terms of food production, it is 5.6 tonnes in China, 8 tonnes in the US, 3.8 tonnes is the average in Asia and nearly 4 tonnes is the average in the entire world. In 1961, India and China had almost comparable yields of agriculture. So was the whole of Asia. The world average was also not too different. But today, they doubled the yield of agriculture per hectare.
Famine Commissions and Minimum Food Requirements
Even more crucial is the amount of food grains available per person and per year. This, in kilorammemes, currently in India is 222 kg. But as you can see, from 1961 to 2001, it ranged from 181 to 196. It’s only in the last 6-7 years that we have crossed this 200 kg per person per year.
Global Comparisons in Food Availability
A very important historical point that we should pay attention to is that in the 1880s, when the various famine commissions were set up, it was determined that food grain production of 200 kg is the absolute lowest minimum that we should have-not to have satisfactory food production for all, but barely be able to avoid what are called famine deaths.
Animal Nutrition and Food Usage
So far, even after 60-70 years of our independence, we had not even crossed this 200 kg per person per year, whereas the world was far ahead. Today, China has about 400 kg per person, the US of course 1200, Asia average is 272 and the world has about 360.
Indian Discipline and Modern Economics
It means that it’s not that the kilorammes per person are eaten by humans; it means that a large amount of it is also used to feed the animals. And in fact, Indian food production is such that most of our animals are emaciated and hardly said to have adequate nutrition. This is one of the main points I wanted to make-this is what we emphasised about 30 years ago.
Ensuring Sustenance for All
This is the current situation in India. But this is contrary to both the classical Indian discipline of Anna Kuta and it’s also against the kind of economic policies that wise men like Pt. Deendayal advocated. So now, I will just go very quickly to the distribution side of our economy.
The Philosophical Basis of Indian Political Economy
The main point that traditionally our political arrangements were organised was to ensure two different things-I mean, they are closely related- one is that no living being is ever deprived of sustenance to see that every living being is able to sustain with the free availability of food.
Interconnection and the Cycle of Yajna
Second is that all sectors of the economy obtain their due share through agricultural production-so also all sectors of society. So, for the former thing, we have very strong injunctions from classical literature, which have been emphasised in that book. It’s filled with all these quotations and I’ll just quickly tell you the main philosophical principle on which the Indian political economy is organised. The universe is an interconnection of things and the interconnection between humans and the rest of the world is a give- and-take.
Yajna as Sharing and Caring
And this operates through essentially food or Anna and it’s the Dharma or the fundamental duty of every person to keep this interconnection-the cycle of interconnection moving. And this is organised through the performance of what we all know-the great religious, secular and universal ritual which we call Yajna.
Dharmachakra and the Role of the Grihastha
Yajna is the name for sharing and caring in whatever sector of the economy that we operate. And this is emphasised in great classical texts such as the Gita, Upanishads, etc. It’s called the Dharmachakra in the Gita. So, I will not explain these verses; all of you are very well aware of this-chapter three of the Gita where basically it’s the food that is left after Yajna- that is after sharing with all others-which is to be consumed.
The King’s Duty in Ensuring Welfare
That is what is called reasonably consumed food. Otherwise, one is only consuming sin. And then, this is the Dharmachakra of Bhagavan Shri Krishna to emphasise it. It is the duty of every King to ensure even distribution of food and welfare.
Pancha Maha Yajna and Responsibilities
So, this is of course there. And the main way in which an individual or a householder or a Grihastha- which is the unit of Indian polity, Indian society- the main way a family has to adopt this Dharma is by the performance of this Nitya Karma-the most important that’s why it’s called the Pancha Maha Yajna-where you satisfy the Devas, the Rishis, the guests and the other Manushyas, the Pitrus and the Bhutas.
Manu’s Teachings on Sharing and Consumption
And this Pancha Maha Yajna is the essence that every Grihastha has to follow. After performing and satisfying sharing with all these-a Grihastha has to enjoy his food. And there, it’s mentioned by Manu that both the Dampati should eat together after satisfying all this. And again, the same word occurrs in the Atharva Veda.
Arthashastra on Welfare
The entire society comes under his care and what Arthashastra says is that nobody should suffer from hunger or disease, or from the extremes of heat and cold. No one in the kingdom ought to suffer thus either because of scarcity or because of specific design against it.
Historical Example: Chengalpattu Economy
So, one aspect of distribution is that every being in the surroundings and in the society has to have sustenance of food. Agricultural production should be such that it should be enough to ensure this. This is the one aspect of distribution. The other aspect of distribution is that every section of society receives fair compensation.
Localised Sharing and Economic Support
The food production should be such that they receive adequate prices. This we see very clearly in the study of the Chengalpattu economy which is very clearly explained with respect to two villages by Bajaj and me in a book recently.
High Per Capita Production in Historical Context
So, there, the first thing is that the annual production of food grains in these localities-which is not in a very fertile area; it’s in the region of Southern Tamil Nadu called Chengalpattu, around Madras City-was such that one tonne of food grains were produced, which, as I said, is nearly five times what we are producing today.
Diverse Economic Sectors and Fair Distribution
Only half the households were what may be called living on agriculture and so the rest of the population was in the other sectors of manufacture, services and trade. And one-third of the produce was assigned to all individuals, institutions and bodies that performed various services in the locality, which ensured that every sort of person and every institution in the locality had adequate support of food and fair share.
Vision for a Caring Indian Economy
The last slide-so what we want to do is to establish a robust, affluent and caring Indian economy-an economy based on the primacy of agriculture and cattle protection and an extensive system of sharing of the produce and distribution, both at the local level and otherwise.
Learning from Global Examples and Indian Tradition
And we see many countries in the world doing this fairly effectively. And so, this is not something that has returned to some idyllic pre-modern age. This is the functional modern age where the hunger of every being is satisfied.
Going Forward: What We Have to Do
And to do it in the Indian way, we need to take our classical texts seriously and rediscover the practices of our people seriously and then incorporate them into our modern economy, aligning with what Pt. Deendayal ji has said throughout his life. And once it’s done, I’m sure in a decade or two, we would set an example of an all-encompassing, caring and affluent Indian economy that would make India stand out as an example for the world to follow.
Thank you very much!
Founding Chairman of the Center for Policy Studies, Chennai
Introduction
My Pranams to the distinguished guests, eminent Laudiences and respected Kanagasabhapathy ji chair of this session and my dear colleagues. So, in the brief time given, I’ll try to cover these points as outlined in the PPT and if some are not covered, you can take it that they are being covered.
The Primacy of Vaartha in Indian Tradition
First, I will say something about the primacy of Vaartha-that’s agriculture, cattle protection and trade-and that, in the Indian tradition, the king is not only the protector of Dharma but also the protector of agriculture, cattle and trade. Under Colonial Rule, this primacy of our tradition was disturbed, which resulted in decline of agri produce, trade and cattle; in turn, throwing our society out of gear and rhythm. What was once abundantly available turned out as scarcity of produce under British rule. To reverse this trend and model, I will present the arguments of Pt. Deendayal ji’s vision of economic development founded on the principle of primacy of agriculture.
Pt. Deendayal’s Vision and Critique of India’s Economic Policies
Basically, this he propounded in several lectures and all that, but he wrote a sort of a monograph in 1958 as a critique to the second 5-year plan that was being undertaken then. He has, of course, spoken about it in detail in his lectures on Aatmanad also, but the nation has not paid any attention to his advice and I would like to indicate how that has led to India really lagging behind seriously amongst the nations of the world.
Production and Distribution in Indian Economy
I will also say this about the production part of the Indian economy, but I will also say something about Indian polity, which historically has ensured distribution by following the classical Indian discipline of growing and sharing in plenty.
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry as Primary Activities
So, in India, what is commonly called economic activities today is encompassed by the basic world and importance is given to agriculture, animal husbandry, and trade. So, these are the primary productive activities in India. In modern economies, especially in the last two to three centuries, industrial production based on mined minerals and oil for energy has replaced agriculture and animal husbandry as the primary productive activity. But even then, in most of the world, agriculture and animal husbandry continue to form the basic substratum on which the rest of the activity is structured and flourishes.
The Role of the State in Protecting Agriculture
In the matter of sustainability and robust economies, this is indeed very crucial and what is required is protection. Such protection is explicitly conjoined in our tradition in all our texts upon the state-the kings of India. And so, as I said earlier, the king is the protector.
Historical Perspectives on Agriculture in India
About the primacy of agriculture and farmers, this is what Bhishma Pitamaha advised Yudhishthira. He explained to Yudhishthira that the cultivators should not be reduced to desert the country because it is the cultivators who carry the burden of the king on their shoulders. They also carry and provide for the sustenance of all others. The same thing we see Bhagavan Ramachandra reminding Bharata when he comes to meet at Chitrakuta.
Irrigation and Agricultural Development
A very important aspect of protecting Vaartha is maintaining irrigation. One of the main things that Narada in the Mahabharata pointed out that agriculture should not be left to the mercy of gods alone. We have to provide for adequate irrigation; as per all accounts, we see most of the inscriptions in India deal with how the irrigation reservoirs were maintained in India.
Decline of Agriculture under British Rule
On agricultural development in India, there are many detailed historical records; we will not go into it-but the plenty became scarcity about the end of the 18th century, and it lasted through most of the 19th century. So, how we had to rebuild the nation after our independence was the crucial issue.
Pt. Deendayal ji’s Vision for India’s Economic Development
And now coming to Deendayal ji’s vision, we all know, he was deeply learned in the Indian traditional lore and he had a very close association with the people’s mind and people’s practices. So, in his writings, he has emphasised the fact that the civilisational essence of India is what is called the Chiti and that is to be awakened with the Prana of the Virat. And then he says we need to combine this to build the nation.
The Primacy of Agriculture in Nation-Building
We as a nation should take pride in our holy, glorious past, but we wish neither to make this country a shadow of some distant past nor an imitation of Russia or America. There is a very clear vision that in today’s context, we have to have a new civilisational assertion of India, which is rooted in Indian tradition, but it is not going to be merely an imitation of the past.
Food, Clothing and Shelter as Priorities
And here, he emphasises the primacy of agriculture and the primacy of food availability in maintaining balance in the society—food, clothing, shelter. After talking about it, he talks of food as the most important one. And so, the primacy of agriculture is what he emphasised. Therefore, agricultural sector requires higher priority than other economic activities.
Skewed Economic Contributions and Lagging Growth
In fact, Nehru’s main model was to create a fairly substantial middle class in India by taking the resources-the surplus from agriculture-to support this middle class, largely composed of government servants and other allied sectors and then trade and then manufacturing and finally agriculture. This was the order of priority that independent India set for itself and what Pandit ji was trying to argue was for the exact reverse of this vision of India’s reconstruction-nation-building.
Agriculture’s Reduced Role in Modern India
So, the role of agriculture became reduced to only provide cheap food and raw materials for the other sectors of the Indian economy. And this we can see easily in the skewed contributions to our economy from different sectors. For instance, it is said that in 1951, agriculture constituted about 58% of the Indian economy-agriculture and allied services. It supported about perhaps 65% of our population.
Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Yields
But by 2013-that’s because these are calculated at what is called constant prices, agriculture had come down to 18% of the total Indian economy, though it continued to support almost around 50% of our population. So, there has been much debate, not only in India but in many countries of the world, which also got free around the same time as India and were charting out their new path.
Global Examples of Agricultural Growth
But most countries which did develop very fast showed the kind of understanding that Pandit ji was talking about-that they attached importance to growth in agriculture and then used that sort of a flourishing agriculture sector to actually support the growth of industry and services. And that way, they were able to achieve a fair amount of growth within a couple of decades after having succeeded in the agricultural sector.
India’s Lag in Food Production
They were able to demonstrate a fair amount of growth in industry and services also. But we could not follow this and to some extent, if you look at India’s economic indices, we seem to be lagging behind significantly. So, in the next two to three minutes, I’ll try to explain to you where we are really lacking very seriously.
Food Grain Production: India vs. Global Standards
So, this is the food grain production of India-food grains mean rice, wheat, millets and pulses. As you can see, we have a fairly large amount of cultivable land-more than 100 million hectares; more than China. It’s almost double that of the United States and it’s about one-third of the entire agricultural land available in Asia; yet our production rate is comparably low.
Comparative Yields and Per Capita Availability
But our food production has lagged far behind the comparable levels. The United States, which is growing in half the Indian land, has about 400 million tonnes. Currently, India is producing around 317 million tonnes and China is producing about 569 million tonnes of food grain annually. But as you can see, in 1961, China was marginally ahead-barely ahead of India.
Historical Trends in Food Production
With the advent of Economic Liberalisation in 1991, our food production went up to 243 tonnes from 131 tonnes-almost doubled and as of now, is about 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
India’s Low per Capita Food Availability
If we speak in terms of food production, it is 5.6 tonnes in China, 8 tonnes in the US, 3.8 tonnes is the average in Asia and nearly 4 tonnes is the average in the entire world. In 1961, India and China had almost comparable yields of agriculture. So was the whole of Asia. The world average was also not too different. But today, they doubled the yield of agriculture per hectare.
Famine Commissions and Minimum Food Requirements
Even more crucial is the amount of food grains available per person and per year. This, in kilorammemes, currently in India is 222 kg. But as you can see, from 1961 to 2001, it ranged from 181 to 196. It’s only in the last 6-7 years that we have crossed this 200 kg per person per year.
Global Comparisons in Food Availability
A very important historical point that we should pay attention to is that in the 1880s, when the various famine commissions were set up, it was determined that food grain production of 200 kg is the absolute lowest minimum that we should have-not to have satisfactory food production for all, but barely be able to avoid what are called famine deaths.
Animal Nutrition and Food Usage
So far, even after 60-70 years of our independence, we had not even crossed this 200 kg per person per year, whereas the world was far ahead. Today, China has about 400 kg per person, the US of course 1200, Asia average is 272 and the world has about 360.
Indian Discipline and Modern Economics
It means that it’s not that the kilorammes per person are eaten by humans; it means that a large amount of it is also used to feed the animals. And in fact, Indian food production is such that most of our animals are emaciated and hardly said to have adequate nutrition. This is one of the main points I wanted to make-this is what we emphasised about 30 years ago.
Ensuring Sustenance for All
This is the current situation in India. But this is contrary to both the classical Indian discipline of Anna Kuta and it’s also against the kind of economic policies that wise men like Pt. Deendayal advocated. So now, I will just go very quickly to the distribution side of our economy.
The Philosophical Basis of Indian Political Economy
The main point that traditionally our political arrangements were organised was to ensure two different things-I mean, they are closely related- one is that no living being is ever deprived of sustenance to see that every living being is able to sustain with the free availability of food.
Interconnection and the Cycle of Yajna
Second is that all sectors of the economy obtain their due share through agricultural production-so also all sectors of society. So, for the former thing, we have very strong injunctions from classical literature, which have been emphasised in that book. It’s filled with all these quotations and I’ll just quickly tell you the main philosophical principle on which the Indian political economy is organised. The universe is an interconnection of things and the interconnection between humans and the rest of the world is a give- and-take.
Yajna as Sharing and Caring
And this operates through essentially food or Anna and it’s the Dharma or the fundamental duty of every person to keep this interconnection-the cycle of interconnection moving. And this is organised through the performance of what we all know-the great religious, secular and universal ritual which we call Yajna.
Dharmachakra and the Role of the Grihastha
Yajna is the name for sharing and caring in whatever sector of the economy that we operate. And this is emphasised in great classical texts such as the Gita, Upanishads, etc. It’s called the Dharmachakra in the Gita. So, I will not explain these verses; all of you are very well aware of this-chapter three of the Gita where basically it’s the food that is left after Yajna- that is after sharing with all others-which is to be consumed.
The King’s Duty in Ensuring Welfare
That is what is called reasonably consumed food. Otherwise, one is only consuming sin. And then, this is the Dharmachakra of Bhagavan Shri Krishna to emphasise it. It is the duty of every King to ensure even distribution of food and welfare.
Pancha Maha Yajna and Responsibilities
So, this is of course there. And the main way in which an individual or a householder or a Grihastha- which is the unit of Indian polity, Indian society- the main way a family has to adopt this Dharma is by the performance of this Nitya Karma-the most important that’s why it’s called the Pancha Maha Yajna-where you satisfy the Devas, the Rishis, the guests and the other Manushyas, the Pitrus and the Bhutas.
Manu’s Teachings on Sharing and Consumption
And this Pancha Maha Yajna is the essence that every Grihastha has to follow. After performing and satisfying sharing with all these-a Grihastha has to enjoy his food. And there, it’s mentioned by Manu that both the Dampati should eat together after satisfying all this. And again, the same word occurrs in the Atharva Veda.
Arthashastra on Welfare
The entire society comes under his care and what Arthashastra says is that nobody should suffer from hunger or disease, or from the extremes of heat and cold. No one in the kingdom ought to suffer thus either because of scarcity or because of specific design against it.
Historical Example: Chengalpattu Economy
So, one aspect of distribution is that every being in the surroundings and in the society has to have sustenance of food. Agricultural production should be such that it should be enough to ensure this. This is the one aspect of distribution. The other aspect of distribution is that every section of society receives fair compensation.
Localised Sharing and Economic Support
The food production should be such that they receive adequate prices. This we see very clearly in the study of the Chengalpattu economy which is very clearly explained with respect to two villages by Bajaj and me in a book recently.
High Per Capita Production in Historical Context
So, there, the first thing is that the annual production of food grains in these localities-which is not in a very fertile area; it’s in the region of Southern Tamil Nadu called Chengalpattu, around Madras City-was such that one tonne of food grains were produced, which, as I said, is nearly five times what we are producing today.
Diverse Economic Sectors and Fair Distribution
Only half the households were what may be called living on agriculture and so the rest of the population was in the other sectors of manufacture, services and trade. And one-third of the produce was assigned to all individuals, institutions and bodies that performed various services in the locality, which ensured that every sort of person and every institution in the locality had adequate support of food and fair share.
Vision for a Caring Indian Economy
The last slide-so what we want to do is to establish a robust, affluent and caring Indian economy-an economy based on the primacy of agriculture and cattle protection and an extensive system of sharing of the produce and distribution, both at the local level and otherwise.
Learning from Global Examples and Indian Tradition
And we see many countries in the world doing this fairly effectively. And so, this is not something that has returned to some idyllic pre-modern age. This is the functional modern age where the hunger of every being is satisfied.
Going Forward: What We Have to Do
And to do it in the Indian way, we need to take our classical texts seriously and rediscover the practices of our people seriously and then incorporate them into our modern economy, aligning with what Pt. Deendayal ji has said throughout his life. And once it’s done, I’m sure in a decade or two, we would set an example of an all-encompassing, caring and affluent Indian economy that would make India stand out as an example for the world to follow.
Thank you very much!
