I f one looks at the positive side we have got a lot in last 60 years. But when we look for what could have been done there is a long list of actions.

One major change I would like to see in India at the earliest is the mindset of our people. Globalisation, Liberalisation and Privatisation have been factors for development and progress and also degress to a certain extent. But, inspite of our reign in the field of technology, there is not much respite for the common man. It has become easier to buy electronic gadgets, vehicles etc which were once considered luxuries and are now essential commodities. Fine so far. But, the spiralling prices of basic foodgrains and food and medication and education makes you wonder whether we are really progressing/developing. Food insecurity is a major problem. The reasons are not just natural disasters — droughts followed by floods ruining vast areas under crops. The reasons are also man-made. Besides global warming, pollution etc, the main cause is growing real estate market. The demand for owning houses/apartments etc is attenuated with increasing income, access to flexible credit. The land in urban areas is being consumed at a very fast rate. Now the real estate market has already encroached the rural areas. With farmers willing to sell their fertile lands in return for huge amounts and a couple of flats/houses in an apartment/township, we observe dwindling area under cultivation. If this trend continues, we may have to depend on other countries for our basic food requirements. There should be a strict control and sustaining monitoring in this respect.
There must be a higher level of participation and involvement of citizens in the governance. For this there must be spread of awareness and literacy among the citizens. The basic disease of passing the buck or waiting for the ’government’ to do something or blaming the system must be rooted out. This can be done only by integrating people at all levels, irrespective of caste/region/language etc into the mainstream.
We have miles to go before we sleep. But, we must first start, take the first step.