The myth of Gujarat model
“If you tell a lie big enough, and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” This quote from Dr Joseph Goebbels, the architect of Hitler’s propaganda machine, is reminiscent of the myths around the Vikash Purush and Gujarat.
Gujarat is projected as the epitome of development and within 15 years, projected as having effaced the collective efforts of all post Independence governments at the Centre and states, in all spheres. Unfortunately, truth is harsh and the devil is in the details.
To begin with, development cannot be limited to just growth and macro-economic statistics, by ignoring human development, inclusive development and welfare of the disadvantaged. The Gujarat model has show a glaring converse correlation between its growing economy and declining Human Development Index. On the inequality adjusted HDI of 2011, Gujarat figured 9th in education and 10th in health, among 19 states. In terms of incremental progress in HDI ( 1999 to 2008) Gujarat figures 18th among 23 states. In 2011, on the social and economic development adjusted index, Gujarat stood 14th on the HDI with a score of 0.527, much below Goa, which stands 4th with a score of 0.617, indicating that Goa has very little to learn from Gujarat.
In the first hunger index for Indian states of 2009, Gujarat features 13th out of 17 states ahead of only four states –Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP.
Despite swadeshi flares fired by the Vikash Purush, Gujarat, has been propagating the devastating firangi Western urban industrial model of unhindered economic growth at the cost of poor farmers, with only Mopa airport related forced farmers eviction for parallel.
The big incentives to big business have increased Gujarat’s debt from Rs 10,000 crore in 1998 to Rs 1.76 lakh crore today. Though it is ‘one of the fastest growing’(not the only) economies in the country, Gujarat’s expenditure on health care has fallen from 4.5 per cent of the budget 15 years ago to 0.77 per cent currently. Nearly 44.6 per cent of Gujarat’s population is undernourished, 55.5 per cent of women are anemic and it is the fifth hungriest state in India.
In stark contrast, Kerala has taken the ‘social justice precedes economic growth model’ of inclusive development. Kerala’s trade unions and women had ensured that government decisions are not steam rolled. Hence the politics of exclusion and minority discrimination in Gujarat is the biggest threat faced by the country, scholars say. Kerala scores over Gujarat on percentage of households with amenities such as –sanitation (Gujarat – 47.3%; Kerala- 95.2%); access to drinking water (Gujarat- 64%; Kerala- 77.7%); electricity as their primary source of lighting (Gujarat- 90.4%; Kerala- 94.4%) and telephone connections (Gujarat- 69%; Kerala- 89.7%).
The Gujarat model is based on cheap labour and its exploitation, very high malnutrition and very low expenditure on education and healthcare. NSSO records that 90% of rural Gujarat spends only Rs 75 per day on food and essentials. The dropout rate is a high 58%, while employment rate grew at 0.4%, much below the national average. Unlike claims of 24-hour power supply, Gujarat has power for not more than six hours. There are 1.21 lakh power connection applications pending for five years. As for jobs, the post of 1,500 block secretaries with a fixed salary of Rs 5,000 pm, has invited eight lakh applications, indicating the plight of the unemployed.
No one model can be projected as the best. There are various parameters on which various states have done well and only an eclectic approach can ensure inclusive development, rather than the industry intensive poor-crushing Gujarat model which has steamrolled over all opposition, to the detriment of the state and the country.
