The conclusion of purchase negotiations last month (January) by the Union government of the 45,000 tonne Russian-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at a reported price of Rs.7,000 crore is a good indicator of the warped development preferences and priorities of the myopic collection of supra nationalists who rule contemporary India, and their fellow travellers within the establishment. Negotiations for finalising the purchase of this ancient but reportedly overhauled and modernised aircraft carrier have been ongoing for over three years and their successful conclusion has been widely welcomed in the media as a triumph of the Union defence ministry. Admittedly the Admiral Gorshkov will infuse considerable power and puissance into the Indian Navy and the defence services in general. Ever since the Vikrant — India’s first aircraft carrier — was moth-balled two years ago and converted into a permanent Mumbai-based naval museum, defence strategists have been pressing for an aircraft carrier following the Vikrant’s great utility in the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. But bearing in mind that the utility of aircraft carriers in the high-tech age of intercontinental missiles is being questioned by defence experts and strategists the world over and in particular given its chastening price tag, it’s a moot point whether at this juncture in the nation’s development history the purchase of an aircraft carrier should have been accorded the priority it has been given. Particularly at a time when the Union government’s fiscal deficit (though it has been somewhat reduced according to the interim budget presented to Parliament in early February) is still a formidable 4.8 percent of GDP, and the government is hard pressed to fund its Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) in the age group six-14, initiative. In this connection it is also pertinent to note that the estimated cost of providing a free mid-day meal to all primary and secondary students in government schools across the country has been estimated (by EducationWorld — vide special report January 2004) at Rs.9,000 crore per year. For the majority of state governments which are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, financing the free mid-day meal scheme which, it is unanimously accepted, can dramatically improve school enrollment and retention is wholly beyond their budgetary capabilities. In the circumstances wouldn’t the RS.7,000 crore spent on purchasing the Admiral Gorshkov have been better invested in the development of the nation’s human resources through deployment in SSA and/or the mid-day meal scheme? And to what extent has the standard clandestine commission of 10 percent routinely paid on all defence hardware influenced the purchase decision? Development economics requires such hard questions to be posed and debated. Unfortunately India’s ruling establish-ment (media included) has little time or inclination for them. India may be Shining but not rural Bharat As the country readies for its 14th general election since it attained independence from British rule way back in 1947, the ruling 22-party National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP is riding high with its ubiquitous India Shining advertising campaign splashed within the undoubtedly grateful media. The reportedly Rs.400 crore campaign (alas, EducationWorld excluded) proclaims that the nation is enjoying unprecedented…
