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Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat (India): Samples in, 250 and 600 Words

• Updated on  
• Jan 25, 2024

Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat: Today, India, that is Bharat, has become a self-reliant (atmanirbhar) country in most of the realms. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on 12th May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to make India self-reliant. As India prepares to take the global centre stage, it will become an important global economy. India is ranked 5th in nominal GDP and 3rd in purchasing power parity (PPP). 

There are five pillars of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, which are economy, technology-driven systems, infrastructure, vibrant demography and demand. Moreover, India is determined to become a global power under the India Vision 2047. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is not just a social and economic development topic. It is about the importance of India and its citizens in the global development. Today, we will provide some samples of essays on Atmanirbhar Bharat (India) for school students.

Master the art of essay writing with our blog on How to Write an Essay in English .

Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat in 250 Words

The Prime Minister of India launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ on 12th May 2020. All the activities and developments under this programme are managed by the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity). 

Initially, this programme was launched with a total budget of INN 5,000 crore, which is 0.025% of our GDP. Later on, the Prime Minister increased this monetary budget to INR 20 lac crore to achieve all the desired objectives. To make India a self-reliant nation, native businessmen, industrialists and traders were encouraged to participate in the nation-building programme.

There are five pillars of the Atmanirbhar Mission. These are technology-driven systems, infrastructure, vibrant demography and demand. All these pillars are equally important and are managed by different ministries and departments of the Indian government. All the ministries involved in this programme have their separate objectives. 

To become a global economy, India is focusing on producing more and more products for exports and reducing its expenses in importing. When a country’s exports are more than its imports, its economy grows at a positive rate. We have a long way ahead of us. Our major focus is on producing indigenous products by encouraging local businesses so that their production is sufficient to sustain them and to export outside the country. If this trend continues, then the time is not far when India will become the global economic power, surpassing Germany, Japan, China and the USA. 

To improve your essay writing skills, here are the top 200+ English Essay Topics for school students.

Also Read: Speech on Republic Day for Class 12th

Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat in 600 Words

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or mission is an Indian government initiative, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12th May 2020. The Prime Minister laid down all the objectives, responsibilities, pillars and names of the ministries which will be working to achieve all the goals of this scheme. The objective of this scheme is to make India a self-reliant nation and a global economic power. 

Total Budget

The initial budget of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan was INR 5000 crore. However, due to the COVID-10 pandemic and global economic slowdown, this budget was raised to INR 20 lac crore. This was done to achieve all the objectives in real-time, as India is planning to enhance its production. 

Native businessmen, industrialists and traders are encouraged by the government to contribute and invest in the Indian manufacturing sector. With the number in production increasing, the country will be focusing on exporting more and importing less.

Five Pillars of Atma Nirbhar Bharat

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan functions under five ministries:  Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity). All these ministries will be working on separate pillars of the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission. These five pillars are; technology-driven systems, infrastructure, vibrant demography and demand. All these pillars are equally important and are managed by different ministries and departments of the Indian government. 

• Technology-driven systems – A system based on technological developments, which can make India an important global power in the 21st century.
• Economy – An economic system focusing on Quantum Jump rather than Incremental change.
• Infrastructure – A modern infrastructure for a modern India.
• Demography – As the mother of Democracy, our demographic variation or diversity is our strength to make India self-sustaining.
• Demand – To enhance the cycle of demand and supply for a stronger economy

Developments So far

The Ministry of Defence is focusing on building its own infrastructure and warfare equipment, instead of importing from other countries. To achieve these goals, all five departments of the Ministry of Defence are working together. These departments are the Department of Military Affairs, the Department of Defence, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development, and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. LCH Prachand chopper, Pinaka rocket launchers, and Nag anti-tank missiles are some of the Indian-made military weapons.

Benefits to Poors and Migrants

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the Indian government has encouraged the local and state governments to work for the welfare of the poor and migrants.

• Migrants are given food grain supply for up to 2 months.
• Poor people are given access to education and learn technical skills so that they can participate in technological-related activities.
• To offer affordable housing complexes for migrant workers and urban poor people, the One Nation One Ration Card scheme was introduced.
• The Shishu Mudra loan service was launched, under which a 2% interest subvention for 12 months was offered. This scheme offered a total of INR 12,000 crore loans all over India.
• Another INR 70,000 crore was invested in the housing sector for middle-class people under the PMAY (Urban).
• INR 30,000 crore was invested in the Emergency Working Capital for farmers under the NABARD scheme.
• INR 2 lac crore was invested to help more than 25 million farmers under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme.

When a country’s exports are more than its imports, its economy grows at a positive rate. We have a long way ahead of us. The major focus of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Scheme is on producing indigenous products by encouraging local businesses so that their production is sufficient to sustain them and to export outside the country.

Ans: The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan is a national mission to make India, Bharat a self-reliant country in terms of trade, economy, defence and technology.

Ans: The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or mission is an Indian government initiative, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12th May 2020. The Prime Minister laid down all the objectives, responsibilities, pillars and names of the ministries which will be working to achieve all the goals of this scheme. The objective of this scheme is to make India a self-reliant nation and a global economic power. 

Ans: The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the vision to make India a self-reliant and self-sustaining nation.

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Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Essay on Self-Reliant School For Self-Reliant India

Self-reliant school for self-reliant india.

As Rabindranath Tagore said, “The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.” The social and economic well-being and stability of a self-sufficient India will be a lot better if more people get an education. In the words of our Honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, “Atma Nirbhar Bharat,” we can think of this as a motto for society as a whole, not just for us. In the world after Covid, India will start a new era of being self-sufficient. In the heart of Indian education, the idea of self-reliance has been around for a long time. As a child, the curriculum has always been based on the practise of self-study, in which the learner would work on his own knowledge. Self-study has been seen as a good thing for students to do in the past, but with the commercialization of the education system, it was becoming less common.

There will be a self-sufficient system of education in the future.

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NEP has set a new standard for how things should be done.

The NEP has been sold to the public as a new way to run, deliver, and pay for education. It is a huge project that promises to be one of the best educational systems in the world. Freedom and flexibility are two important parts of self-reliance that it wants to change to meet the needs and desires of today’s society. When students do not have to deal with the dread and complexity of choosing a job, it is important. A new law says that students will not have to deal with the pressure from society to choose a major. The best thing is that kids will be able to choose from a wide range of subjects, so they can combine Math, Science, and the Arts to find what they like. People in middle school have a job: They start the gears moving by planting the seed of self-sufficiency in people.

Using competency-based learning in the classroom has helped improve self-reliance education in India. We, as citizens of this holistic country, need to understand it and do more of these things.

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Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat

“Atmanirbhar Bharat” is a visionary initiative that aims to make India self-reliant and self-sufficient in various sectors. In this essay, we will explore the concept of “Atmanirbhar Bharat,” its significance, and the journey India is on to achieve self-reliance.

Understanding “Atmanirbhar Bharat”

“Atmanirbhar Bharat,” which translates to “self-reliant India,” is a call to make India self-sufficient in key areas such as manufacturing, technology, and innovation. It promotes the idea of producing goods and services within the country rather than relying heavily on imports.

The Need for Self-Reliance

India’s journey towards self-reliance is driven by the need to reduce dependence on foreign countries for essential goods and services. This is crucial for economic stability, national security, and overall development. “Atmanirbhar Bharat” aims to strengthen India’s economic resilience.

Promoting Indigenous Manufacturing

One of the pillars of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” is to promote indigenous manufacturing. By encouraging domestic production, India can create job opportunities, boost the economy, and reduce its trade deficit. This approach supports the “Make in India” campaign.

Enhancing Technological Capabilities

Technological advancement is another key aspect of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.” India seeks to develop its own technology solutions and reduce reliance on foreign technology. This includes advancements in areas like information technology, telecommunications, and space exploration.

Strengthening Agriculture and Rural Sectors

Self-reliance in agriculture and rural sectors is vital for India’s food security. Initiatives like “Atmanirbhar Krishi” aim to empower farmers, improve agricultural infrastructure, and reduce post-harvest losses. Self-sufficiency in agriculture ensures food availability for the nation.

A Boost for Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in India’s economic growth. “Atmanirbhar Bharat” supports the growth of SMEs by providing financial assistance, improving ease of doing business, and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of self-reliance, especially in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. “Atmanirbhar Bharat” recognizes the need to strengthen India’s healthcare infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities.

Global Recognition and Partnerships

“Atmanirbhar Bharat” does not mean isolationism. India continues to engage in global partnerships and trade while working towards self-reliance. It aims to be a reliable and self-sufficient partner in the global economy.

Conclusion of Essay on Atmanirbhar Bharat

In conclusion, “Atmanirbhar Bharat” is a vision that holds immense significance for India’s development and growth. It aims to reduce dependence on imports, promote indigenous manufacturing and technology, strengthen agriculture, empower SMEs, and enhance healthcare capabilities.

Achieving self-reliance is a journey that requires determination, innovation, and cooperation between the government, industries, and citizens. “Atmanirbhar Bharat” is not just a policy but a call to action for all Indians to contribute to the nation’s self-sufficiency.

As India continues its journey towards self-reliance, it has the potential to become a global economic powerhouse, a hub for innovation, and a nation that is truly self-sufficient in all aspects. “Atmanirbhar Bharat” is a vision that paves the way for a brighter and more self-reliant future for India and its people.

Also Check: The Essay on Essay: All you need to know

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Essay On Self Reliant School for Self Reliant India In 350+ Words

Hello Friend, In this post “ Essay On Self Reliant School for Self Reliant India “, We will read about Self Reliant School For Self Reliant India as an Essay In Details. And at last, via reading this article you can also able to download the PDF of this Article. So, 

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Essay On Self Reliant School for Self Reliant India Download PDF

Self-reliance is the ability to do things and make decisions by yourself, without needing other people to help you. Self-reliance means developing the right skills and capabilities to do one’s activities without depending on outside support.

Self-Reliance is having confidence in our abilities and being able to do things for ourselves. Covid-19 pandemic has taught a lesson to the world that being self-reliant is important.

In terms of teaching and learning, I want to share my ideas on making me and my teacher’s Self-Reliance (Aatmanirbhar) when the schools are not fully functional due to covid-19.

I should avoid blaming the situation like the covid-19 pandemic and take corrective actions on my own. I should develop the ability to think independently. I should follow strategies and tips that can help in learning.

I should understand the purpose of learning by setting targets. I should plan efficiently in the learning process. I should build confidence in teachers and their method of teaching.

On the other hand… Teachers must create a safe and positive learning environment. Teachers should be proactive in forming an action plan and implementing it. Teachers should develop their skills of teaching especially at times of online teaching.

Teachers should customize the templates, content-related videos, whiteboards, etc.., Teachers should know about their strengths and limitations. Teachers should have a positive attitude and they should learn from their mistakes.

In this pandemic time, teachers must be self-reliant and they should encourage students to be self-reliant . This encourages emotional strength and helps to face challenges like the covid-19 pandemic which ultimately results in Self Reliant School for Self Reliant India.

Thanks For Reading “ Essay On Self Reliant School for Self Reliant India “.

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Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Explained with Video

Last updated on December 25, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India Mission) is a campaign launched by the Central Government of India which included an Rs.20 lakh crore economic stimulus package and several reform proposals.

As part of the relief measures in the aftermath of COVID-19 , the Prime Minister announced a special economic package and gave a clarion call for “ Atmanirbhar Bharat ” or “Self-reliant India”.

He noted that this package totals Rs 20 lakh crore, including the government’s recent announcements on supporting key sectors and measures by the Reserve Bank of India, which is equivalent to almost 10% of India’s GDP .

Table of Contents

Meaning of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

The meaning of the term ‘ Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is self-reliant India .

In his speech, the Prime Minister observed that to fulfill the dream of making 21st-century India, the way forward is through ensuring that the country becomes self-reliant.

Significance of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

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• Talking about turning a crisis into an opportunity , he gave the example that the production of PPE kits and N-95 masks in India has gone up from almost being negligible to 2 lakh each, daily.
• Remaking that self-reliance is the only way out for India , the PM quoted from our scriptures “ Eshah Panthah ”, that is – self-sufficient India.
• Self-reliance will make globalization human-centric . The definition of self-reliance has changed in a globalized world and it is different from being self-centred. India’s fundamental thinking and tradition of “ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam ” provides a ray of hope to the world. This should be seen in the context of Human-Centric Globalization versus Economy Centralized Globalization.
• Self-reliance does not mean cutting India off from the world. India believes in the welfare of the world and India’s progress is linked with the world. The world trusts that India has a lot to contribute to the development of the entire humanity.
• The PM also stressed the need to be vocal about local products and urged people to buy only local products.

Five Pillars of a Self-reliant India

• Bold reforms across sectors will drive the country’s push towards self-reliance.
• Economy : contemplates not an Incremental change but a quantum leap so that we can convert the current adversity into an advantage.
• Infrastructure : that can be an image of modern India or it can be the identity of India.
• Systems : driven by 21 st -century technology, and that is not based on old rules.
• Democracy : a vibrant democracy that is the source of energy to make India self-reliant.
• Demand : where the strength of our demand and supply chain is utilized intelligently.

The reforms and stimulus measures under the Rs 20 lakh crore package were subsequently elaborated by the Finance Minister in five tranches:

The first tranche of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Total Rs 5,94,550 Cr

• Collateral-free loans and emergency credit to restart business including MSME – 3,00,000 Cr.
• Subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs – 20,000 Cr
• Fund of Funds for an equity infusion to MSMEs – 50,000 Cr. It will also encourage MSMEs to get listed on the main board of Stock Exchanges.
• Extended EPF support via government contributions to EPF accounts of eligible establishments – 2800 Cr
• Reduced EPF rates of both employer and employee – 6750 Cr
• Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs – 30,000 Cr
• Partial credit guarantee scheme for liabilities of NBFCs/MFIs – 45,000 Cr
• Liquidity injection for DISCOMs via Power Finance Corp/REC – 90,000 crore
• Reduction of TCS / TDS rates – 50,000 Cr
• Note: The definition of MSMEs changed by enhancing the limits to be considered as an MSME .

The second tranche of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Total Rs 3,10,000 Cr

• Free food grains to migrant workers for 2 months – 3500 Cr
• Interest subvention of MUDRA-Shishu loans – 1500 Cr
• Special credit facility to street vendors – 5000 Cr
• Extension of credit-linked subsidy scheme in the housing sector for the middle-income group – 70,000 Cr
• Additional emergency working capital for farmers through NABARD – 30,000 Cr
• Additional concessional credit through Kisan Credit Cards – 2,00,000 Cr
• One Nation One Ration card to enable a migrant beneficiary to purchase grains from any ration shop in the country.
• Affordable housing for migrants and urban poor via a scheme under PMAY and affordable rental housing complexes (ARHC) under PPP mode.

The third tranche of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Total Rs 1,50,000 Cr

• Agri Infrastructure Fund for farm gate infrastructure including cold chain and post-harvest infrastructure – 1,00,000 Cr
• Food micro-enterprises with a cluster-based approach– 10,000 Cr
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) – 11,000 Cr for activities in Marine, Inland fisheries, and Aquaculture and 9000 Cr for Infrastructure – Fishing Harbours, Cold chain, Markets, etc.
• Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund – 15,000 Cr
• Promotion of Herbal Cultivation – 4000 Cr
• Extending Operation Greens project from Tomatoes, Onion, and Potatoes (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables – 500 Cr
• Beekeeping initiatives – 500 Cr

The fourth and fifth tranches of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (combined) – Total Rs 48,100 Cr

• Viability gap funding – 8,100 Cr
• Additional MGNREGA allocation – 40,000 Cr

Earlier measures

• Insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh per health worker
• Free cereals and pulses, gas cylinders to poor families for 3 months
• Direct cash transfer via Jan Dhan accounts to poor women.
• PF credits to low-income workers and advances from EPF.
• Collateral-free lending for Women SHG up to Rs 20 lakhs.
• Revenue lost due to tax concessions – 7,800 Cr
• PM’s announcement in the health sector – 15,000 Cr

Measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India

• RBI enhanced liquidity by Rs 1.37 lakh crores by reducing CRR
• Targeted long-term repo operations of Rs 1 lakh crore.
• Raised the Ways and Means advance limits of the state governments by 60 percent.
• Raised borrowing limits of banks under the marginal standing facility to avail an additional Rs 1.37 lakh crore.
• Special refinance facilities to NABARD, SIDBI, and NHB
• Special liquidity facility for mutual funds
• Moratorium on loan repayments

Other major decisions taken under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

Apart from the above, under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan decisions are also made to reform labour, agriculture, coal sector etc.

Labour sector reforms

• To avoid regional disparity in minimum wages, the National Floor Wage is to be introduced.
• An appointment letter is to be provided to all workers to promote formalization.
• Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) code to cover all establishments engaged in hazardous work.
• Definition of the inter-state migrant worker to include migrant workers employed directly by the employer.
• ESIC coverage will be extended to all districts and all establishments employing 10 or more employees as against those in notified districts/areas only.
• Mandatory ESIC coverage for employees in hazardous industries with less than 10 employees.
• Introduction of re-skilling funds for retrenched employees.
• Provision of Social Security Fund for unorganized workers.
• Provision of gratuity on completion of one-year service as against 5 years.

Agriculture Marketing Reforms to provide choices to farmers

• Now, farmers are bound to sell agricultural produce only to licensees in APMCs .
• A law will be formulated to provide choices to farmers to sell produce at an attractive price and enable barrier-free inter-state trade.
• The legal framework will be created for contract farming and enable farmers to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers, and exporters fairly and transparently.
• Risk mitigation for farmers’ assured returns and quality standardization to be an integral part of the framework.

Coal sector reforms

• Introduction of commercial mining in the coal sector through a revenue-sharing mechanism instead of the regime of fixed Rupee/tonne
• To lower impact on the environment, coal gasification, and liquefication will be incentivized through rebates in revenue share
• Coal Bed Methane (CBM) extraction rights are to be auctioned from Coal India Limited’s (CIL) coal mines.

Self-reliance in defence production

• Ban the import of several weapons and a separate budget provisioning for domestic capital procurement to help reduce the huge defense import bill.
• Corporatize the Ordnance Factory Board to improve autonomy, accountability, and efficiency.
• Increased FDI limit in defence manufacturing under the automatic route from 49 percent to 74 percent.

Read:  Indigenization of defence sector

Aircraft and airspace sector

• Restrictions on the utilization of the Indian airspace will be eased so that civilian flying becomes more efficient.
• Development of world-class airports through PPP,
• The tax regime for Aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul ecosystem is rationalized and the convergence between the defence sector and the civil MROs will be established to create economies of scale.
• Boosting private participation in space activities. The private sector will be allowed to use ISRO facilities and other relevant assets to improve their capacities.

Technology-driven education

• PM e-VIDYA — a program for multi-mode access to digital/online education — will be launched. The program will comprise one earmarked TV channel per class from 1 to 12. Special e-content will be prepared for the visually and hearing impaired. The top 100 universities will be permitted to automatically start online courses by 30 May 2020.
• Manodarpan , an initiative for psycho-social support of students, teachers, and families for mental health and emotional well-being, will also be launched simultaneously.
• National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched in December 2020 to ensure that every child attains learning levels and outcomes in grade 5 by 2025.

Read: EdTech Sector in India

Ease of doing business-related measures

• The minimum threshold to initiate insolvency proceedings was raised to Rs 1 crore
• Suspension of fresh initiation of insolvency proceedings up to one year.
• Special insolvency resolution framework for MSMEs to be notified soon.
• Decriminalization of violations under the Companies Act
• Allow direct listing of securities by Indian public companies in permissible foreign jurisdictions.
• The government will announce a new, coherent policy where all sectors are open to the private sector while public sector enterprises (PSEs) will play an important role in defined areas.
• A list of strategic sectors requiring the presence of PSEs in the public interest will be notified.
• In strategic sectors, at least one enterprise will remain in the public sector but the private sector will also be allowed.
• In other sectors, PSEs will be privatized.

Read:  PM SVANidhi Scheme

Parallels with the Swadeshi Movement and Need for Self-reliance

• The call for self-reliance can be compared with the Swadeshi movement and we can find that it is a relatable response to the evolving political and economic currents in a globalized world.
• If Swadeshi was the rejection of the colonial exploitation of India and criticism of the Western model of Capitalism-based economic growth, Atmanirbhar Bharat is an attempt to find India’s legitimate place in a rapidly changing world.
• Atmanirbhar Bharat like the Swadeshi movement is a program that is against the unrestricted import of Western thinking and economic models but is not averse to technology. It stands for modernization but without unbridled Westernisation.
• The clarion call ‘ Vocal for local’ needs to be seen as a response to the anticipated changes in geopolitical order in the post-COVID world.
• The COVID crisis has shown the failings of multilateral and regional institutions and also the ineffectiveness of trade barriers and standalone economic models.
• Indian entrepreneurship must be freed from the shackles by adopting suitable governance models and reforming laws.
• The ‘new Swadeshi’ must transform local industries to connect the ever-changing global trade structure and lead to ‘ glocalization’ that serves local and global markets.
• Some early signs of this development were seen during the COVID crisis where India’s position as the ‘pharmacy of the developing world’ was cemented. The importance of self-reliance was also seen in the self-sufficiency for food, especially cereals, the lack of which would have exasperated the current crisis.

Criticism of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

• Several opposition leaders pointed out that as per the calculations by many economists, the actual government expenditure in the Atmanirbhar package is just 1%.
• The actions of RBI were included as part of the government’s fiscal package whereas government expenditure and RBI’s actions cannot be clubbed together.
• The Indian economy is likely to contract and the Gross Value Added across sectors is likely to fall. According to an assessment by Prof N R Bhanumurthy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), India’s GVA will contract by 13% this year under the Base case scenario (The Base case scenario refers to a scenario where governments bring down their expenditure in line with their falling revenues to maintain their fiscal deficit target).
• Several economists suggest that the government needs to spend much more to prevent an economic contraction. Higher public spending will come at the cost of higher levels of fiscal deficits and higher inflation, but a growth contraction will cause even worse outcomes in the form of widespread economic ruin.
• Direct expenditure by a government such as direct benefit transfer or by construction will mean that money reaches the people.
• But credit easing by the RBI is not direct government expenditure and banks will be hesitant to lend the money available to them.
• Nothing to stimulate demand – many economists have opined that the government stimulus tries to resolve only supply-side issues. There is nothing to generate demand. This could only be done by putting money in the hands of people.
• Modest MSME package – according to opposition leaders, the MSME package was modest and the measures were skewed in favor of the larger ones. Moreover, the unorganized sector was not catered to.
• Insufficient support for the state governments – the state governments that are at the forefront of fighting the pandemic have not been supported adequately via fund transfers.
• A remodeling of Make in India Campaign – The self-reliant India campaign is criticized by many as a re-modeling of the Make in India Campaign – which didn’t produce expected results – with some add-on.
• The philosophy of self-reliance: India, like most countries, has been following the principles of globalization since the LPG reforms in 1991. Even though the globalized world shrank into isolated countries during the COVID-19 period, it is yet to be seen if self-reliance can be adopted as a viable economic policy by a country like India, post-COVID.

The strategy of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan seems to give a strong supply-side push by boosting the availability of capital on easy terms and through supporting agriculture and business sectors.

The additional allocation to MNREGA will help in productively employing returning migrants.

States are now allowed to borrow within a higher limit but with clear reform conditionalities.

The demand-side stimulus via deficit financing is not considered for the time being.

But it cannot be denied that there is a desperate need for demand stimulus now. People’s purchasing power needs to be increased and demand for industrial products and services must be created.

Income support to migrant workers and the urban poor is also an immediate concern.

Thus, even with falling revenues, a deeper fiscal stimulus could have been attempted.

Several of the reform measures like opening up more sectors for private participation and enhancing foreign direct investment are not to be seen as part of COVID relief but as long-term structural changes. The effect of these measures will have to be watched carefully.

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May 26, 2020 at 10:54 am

Excellent…

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how the funds will be provided to all these sectors.

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4th pillar is Demography, not Democracy. Rectify it

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Relevance of Atmanirbharata

• 15 Mar 2022
• 12 min read
• GS Paper - 2
• Government Policies & Interventions
• GS Paper - 3
• Growth & Development

This editorial is based on “The world is in flux. Self-reliance is vital” which was published in The Hindustan Times on 13/03/2022. It talks about relevance of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign in reference to recent developments where a country has to protect itself from all the dangers.

For Prelims: Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Galwan valley, NATO, Indigenisation of India’s Defence Setup.

For Mains: Relevance of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign in the recent times, the ways to become self-reliant in the modern economic scenarios.

Three contemporary developments have challenged India’s engagement with the world and its security concerns in the past 24 months.

• The first was the decision by China’s to pick a line from a map in imagined history and send 100,000 troops and more to alter the current political equation in the Himalayas. This was a whimsical and perverse exertion of power that resulted in a bloody clash and a still continuing face-off between Indian and Chinese troops.
• Next, in August 2021, the United States (US), finalised an unethical and tragic arrangement with a band of terrorists, and deserted Afghanistan overnight. Women rights, individual freedoms and the “values” that were propagated while waging the so-called liberal war against terror, were all discarded in favour of what was expedient.
• The invasion of Ukraine has put India in an unenviable position of choosing between what is right and what it believes is right for itself.

These three international events revitalised and put forth Atmanirbharata (self-reliance) at the centre stage.

What is the Potential of Atmanirbharata (Self-reliance)?

• Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign is the vision of new India. In the year 2020, Prime Minister raised a clarion call to the nation giving a kick start to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (Self-reliant India campaign) and announced the Special economic and comprehensive package of INR 20 lakh crores - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP.
• The aim is to make the country and its citizens independent and self-reliant in all senses. Five pillars of Atma Nirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand have been outlined.
• It aims towards cutting down import dependence by focussing on substitution while improving safety compliance and quality goods to gain global market share.
• The Self-Reliance signifies neither any exclusionary or isolationist strategies but involves creation of a helping hand to the whole world.
• The Mission focuses on the importance of promoting “local” products.
• Along with Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission, the government took several bold reforms such as Supply Chain Reforms for Agriculture, Rational Tax Systems, Simple & Clear Laws, Capable Human Resource and Strong Financial System which will help in achieving self-reliance in a faster way.

What are the Concerns Raised For Atma Nirbhar Bharat?

• Non-tariff Barrier is a trade restriction, such as a quota, embargo or sanction, that countries use to further their political and economic goals.
• Countries can use non tariff barriers in place of, or in conjunction with, standard tariff barriers (like Custom Duty).
• Data localisation (i.e. storing data within the boundaries of the country) may restrict the ability of local companies to compete in the global marketplace by limiting access to the global supply chain.
• This isolation may result in reduced investment and access to capital and customers.
• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) provides a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
• Also changes in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 are expected to ensure that no item in this list is imported beyond the cut-off date.
• This may impact foreign investment in India.

What Steps Can Be Taken?

• Build a Strategy for the Future: A long term approach that considers regional supply chains and location decision-making is needed to succeed.
• India Should Become Increasingly Open to Free and Fair Trade: India should attract investors due to its strengths rather than by using tariffs as a tool to push international businesses to invest and make in India.
• India should also develop an innovator-friendly intellectual property policy and enforcement regime.
• India should continue to harness and actively invest in the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence , digital technology and data present to achieve its growth potential.
• Countries and trade blocs are cognisant of this fact and are increasingly integrating sustainability and human rights into their trade agreements and strategies.
• The best way for this is to spend on greenfield infrastructure.
• Infrastructure spending uniquely creates structures that raise productivity and extends spending power to the section of the population most affected by the lockdown, namely daily wage labourers.
• The rest may have to come from privatisation, taxation, loans and more international aid.
• Thus, the Atma nirbhar plan also encompasses the unfinished agenda of holistic reforms which may include reforms in Civil services, Education,Skill and Labour, etc.

The government’s call for atma nirbharta (self-reliance) has acquired a new salience and ironically, achieving it requires astute global interlinkages and perhaps even more dense global networks for a country that houses a sixth of humanity.

Trusted connectivity, diversified sources of materials and components and resilient financial and trading arrangements are no longer buzzwords but a strategic imperative requiring all of India’s consensus, including within its business community, lawmakers and all stakeholders.

Q. With reference to India’s Five-Year Plans, which of the following statements is/are correct?

• From the Second Five-Year Plan, there was a determined thrust towards substitution of and capital good industries.
• The Fourth Five-Year Plan adopted the objective of correcting the earlier trend of increased concentration of wealth and economic power.
• In the Fifth Five-Year Plan, for the first time, the financial sector was included as an integral part of the Plan.

Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 and 2 only  (b) 2 only (c) 3 only  (d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (a) Explanation:

• India adopted the strategy of Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) in the fifties. The chief objective was to build a self-reliant economy. From the Second Five Year Plan, there was determined thrust towards substitution of basic and capital goods industries. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The Fourth Five Year Plan emphasised on reduction of concentration of incomes, wealth and economic power to achieve social equality and justice. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The Fifth Five Year Plan was aimed at the removal of poverty and achievement of self-reliance. The Eighth Plan focussed on financial sector reforms. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Self-reliant India: self of a nation or a national self?

• Research Paper
• Published: 02 November 2020
• Volume 23 , pages 357–365, ( 2021 )

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• Sundar Sarukkai 1  

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The pandemic has led to a renewed reflection on what it means to be self-reliant in terms of our everyday practices. Nations too follow this logic in their own claims of self-reliance. This paper discusses the implications in these claims of self-reliance in the context of the nation by positioning this claim within the tension between two different formulations of the self: self of the nation as against the idea of national self.

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Although there is an increased push for self-reliance globally these days, the idea of being self-reliant is a long one. The relationship between the independence movement and self-rule is an expression of political self-reliance. The latest invocation of self-reliance by governments in India and elsewhere is primarily about economic self-reliance but like in the Indian case it is more specifically about self-reliance in manufacturing. But the nature of self-reliance is such that it is difficult to understand economic self-reliance without other forms of self-reliance, most importantly, a self-reliance of the ‘self’ as well as of the ‘intellect’. It is this range of ideas that are present in self-reliance that needs to be understood, even for the narrow vision of self-reliance in manufacturing or other economic processes. In the context of the self-reliance of the nation, there is a new conceptual challenge that we have to face, namely, the use of the term self in the context of the nation. What work does the term ‘self’ do in the articulation of self-reliance of a nation? How does the nation get or possess a self, since the self is most commonly seen as the attribute of individuals? Does this imply that the nation gets unified as an individual even though the nation is a collection of individuals? And does the association of self to the nation lead to contradictions for a democratic nation?

In this essay, I want to explore the notion of self-reliance in the context of the nation in a very limited way. On the one hand, the term ‘self-reliance’ needs little philosophical reflection since its meanings are seemingly apparent. In fact, in our common usage of this term, the word ‘self’ plays very little part. It primarily functions in terms of inside-outside: self-reliance means nothing more than not to be reliant on the outside (others) but even this simple meaning has deep assumptions about inside-outside, self-other and so on. While this is a common usage of this term, in this essay I want to argue that there is a hidden function of the many meanings related to the self. These multiple approaches and paradoxes about the self arise in the many different questions about self-reliance. There are many different ways to understand the meaning of ‘self’, ranging from the ontological to the narratological. I do not want to enter into these different formulations but will focus on one implication of invoking the self in a term that has pragmatic considerations for the functions of a nation. I begin with some reflections on the question of the self during COVID. What I say here are some preliminary remarks to motivate the reason for critically focussing on the meaning of self in self-reliance. Then I try and attempt to understand why the notion of the self (which is so much related to the individual) is invoked in the context of the nation. What is in the understanding of a nation that allows the possibility of linking the nation to a self? I suggest that there are two primary ways of understanding the meaning of a self in relation to the nation: self of a nation and a national self. The implications of these two formulations are quite distinct and have differing implications on the meaning of self-reliance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a special problem that has to do with the relationship between the self and the society. The social pre-COVID was a field which catered to individual interests—from security, health, infrastructure and travel to shopping. What the pandemic really destroyed was our access to the social world, a world in which others performed their work on behalf of others. Labour itself was oriented around this act of distributing the tasks that one had to do for oneself. Restaurants took care of the individual’s need for cooking one’s own food, schools took care of the children (at least for a major part of the day), hospitals took control of health (much of which could have been in the hands of individuals themselves) and so on. Pre-COVID we were a society that increasingly developed a sense of the social defined through dependency. That was not a social that came together through friendship or kinship or as members working towards a common goal. The society itself was moving more and more towards not just a service economy but a service society , where the very idea of the social was reduced to a system designed to take care of the interests of individuals. Shopping malls were a literal exemplification of this social in urban areas.

Technology plays a major role in this subordination of the individual to the society since the basic functions of the individual were outsourced to technology. Right from the beginning, the ideal of technology was to replace manual labour—labour characterized as routine, as a drudgery and not having sufficient value. Thus, labour associated with hard physical work was slowly replaced by machines and household labour by women was taken up by technologies such as the washing machine. The aim of this view of technology was that eventually all human actions—particularly those that were repetitive and monotonous—could be completely outsourced to machines. This view of technology has become so much a part of our very understanding of a society that the great chess player, Gary Kasparov ( 2017 ), in his book Deep Thinking extends the promise of new digital technologies by arguing that now they can take care of ‘menial’ mental tasks which includes the human capabilities of memory, recall, calculating and so on. Technology became an important part of the society in that it made possible the worldview that saw the social world as a world which was there to take care of, protect and more increasingly entertain individuals. In this view of society, not just the government but also other people in a society had become like technology—they were all cogs who took care of one or the other of the jobs to support the interests and desires of the individual. The fact that any social based on this utilitarian end is inherently hierarchical only meant that this form of the social was always geared towards protecting the interests and desires of the more privileged.

The pandemic rudely halted this unquestioned function of society. It first squeezed off the subletting of individual action to others. People who did not know the basics of cooking had to learn them. Those who saw shopping as a social interaction found that the most taken for granted liberty—the ‘right’ to shop—was suddenly removed. There were no gyms for exercise and one had to find ways to exercise by oneself in the confines of their house or in the restricted space of their apartment blocks. Social distancing literally distanced the social from each other’s lives. The claim that this was not really social distancing but only physical distancing misses the point about the impact of the presence of individuals in the creation of the social. The anonymous and virtual social of social media, mediated through digital technology, was just a two-dimensional caricature of the real social that characterizes human relations. This phenomenon is not new and can be seen occurring repeatedly in discussions on the idea of ‘presence’ in theatre in contrast to films, for example.

But just as the social was being distanced, there was a concomitant discovery of the individual and a revival of that worn-out cliche, ‘discovering oneself’. It was as much a discovery of what one could do by oneself, tasks which were originally expected to be done by others—whether it was laundry, ironing one’s clothes, carrying out garbage and for a lot of people just sweeping and mopping. Many of these chores were not easy but at least it became clear why they were not easy. I do not believe that we will learn lessons from this forced reallocation of labour practices, which ideally should make us respect the people who do these jobs for us more than before. Once the situation normalizes, we will go back into the surrogate world of the social but at least now we are forced to confront how much of the individual self has been mortgaged to others in the name of labour and service.

What does this re-discovery of the self imply for the future ideas of the social? It is quite instructive to see what has happened to the hospital services during this time. Hospitals which were full of patients seeking treatment for something or the other suddenly found that many who would have otherwise landed up for consultation preferred to wait or depend on home remedies. Although the COVID has had some negative impact on those who needed urgent medical intervention, overall the number of people who discovered individual practices to help them fight their problems increased. This was one direct mode of the strengthening of the individual and this included changes in lifestyle practices including exercising, control over food, etc. In other words, the pandemic allowed us a chance to rethink what it means to be self-reliant with respect to our own selves.

However, the meaning of being self-reliant depended to a large extent on the modes of the discovery of the self as described above. While it might seem that the examples above point to a ‘strengthening’ of the self, it is not necessarily the case. I used these examples only to show how a re-organization of our everyday understanding of the self happened through these responses to the COVID situation. As I also mentioned above, these new examples of self-reliance came in response to the prior situation of our society functioning largely as a ‘service society’ as well as the deeply social nature of individual lives in places like India. One could also argue that the COVID situation actually created more selfishness and antisocial tendencies in our society leading to important ethical problems. Footnote 1 What these tendencies point to is the confusion in the meaning of self-reliance. In the examples discussed above, we can note the processes of strengthening the self and also becoming more selfish. But how do these qualities affect the question of reliance, being reliant upon? What I would argue is that the very notion of reliance implies the social and self-reliance is only about strengthening the self as a social actor whereas being selfish is relying on the self in a world of just that self. In a similar analogy, we can think of self-reliance of a nation as being totally inward looking and acting as if other nations do not exist or we can consider it as acknowledging that the nation is part of a global system and yet is able to be self-sustaining. Thus, while the COVID period has led to selfish practices there has also been the possibility of expanding one’s own awareness of the self in relation to relying on others.

Self, individuals and the nation

What happens to us as individuals happens to nations also. ‘Make in India’ was already a saleable slogan. Trump had further legitimized such slogans through his own version of ‘Make in America’. Make in became a new slogan of legitimate nationalism. The pandemic, as much as it shone a spotlight on the social dependency of individuals, also made nations realize how much they depended on other nations. The global was always a lot like the social—it was not really based on notions of friendship, ideas of kinship or a sensitivity to the common humanity but was more utilitarian and driven by dependencies. Suddenly we realized that in the great story of Indian pharma producing cheap drugs, there was another story of dependence on China for a major part of the raw material for these drugs. The finance sector is anyway so globally wired that the very idea of strengthening the nation like strengthening the individual would be a non-starter. The market economy drives so much of the idea of the global that in spite of market crashes few are worried as they all realize that the world we have created is not possible if the market dependencies are over.

However, as I argued earlier, the pandemic also revived more strongly the spirit of individual self-reliance as against individualism as a social practice. This recognition of the possibility of individual strength is also a model for the revival of the strength of a nation. And the most powerful example of the strength of the nation—in the model of the individual—lies in the ‘self-reliance’ of a country.

But what is the meaning of the self here? Why invoke the idea of self-reliance of a nation when the very idea of the self of an individual is itself so complicated? What task does the term ‘self’ perform in these articulations?

We can begin with the reasons why the self is invoked in the context of the individual. What role does the ‘self’ perform in the case of individuals? Why do we even invoke this term? I will not enter into a debate on whether we should make an ontological commitment to the self but only discuss the reasons why we tend to invoke the notion of the self. The self helps us make sense of some of the experiences we have such as the feeling that experiences happen to ‘me’. The use of the notions of me, mine and myself are indicators of the action of a self. Thus, self marks the basic identity that one has of who they are. But there are also other important reasons for our naive invocation of the self: unity of the senses that is presupposed in the belief that different experiences (such as seeing, hearing, touching, etc.,) all happen to the ‘same me’, that all experiences over time (from the time we are born) happen to the ‘same me’ and so on (Bhatt 1962 ). The self generates a notion of the unity of the experiences that are part of our lives and gives us a sense of identity. It gives us a sense of ‘ownership’ over our experiences (Guru and Sarukkai 2012 ). It helps us to understand the nature of human action and human agency, such as the question ‘who’ is acting. We could go to the extent of saying that the basic notions of the unity presupposed in an object is one that is modelled on the self. An object is nothing more than a collection of different qualities, such as colour, shape, size and taste. So, what is the object other than these qualities? How do these qualities all belong to ‘one’ object? This cognitive inclination to unify diverse qualities in one is common to our basic recognition of objects (and therefore the world) and the self.

We talk about the social in pretty much the same way (Guru and Sarukkai 2019 ). We use terms like ‘we’ and the ‘we-self’ just like we talk about I and the I-self. We belong to a social in ways similar to that in which different experiences belong to the same individual. The very idea of a nation with concomitant ideas such as ‘belonging to the nation’ is based on these beliefs about the self. So, it is not a surprise when the nation repeatedly invokes ideas of self-rule and self-reliance for these are all assertions of the self.

There is an important characteristic of the sense of unity which is an essential element of the notion of the self. An individual has a wide variety of experiences. This diversity of experiences, some of which may be pleasant but some undesirable like experiences of sickness or sadness, are all unified, however diverse they are. The unification that is the core of the idea of the self is not a unification based on reducing all the experiences to an idea of sameness. Rather, the unity is one that is based on the idea of the self as the substratum of all experiences. All experiences that we have are unified not because these senses have common elements but because they are all ‘located in oneself’. This idea of unity is extremely important when we talk about the self of the nation.

The nation is most fundamentally defined by a sense of unity and identity. The nation borrows its vocabulary of belongingness from the notions of a self. But this is of a social self and not the individual self. A social self adds an important component to a forgotten aspect of the individual self. This is the aspect of responsibility to others who are part of the social self. For traditions which have engaged deeply with the question of the individual self, there is a sense of self-responsibility which is extremely important. The individual self experiences but also regulates itself. (This can be contrasted to the culture of ‘me and mine’ that is a particular understanding of the self where there are no questions of self-responsibility.) In the case of a social self like the nation, the regulatory aspect becomes most problematical since it raises a question of who is going to regulate the actions made on behalf of the nation, the socialized self.

The concept of the nation has always had a parasitic dependence on the notion of the self. In the independence movement, it is most prevalent in the debate on self-rule. The idea of self-rule is self-explanatory: in both these terms which use the word self, the meaning of the self is in opposition to the outside(r). Self-explanatory means that there are no external requirements to understand an expression and self-rule is about the capacity to rule one selves without the assistance of the outsider. (It is important not to conflate the outsider and the other in this context.) The idea of self-rule is an essential component of any notion of the nation since the nation, by definition, gets defined with respect to the insider–outsider dichotomy.

Gandhi’s understanding of self-rule illustrates the need for invoking the idea of self in the context of the nation. One of his most influential works, Hind Swaraj , is a handbook for self-rule as indicated in the title itself. The list of terms that work around the idea of the self become defining elements of the independence movement: terms such as swaraj, swadeshi, swabhiman. The reason that self or the prefix swa is so important to these articulations is because within the idea of self there is a notion of both freedom and governance. The self is an excellent example of responsibility with freedom since the self will indulge in what it wants but has a core of survival within it—what we refer to as self-preservation. The fight against the British is not captured merely by the word ‘independence’. The Indian language connotations for this word include swatantra and swavalamban, both of which have an explicit grounding in the self. This necessary connection with swa locates the principal idea of independence within the self first and thus all invocations of swaraj by Gandhi and other leaders have to be understood not just as liberation from the British but as an essential practice related to freedom and responsibility of the self.

An important addition to this debate comes through the tension between Gandhi and Ambedkar. Nagaraj ( 2012 ) captures this tension through the invocation of two terms derived from the self: self-rule versus self-respect. The distinction between these two terms has a significant impact on the very definition of freedom and its relation to the self. Self-reliance (and the expressions of make-in) in the context of the nation has elements both of self-rule and a strong dose of self-respect. Much of India’s rhetoric on self-reliance (especially the Make in India kind) is a call for self-respect within a hierarchy where India is placed low in the order. Self-reliance in this context is not self-rule but only about assertions of self-respect.

Self-reliance is closely related to the ideas of swaraj. It is a reaffirmation of the idea that ruling itself has to be from within and by oneself. One is free and accountable to that freedom at the same time. Much depends on what we mean by the self here. For Gandhi, ruling oneself meant disciplining the self and that includes the responsibility of the (individual) self. Being self-reliant does not mean asociality but only the responsibility of oneself for oneself. But how is it possible to be self-reliant? What are we supposed to be self-reliant about? These questions become important in the context of the self-reliance of a nation. We can glimpse the contours of this question in the philosopher K. C. Bhattarcharyya’s (KCB) essay ‘Swaraj in ideas’ (Bhattacharya 1984 ). This was an essay which has been understood in different ways but the fundamental question that Bhattacharya poses is the possibility of thinking about our society in ways that do not draw upon the ‘outsider’. He suggests that the foreigner cannot understand the Indian society like ‘we’ do and that drawing upon the resources of the society might offer a better understanding of the society. As Raju ( 2017 ) points out, KCB should be seen as responding to the crisis of organic thinking and organic solutions to the problems of our society. Independence is not limited to political independence but also needs the independence of the mind. The independence of the mind can only be supported by a self that is self-confident, that can feel secure in the foundations of its philosophies and experiences. There can be no swaraj without swaraj in ideas, in worldviews, in projecting the future which we want and not based on the interest of ‘outsiders’. It is as much a question of self-articulation of who we are and what our vision of the world will be. While there are many points which may be debated in this view, it is nevertheless an important theme that will arise in any claim of self-reliance. Perhaps the most important point in this idea of self-articulation is the problem of articulating on behalf of others who constitute the ‘us’ and ‘we’. Who is going to speak on behalf of a group, a community, a society, a nation? What kind of a social self will be allowed by the individuals to speak on their behalf? Nation is one of the most powerful illustration of the action of a social self and thus the meaning of a nation becomes as complex as that of the individual and social self.

Self of a nation and national self

I believe that there are two functions of the term ‘self’ in the context of the nation: one referring to the ‘self of a nation’ and the other to ‘national self’. The difference between these formulations is quite stark and impacts the way we understand self-reliance in the context of the nation.

When references are made to the self of a nation, it is primarily about the qualities of the nation related to the themes of identity, belongingness and the space of experiences for those who live and/or belong to it. In this sense, it is analogous to, and possibly modelled on, how one understands articulations of oneself. On the other hand, the national self does not refer to the nation at all but is more a reference to some quality of the individual selves. It is a quality of the members of that nation and is not really about the self of a nation per se.

Depending on the meanings we ascribe to self, we can discover different meanings for self-reliance in the context of the nation. Why would we even invoke the notion of self in the context of the nation? What can accommodate a meaningful understanding of the self when it is used in the context of the nation? At a pragmatic level, it is easy to see why the invocation of self is ‘natural’ for a nation: we refer to a nation as ‘my’ nation and so concepts of my, mine, mineness and related issues of identity arise for the nation in a way similar to that of the experiences of the individual self. But at the same time, the self related to the nation also refers to a we-self, a self of a larger social. It is also an embodied social and this quality makes it different from other social selves. Just as the individual self is embodied in the physical body, the self in relation to the nation is embodied in the physical nation, with its geographies and boundaries. But it is also precisely because of these characteristics, that the self in the context of a nation has to accommodate plurality, diversity. This quality again distinguishes the self of the nation from other social selves related to gender, caste and religion, for example. This self which can accommodate plurality and difference is one that functions as a substratum and does not insist on sameness. It is the quality of ashraya—a shelter for the multiple, diverse individuals, practices and traditions. The self of a nation is this true shelter, the foundational substratum where unity is possible only because of a sense of feeling that it is happening to all of us.

However, this is not the only notion of a self that is possible in the context of the nation. There is also another possibility, one that is often imposed on individuals. The nation—instead of being seen as a collective social—can be reduced to a quality of the individual. In this case, it is not a self that stands ‘outside’ the individual. A self which incorporates the nation within itself is a national self and thus is one quality of a self, a quality that is hegemonic and imposed. It arises through the cognitive act of an individual and is most often not directly related to their experiences. But the power of the (internal) national self as against the (external) self of the nation is that it evokes deep emotions within the individual. The self of the nation is a recognition of a more complex, plural self that operates outside the individual but yet one in which the individual is part of. Whereas the national self incorporates the nation within the self and thus creates a sense that the nation belongs to ‘me’. So, when certain individuals start speaking on behalf of the nation—what the nation should be like, what people living in that nation should do and should not do—they are illustrating the functioning of the national self. Nationalism in its most troublesome form arises through the formation of a national self.

These are not merely some abstract formulations about the self and the nation. These notions of the self are invoked in the rhetoric of self-reliance and my argument is that the two different meanings of the self in relation to the nation create different meanings for ‘self-reliance’. If the meaning of self in the expression ‘self-reliance of the nation’ is referring to the ‘self of the nation’, then self-reliance cannot be just about producing what we need for the citizens of this country. It also means a discipline of the self of the people in the country, and this is a civilizational and axiological task. It is about values in a society and not material production. These qualities, taken, for example, from Gandhi, Tagore and others, would imply a very different meaning of the nation where the nation is not one which is homogenized, is violent, is hierarchical, is non-egalitarian, is consumerist and so on. As Parel ( 2000 ) points out, Gandhi’s formulation of self-rule had four components, three related to independence of the nation, economic freedom and political freedom but the essential fourth component was self-rule, here seen as the rule of the individual self by the individual self. This self-rule included the important quality of self-control including control of the body and the desires of the senses, control over thinking and so on (Banerjee 2020 ).

Why should this difference matter? It matters because these two versions of the self/nation relation have implications for the meaning of self-reliance. What does it mean to be self-reliant? The simplest answer is to be independent of others. But what is the independence from others that we are seeking? The nation can be independent from others in the products it produces, in its economy, in its policies and so on. But this does not really encompass the many meanings of swaraj that we talk about. As KCB points out, it is equally important to have swaraj in ideas, a freedom in the intellectual domain. Are we anywhere close to having the freedom in the intellectual domain? We do not even produce knowledge and worldviews which matter to the rest of the world. It does not seem to matter to our own intellectuals and students. What are the ideas that drive the nation? Where are the ideas being produced? How democratic is this source of ideas? Is it able to include the visions and aspirations of not just the ‘intellectual community’ but also the everyday experiences of diverse communities in India? This is not a question about geographical origins but about philosophical origins. What kind of views about the nature of society, family, individuals should matter to us today when we imagine the future of the nation? The answer is not in the geographical ‘outside’ or the cultural ‘inside’. It is not going to come from the ‘west’ or from the ‘past’ alone. The self-reliance that the government talks about is about factory goods but without the swaraj in ideas none of these are self-sustaining.

Self-reliance is not in manufacturing alone. It has to be the articulation of the self of a nation about progress and development, about educational goals for the future citizens of the country, about basic well-being of all the citizens particularly the dispossessed and the marginalised. What we need to ‘Make in India’ are civilizational values, our own articulations of the idea of equality in an unequal society, a democracy that functions effectively, and anything else which can lead to a truly free, democratic and egalitarian society. To ‘make’ all this in a self-reliant manner is the true idea of a nation and the true self of a nation. The easier task is to reduce the self of a nation to one idea of a national self is but this is also the more dangerous. The national self is an individual self which understands the national as one quality of the individual self. But a nation cannot be a quality of a self because it reduces the nation to the interests of individuals. In such a case, the nation as such cannot acquire a unified self just because all the people in the country possess one national self. The self of a nation is one that is self-reliant in the true sense of the term, one that is truly independent.

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Acknowledgements

I thank the two referees for their insightful and critical comments which have helped me clarify some points in this essay.

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Sarukkai, S. Self-reliant India: self of a nation or a national self?. J. Soc. Econ. Dev. 23 (Suppl 2), 357–365 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-020-00115-z

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Accepted : 18 September 2020

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SELF-RELIANT INDIA: Atmanirbhar Bharat

Relevance: Prelims/Mains: G.S paper II: Governance & G.S paper III: Indian Economy

Atmanirbhar Bharat and its meaning in the current context

• Freeing Indian entrepreneurship and innovation from bureaucratic hurdles
• This is about decentralised localism that takes pride in local brands, emphasises resilience and flexibility, and encourages local capacity-building and indigenisation.
• The idea of self-reliance is about resilience, leveraging internal strengths, personal responsibility, and a sense of national mission (or “Man Making” to use the late 19th century expression of Swami Vivekananda).
• Product and factor markets are made flexible in order to allow the Indian economy to adapt to the problems and opportunities of an emerging post-COVID world.
• Commitment to privatisation of non-strategic public sector entities, opening up of new sectors like space to private investment, decriminalisation of most aspects of corporate law, greater flexibility in labour laws, and so on.

• Means recognizing the complementary roles of the private sector and the government -It cannot be achieved without recognising that market forces can take care of our needs during normal times. As market forces allocate resources based on prices and profits, they promote economic efficiency in normal times.
• Government must retain economic presence through one or two public sector firms in strategic sectors such as healthcare, lifesaving medicines, payment systems, mobile communication etc.
• Focus should be on increasing the efficiency and efficacy of government, which includes overall governance.
• Ethical wealth creation advocated in the Indian ethos now needs to become a global model for development. For that purpose, India needs to take the lead in exemplifying it domestically. India should take a lead and demonstrate the value of ‘frugal economy’ to the rest of the world.
• Building a self-reliant economy does not mean building an economy in isolation. Self-reliance implies building the necessary capability to be independent at the most vulnerable times. It requires delineating sectors that are strategically critical to the nation and investing in these sectors so that our dependence during vulnerable times is minimized.

For Indians to be self-reliant, social contract between the government and citizens has to be one where government actively supports personal responsibility.

1.Self-Reliance = Inclusive Growth → Possible through Employment Creation Eradication of poverty and generation of employment remained the biggest challenges for the government at present; but at the same time, without creating employment, poverty cannot be eradicated. Employment generation is central to inclusive growth.

• Proposed social micro-finance institutions would help create two crore employment opportunities in the country.
• Skill, re-skilling and upskilling is the only way to remain relevant in the ever changing market scenario.
• Formal sector employment for one member of the family contributes to mobility of future generations as the kids are likely to get better education and healthcare facilities and thereby uplift themselves.
• Leaving large fractions of the labour force underutilised or unutilised is extremely inefficient for the economy.
• Businesses including MSMEs (‘be vocal for the local’) To raise the domestic competitiveness of our industries’ pricing factors that make them uncompetitive with respect to the foreign players should be identified and corrected.
• On Export Strategy The word “Aatmanirbhar” refers to both self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The former has a pragmatic positive connotation aimed at developing capabilities indigenously without shunning imports.

The latter is unpragmatic, inward looking and has a negative denotation. It is against the “Ricardo’s theory of “Comparative Advantage” which holds that international trade is a result of differences in the relative opportunity costs of countries in the production of different goods (therefore even if a country is self-sufficient, it should still trade).

In ‘Wealth of Nations’, Adam Smith argued that “the great object of mercantilism was to diminish as much as possible the importation of foreign goods for home consumption and to increase as much as possible the exportation of the produce of domestic industry.”

An effective exports promotion strategy hinges on robust and competitive domestic manufacturing. Hence, we must attain self-reliance for effective export promotion.

• Adopt and optimise FDI-tariff linkage: Import substitution is focused on developing domestic capabilities and prowess to reduce dependence on imports. Many countries constantly monitor the trends of imports to understand the challenges faced in manufacturing such products domestically.
• Some countries adopt an FDI-tariff linkage which enhances tariff for attracting FDI and encourages foreign suppliers to set up bases in their country to serve their consumers.
• Import substitution requires that the market be of a certain minimum size to make manufacturing viable.
• Not many countries in the world possess such a market and hence they are unable to pursue an import substitution strategy.

Therefore, an ecosystem that provides a level-playing field must be offered to the manufacturers.

• This means not just a ‘deemed export’ status but involves extending consessional credit along with competitive electricity tariff and efficient logistics.
• Maximize the export capacity, aggressively boost export-driven industries and levy a border adjustment tax (BAT) on imports to offset the impact of these internal taxes on domestic producers.
• Use foreign capital generated from these exports for upskilling, technological upgradation and capacity building in sectors covered under its ISI policy. Government needs to spend more on R&D and Product Innovation.
• Opportunity in Agriculture Exports: China’s image has hit a setback in terms of edible products due to COVID-19 disease. This presents a huge opportunity to India in the export of fruits, vegetables, marine products, etc.
• However, exports of many agro-commodities are unavailable due to the rising MSP which at times is much more than the international prices. The govt. must provide some mechanism to reimburse the differential price (MSP less the international price) to exporters.
• The freight disadvantage has been largely nullified through the new Transport and Marketing Scheme for agri Products. The path breaking reforms in agriculture would push agricultural exports.
• Relaxation in the Essential Commodities Act will encourage exporters to procure such products without fear.
• Now farmers can engage with agri processors, exporters and even large retailers for the sale of farm produce at mutually agreed upon prices. Such platforms will also help farmers get information about Phyto-sanitary standards which is vital for getting access to advanced economies.
• Extending support to MSMEs : The revised definition of MSME will also encourage exports as the government has excluded exports turnover from the aggregate turnover for eligibility purposes resulting in more companies qualifying for MSME status. The increased limit on investment in plant and equipment for medium companies, will encourage adoption of more advanced technology in manufacturing which is the key to competitiveness in exports.
• Regional Trade and Free Trade Agreements : More than 50% of the global trade happens through inter- regional value chains which includes countries from several regions. Unfortunately, India is not a part of such value chains. The late joining of the FTAs, cumbersome customs processes and high logistics cost have contributed to this anomaly. Efficient trade facilitation can integrate into the regional value chain and subsequently into the global value chain for pushing the exports.
• Attract FDI: FDI in exports should be supplemented by concluding FTA/CECA/CEPA with our trade partners.

• It is expected that COVID-19 will hasten the process of early conclusion of India-EU Broadbased. Trade & Investment Agreement (BTIA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Australia and New Zealand besides bilateral trade agreement with USA.
• India earns only about USD 30 billion through tourism which is a little over 1 per cent of our GDP. Through investment in tourism, ee can easily take it to USO 100 billion by 2025.
• To promote growth of accounting and financial services, we should allow FDI in the domestic accounting and auditing sector, introduce a transparent regulatory framework, and ease restrictions on the client base in the accounting and auditing sector.
• For the education sector, foreign universities should be allowed to set up campuses in India, provide easy visa regimes for students and education service providers, remove regulatory bottlenecks, provide recognition to online degrees and set up appropriate evaluation techniques for online courses.

The Way forward

• Exports have to be treated as a ‘National Priority’ and all stakeholders need to be on the same page to facilitate exports.
• An institutional set-up to address the problems and challenges faced by exports in the shortest time frame possible is the need of the hour. A three-tier structure with the district, state and central level working on an electronic platform would be ideal and the officers attending such meetings should be empowered to take quick decisions.

On Growth of Industries

• The production of intermediate and finished goods in heavy industries should be prioritised
• Only a limited and targeted import-substitution policy combined with aggressive export promotion can make Atmanirbhar Bharat a $5-trillion economy
• Review the LDR and consider removing it from our anti-dumping law.
• Develop a robust research and development-backed industrial ecosystem, with technical institutions, MSMEs and the capital goods sector forming its lead players, and powered by quick decision-making as well as government policies that are appropriate to manage such global disaster.
• Technical institutions can develop exhaustive online marketplace applications, which can facilitate the establishing of connections between demand and supply points, provide information updates regarding the finances available, government and banking notices, market situation, and latest technologies, thus creating an economic model.
• For sectors where domestic capability is limited or cannot be scaled up, we should endeavor to forge strategic alliances with countries in the form of comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) keeping in mind complementarity of trade flows.

Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs

The MSME sector is the most vibrant and dynamic industrial sector contributing about 40 per cent to the GDP and significantly to the exports of the country. Multiple government policies and decisions emphasize that the MSME sector will act as the bedrock for economic revival.

• The idea behind ‘Make in India’ is about decentralised localism that takes pride in indigenous brands, emphasises resilience and adaptability, and encourages local capacitybuilding and employability. This will encourage the idea of making in India for the MSME industry and help amplify their presence across sectors.
• Second largest to agriculture with high employment and contribution in terms of foreign exchange earnings, the sector has established its significance in the macroeconomic value chain.
• Estimates indicate that a third of the Chinese imports comprise of low-tech goods that were earlier made by Indians, or are still being made locally but in smaller quantities due to higher costs leading to decrease in demand. With the current push for ‘Make in India’, MSMEs can utilize the economies of scale and place these products at competitive costs thus increasing the demand for locally produced goods. Efforts in this direction will prove to be a fillip for the hundreds of small and medium firms, which have suffered due to a decrease in demand. The steps ahead
• In order to make India self-reliant, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and industries have to be made import-substituting, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous entities.
• The private sector should think more about tribals, villagers, farmers and other marginalised sections while talking about growth.
• MSME sector has created approximately 110 million jobs across the country. However, the problems remain in the listing of the MSMEs.
• By technology upgradation, India can also look for new export avenues in MSME sector. This will help grow a large number of ancillary units.
• The country should aim to shift the population from big cities to newer smart cities and smart villages by creating livelihood opportunities there. The government has recently expanded the MSME umbrella and industry with investment value upto `50 crore and turnover upto Rs 250 crore has been covered in the new definition of MSME.

Also, the manufacturing and service sectors under MSME have been brought together by giving similar definitions to both.

Revisions in the MSME Definition

➢ Micro – Investment in P&M/Equipment not more than Rs. 1 crore & Annual Turnover not more than Rs. 5 Crore

➢ Small – Investment in P&M/Equipment not more than Rs. 10 crore & Annual Turnover not more than Rs. 50 Crore

➢ Medium – Investment in P&M/Equipment not more than Rs. 50 crore & Annual Turnover not more than Rs. 250 Crore D. Produce for the Bottom of the Pyramid Indian firms focus on producing goods and services that cater to the needs of our huge population.

• The sachet revolution-packaging of the shampoo, toothpaste etc. in small sachetre presents a brilliant example of catering to the masses.
• The business models that Indian firms generate in catering to the needs of the poor can enable them to tap into markets in many underdeveloped economies in Asia and Africa.
• Birth of Social Enterprises Social entrepreneurs are focused on the delivery of public goods using business approaches. They combine their driving passion for improvement with the practical, innovative and opportunistic traits of the entrepreneur.

Akshay Patra is the world’s largest NGO-run school meal program–it reaches 10 million children across five States of India, six-days a week. And they serve freshly cooked meals at Rs. 1.50 per meal.

This was achieved through a ‘technological Innovation: to prepare meals on large scale in a short time’ and a ‘logistics innovation-to reach the meals to the schools’. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) was set up to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

• Atal Tinkering Labs – at School Level, to create problem-solving mindset across schools.
• Atal Incubators at Universities, Institutions, Industry Level to promote creation of a supporting ecosystem for start-ups and entrepreneurs,
• Atal Community Innovation Centres to promote the benefits of technology led innovation to the unserved/underserved regions of India
• Atal New India Challenges – Product and Service Innovations with National Impact – to create product and service innovations having national socio-economic impact
• Applied Research and Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE) – To promote innovation in a phased manner in the MSME/Start-up sector This momentum should be built to the point so as to make India the Innovation Capital of the world.

Making Farmers Self-Reliant Increasing productivity and output in the agricultural sector would create employment and boost incomes across the economy. Successful agricultural transformation will reduce the pressure arising from urban migration (excessive migration can be very destabilizing).

The increase in productivity in agriculture will result in higher incomes, giving rise to multiplier effects and supporting increase in aggregate demand.

Various Areas of Reform and Steps Taken

• Mitigating Risks, Securing Livelihood
• The Government launched a comprehensive crop insurance scheme in 2016 that provides coverage from pre-sowing to post-harvest against natural non-preventable risks. ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)’ is a low premium policy in which farmers are required to pay only 2%, 1.5% for and 5% of the sum insured for kharif, rabi and commercial/ horticultural crops respectively. Not only farmers, but tenant farmers and sharecroppers engaged in cultivation of notified crops are eligible for crop insurance policy.
• The Govt. has comprehensively revised the operational guidelines making provision for payment of 12% interest per annum to farmers if claims are not settled within 10 days of prescribed time limit.
• A new provision also envisages add-on coverage for damage by wild animals on pilot basis. The scheme envisages increase in coverage from the existing 23% to 50% of Gross Cropped Area in the country.

Increasing Bargaining Power of Farmers

• To address the specific concern of small farmers, the government started organising them

Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) who have better bargaining power.

• The major impetus was given in the Union Budget 2019-20 by making budgetary provision for formation of 10,000 new FPOs over the next five years. • FPOs have ensured benefits to the small and marginal farmers through economies of scale, improved market reach, improved access to extension services and reduction in transaction costs. Taking a cue, National Rural Livelihood Mission (under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana) has initiated organising small and marginal women farmers into producer groups to increase market access and value addition of farm produce.

Procurement and Support

• Government hiked Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) at levels of one and half times of the cost of production. Elaborate and effective arrangements are in place for maximum procurement of produce by government agencies at MSP. • Taking note of large scale indebtedness of farmers, a unique and innovative Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was launched to provide institutional credit to farmers. It supports small and marginal farmers, share croppers, oral lessees and tenant farmers as well.
• Recently, to expand the beneficiary base of KCC, the Government has waived processing fee, inspection and other service charges for short term crop loans up to Rs. 3 lakhs.
• Interest subvention is also provided on such loans for a period of one year in case of timely repayment. Interest rate of 7% per annum gets reduced to 4% in such cases.
• The facility of KCC was extended to dairy farmer and fishers, and recently under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Package’ a special drive is launched to provide KCC to 1.5 crore dairy farmers associated with milk unions and milk producing companies within two months. D. Trade and Marketing
• eNAM is a unique pan-India electronic trading portal, launched for business and marketing of agricultural commodities in India. This digital initiative aims to existing agricultural mandis on an online platform to realise the vision of ‘One Nation, One Market’.
• During COVID-19 lockdown crisis, three new modules of eNAM were launched to facilitate farmers. eNAM enables FPOs to conduct trade of commodities from their own collection centres declared as ‘Deemed Market’ or ‘Sub Market Yards’.
• Another module facilitated warehouses for Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (eNWRs) trading. Logistics module facilitates transportation of commodities from farm to mandis, and from mandis to warehouses or consumption centres.
• Potential related to export of agricultural products remains untapped due to various trade policies. During 2018-19, India could export agri- products worth Rs. 2. 7 lakh crore, whereas imports touched the value of Rs. 1.37 lakh crore.
• The Government has recently initiated a comprehensive’ Agriculture Export Policy’ aimed at doubling agricultural exports and integrating Indian farmers and agricultural products with the global value chains.
• To promote and facilitate export of Indian agri-produce at new destinations, it has created agricells in many Indian embassies abroad. Export of all varieties of pulses and edible oils (except mustard oil) has been allowed.
• Import duties have been raised and provision of ‘Minimum Import Price’ (MIP) was imposed on selected commodities to protect the domestic growers and their livelihood from cheap import of the commodity. E. Building Infrastructure, Creating Value Chains
• In the recently announced ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package’, an agri-infrastructure fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore will provide finance to Primary’ Agricultural Co- operative Societies (PACS), FPOs, agripreneurs, agri-startups etc.

A cluster-based approach in aspirational districts will be promoted to realise the vision of ‘Vocal for Local with Global Outreach’.

• Under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Rs. 20,000 crore has been allocated; of which Rs. 9,000 crore is exclusively dedicated towards infrastructure development. More valued productions, such as cage culture, seaweed farming, ornamental fisheries, will be supported for increasing income of fishers substantially.
• An Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund of Rs. 15,000 crore is being created to support private investment in dairy processing.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana’ is already financing and supporting development of mega food parks, integrated cold chains and infrastructure for agro-processing and value addition. With an outlay of Rs. 4,000 crore, herbal cultivation will be promoted for next two years covering an area of 10 lakh hectare.
• Beekeeping will be supported with a fund of Rs. 500 crore for infrastructure development. In addition to centrally sponsored schemes, various state governments have also launched special welfare schemes for farmers lo augment their income.

The ‘KALIA’ scheme, of Odisha, Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana of Jharkhand and Rythu Bandhu of Telangana are some of the noted schemes that have shown positive impact on income and livelihood of farmers. There is a need for reforms that can ensure access of farmers to technology that can reduce natural or climatic vagaries that will determine their crop producing capacity.

Loans can then be aligned to the repayment capacity of the farmer based on the estimation of crop production. Such measures will reduce the probability of debt, making loan waivers irrelevant. The greater ambition for a self-reliant economy is to transform the farmer into an agripreneur.

India’s farmers are bound by the shackles of low productivity, low incomes, lack of access to institutional credit, indebtedness etc. They are reeling under the burden of a fragmented agricultural marketing ecosystem and climatic uncertainties and vagaries of nature.

A self-reliant farmer is fundamental to the vision of a self-reliant India.

Resilient Health Systems COVID-19 has shown us how inextricably public health and the economy are linked.

Despite the private health sector in India having more ventilators, doctors and hospital beds than the public healthcare sector, it has essentially been public healthcare which — though chronically underfunded and neglected — has been bearing the brunt of the pandemic. The pandemic has demonstrated how the sustainability and resilience of any economy are linked to the strength and equitability of its public health system. The medical device manufacturing sector has been open to 100 per cent FDI since 2015. Since then, most of the FDI that has come into the country has been to finance imports and trading, build storage and distribution infrastructure, but not to augment domestic manufacturing capabilities.

This has allowed international medical equipment manufacturers to reap huge profits by selling their products in the Indian market without making any contribution to the local industrial development.

Even today, close to 80 per cent of the medical equipment used in our country, including in government hospitals, is imported. Though there is some manufacturing capacity in non-electronic medical equipment, over 90 per cent of medical electronic products are imported.

From the equipment used for the computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound scan, cath lab for heart procedures — like angioplasty, endoscopy, colonoscopy — and radiation therapy and drugs for chemotherapy, to even the knives and scissors used in surgery are all procured from countries like Germany and the US.

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers announced a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the promotion and manufacturing of pharmaceutical raw materials in India.

• The government’s move is aimed to boost domestic manufacturing and cut dependence on imports of critical Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
• Further, the government has also decided to develop three mega bulk drug parks in partnership with states. These schemes will likely appeal more to the smaller players and should foster more investments especially on the Rs 200-500 million investment thresholds.
• While India supplied doses of Hydroxychloroquine to the world and secured the trust of many countries, the latest move is likely to give more advantage to India amid disruptions from the Chinese side. India also aims to achieve self-reliance in ensuring the uninterrupted supply of drugs and affordable healthcare to its citizens. So far, India depends heavily on imports to fulfill its domestic drug requirements. Around 70 per cent of the drug requirements are met by imports. To cut this large-scale import, the government has decided to support the manufacturers for six years in the case of fermentation-based products and five years for chemically synthesised products. However, the scheme is only applicable to greenfield projects and will be for the registered eligible manufacturers in India. The total tenure of the scheme will be from FY21 to FY30 with an outlay of Rs 6,940 crore.

Promote indigenous research and design One important way of improving production quality would be to promote indigenous research and design. Especially in the case of medical research, indigenous research is important because it can help us develop medical technologies which are adapted to local problems in healthcare and relevant to local populations.

Currently, medical research in India is severely neglected. According to a study analysing research output from 579 Indian medical institutions and hospitals between 2005 and 2014, only 25 (4.3 per cent) of the institutions produced more than 100 papers a year. Global collaboration matters India needs to create a conducive policy environment to ensure that global innovations come to its shores and reach its people.

Moreover, at a time when the world is looking at India as the next big manufacturing hub, the government should look at global partnerships to bolster its stance. Introduction of Evin To enhance the quality of vaccines and supply chain, the Government effectively introduced the indigenously developed eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network).

It seeks to ensure supply of vaccines and cold chain maintenance through technological solutions. The initiative has been successful in saving 90 million vaccine doses with the adherence rate of 99% in maintaining the vaccine supply and temperature norms, thereby improving the coverage and quality of vaccination program in India. eVIN has been successfully piloted by countries like Indonesia, Sudan and Malawi.

Digital Defence against COVID-19 Recognising digital technology’s far-reaching impact, WHO in 2019, released recommendations for countries to use digital health technology, accessible via mobile phones, tablets and computers, to improve people’s health and delivery of essential services A.

Using Social Media Social media has become a game changer in the way federal, regional, and local government agencies are engaging, interacting, and communicating with citizens. Especially for amplifying social media’s reach and impact even in the rural hinterlands of the country.

• Crisis / Disaster Management: To reach out to citizens during such crisis. Two recent examples bear out this trend – Cyclone alert from the NDMA on India’s eastern coasts (in the state of Odisha) and an advisory from PIB to citizens for the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19.
• Citizen Engagement – MyGov platform
• Citizen Grievances & Support – It acts as a real-time channel for citizen grievances and support
• Law & Order – Police can use social media to alert citizens about circulating rumours and maintaining law & order
• Hiring & Recruitment – Some government agencies are using social media hiring channels for attracting best-in-class talent for their job vacancies
• Foreign Relations – Governments are using social media channels effectively to engage with their foreign counterparts.
• Business & Industry Relations – Businesses play a key role in driving social media’s impact by contributing significantly to the internet economy via advertising, paid services etc. Many monetisation models on the internet rely on enterprises, B2B and large corporations with large advertising and marketing budgets, which contributes to the nation’s economy.
• Live Traffic Updates – Real time traffic updates and advisories get regularly shared in the metropolitan cities via the local Traffic Police social media accounts
• Crowd sourcing Ideas & Innovation – Through crowd sourcing, one gets to tap into the collective “wisdom of the crowds” B. Digital Platforms setup by Government during COVID19 During COVID-19 pandemic, Indian government used digital technology for providing timely information, direct money transfer to the poor etc.
• Aarogya Setu App enables people to assess themselves the risk for their catching the coronavirus infection
• WhatsApp chatbot so that the citizens can get instant and authentic answers to all of their queries related to the Coronavirus pandemic
• Corona Kavach is a COVID-19 tracker application, provides users with real-time location of infected users who have activated the ‘Kavach’ feature.
• SAMPRAC to enable tracking people under quarantine. The system enables geofencing, AIbased automated face recognition. It has the capability to display the information to the state officials on a map which can be colour coded to depict hotspots and containment zones.
• Usage of JAN Trinity for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been crucial in implementing PM Garib Kalyan Yojana that was rolled out to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable amid the COVID-19 crisis.

▪ 6.93 crore farmers were benefited through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) to help farmers tide over the COVID-19 crisis. Under the scheme, the government transfers Rs. 2,000 cash directly to the farmers’ bank accounts through DBT.

▪ Rs. 1,400 crore disbursed to about 2.82 crore old age person, widow and disabled people under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

▪ 2.16 crore construction workers received financial support from the Building and Construction Workers’ Fund managed by state governments.

▪ The government is providing free LPG refills for the next three months to over 8.3 crore poor women under the Ujjawala scheme and Rs. 50 lakh insurance cover for healthcare workers. JAM trinity enabled the Indian government to make payments more effectively and inclusively. The center has created a JAM Index based on Findex data to rank countries on their use of ID systems, mobile phones, and financial accounts, to effectively make government payments. India and Kenya are two top ranking countries in this index.

• Provided a boost to the DBT programme and expanded its coverage from partial to ubiquitous.
• By eliminating the need for middlemen, JAM has helped minimise avenues of corruption, irregularities and pilferages.
• Promoted the ease of doing business
• Given the need for physical distancing to curtail the spread of COVID-19, JAM is promoting online transactions among the beneficiaries, instead of physical visits to the banks.
• In the longer run, JAM will make the rural population get acquainted with the concept of ‘saving’ thus contributing to the GDP of the country as a whole.
• SAHYOG is an e-platform that collects geotagged information on the nation’s critical infrastructure. It works as a key tool in helping community workers carry out the government’s objectives of door-to-door, surveys, contact tracing, deliveries of essentials items and to create focused public awareness campaigns. C. Open-sourced Analytics and Modelling Tools
• Rapid data sharing is critical during epidemics and pandemics as it allows for a better understanding of the origins and spread of the infection.
• The placement of the first genome of the 2019-nCoV virus in an open database on 8th January 2020, paved the way for scientists around the world to start working on the development of a treatment or vaccine.
• Open-source technologies can help in improving accessibility of information, formulating open standards that enable all stakeholders to contribute and developing rapid prototypes that can lead to rapid discoveries.

Tele-health Technologies

• Tele-health technologies allow patients to be seen and diagnosed remotely by doctors. Scores of countries are now providing virtual care on a war footing.
• Sheba Medical Centre, the largest hospital in Israel, launched a remote patient-monitoring program in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.
• E-Sanjeevani is the Indian teleconsultation service launched by MoHFW during this pandemic.

GIS and Smart City’s Integrated Control and Command Center (ICCC)

• Geographic interpretation and insight are essential in detecting, understanding and responding to the pandemic.
• GIS helps epidemiologists to map disease occurrence against multiple parameters including demographics, environment, its spread pattern etc. to implement preventive and surveillance measures.
• WHO unveiled its ArcGIS Operations Dashboard for COVID-19, which maps coronavirus cases and total number of deaths by country and other related informations.
• In India too, GIS has been extensively deployed to fight the pandemic. A GIS platform has been developed by an eminent team of researchers in IIT Chennai and integrated with Aarogya Setu to provide extremely important information about the spread of coronavirus.

3D Printing

• 3D printing can play an important role as a disruptive digital manufacturing technology by boosting production and optimising the supply of specialised and critical medical equipments to treat COVID-19 patients.

HP India responded to the critical need of making ventilators available in large numbers by getting over 1.2 lakh key ventilator parts printed in a short span of time

• Technology and Learning Due to COVID-19, millions of students have been driven out of university campuses and the faculty is confined to their homes. This has forced the teaching community to look for alternatives to maintain the continuity in the teaching learning process. Online platforms provide such alternative.
• Best teachers cannot always reach grassroots, digital content can. Online education can help reduce inequality in the “Quality” of faculty and education. By removing the nuisance of unnecessary overheads and administration and by bringing the best faculty in direct contact with the students through online learning can do wonders for motivation of both, the faculty and student.
• Access to online classes and digital media will provide room to students to develop selfmotivation and become independent
• With a multi-channel approach to combat these issues, now TV channels can run educational content for classes 1 to 12. This will be supplemented by radio and podcasts. With this, the grassroots network of government schools should be viewed more as ‘learning zones’ rather than ‘training institutions’. Edtech companies can chip in by customising the content to the local context.
• Access to the best digital content for all, as well as the room for creativity and innovation will help our future citizens to think, analyze and get clarity about what is right and wrong for themselves, for society as well as future of our nation. Faculty will get more time to do research, as administrative work will get reduced.

The Way Forward

• Given the huge gap in access to ICT infrastructure in the country, any technology mediated solutions must first seek to bridge the digital divide. The draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 identifies a few important concerns related to technology integration in education in the country. One such concern is the availability of the local expertise in resolving and maintaining hardware and software at remote locations.
• It recommends deploying local talents for managing technological issues in schools. In this way, technology use in education has ramifications for the employment at the local level too.

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nice article to get details information about Atamnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

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Self-Reliant India

• Recently, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of promoting indigenous products and self-reliance.

More about the news

• The significance of promoting indigenous products and self-reliance is for prosperity and by adopting them one can keep India’s traditional art, culture and civilisation alive.
• The event was organised by the Union Culture Ministry . 
• As part of the occasion, a commemorative postage stamp and coin dedicated to Acharya Surishwar was also released.
• PM said Acharya Surishwar’s insistence on peace and harmony was clearly visible even during the horrors of Partition. 
• He noted that during the freedom movement Mahatma Gandhi had adopted the path of “aparigraha”, or renunciation, as laid down by the Jain gurus.

About the Self-reliant India

• Self-reliance is the social and economic ability of an individual, a household or a community to meet essential needs (including protection, food, water, shelter, personal safety, health and education) in a sustainable manner and with dignity.
• Self reliance depends on improving the income and productivity of a majority of the labour force. 
• First, incentivise the farming community to shift from grain-based farming to cash crops, horticulture and livestock products. 
• India can only become self-reliant if it uses its best endowment — 900 million people in the working-age population with an average age of 27 — and appropriates its demographic dividend as China did.
• India is in a unique position at a time when all other manufacturing giants are ageing sequentially — Japan, EU, the US, and even South Korea and China. 
• Most of these countries have moved out of low-end labour-intensive manufacturing, and that space is being taken by countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, etc.
• State-funded R&D, including in basic research, by PSUs and research institutions and universities needs to be scaled-up significantly, well above the dismal 1% of GDP currently. 
• Finally, India’s meagre public expenditure on education needs to be substantially ramped up (as against current trends of privatisation which would only shrink access), including in skill development. 
• No country has achieved self-reliance without mass quality public education. 

Government’s initiatives towards self reliance 

• Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign is the vision of new India.
• The aim is to make the country and its citizens independent and self-reliant in all senses. 
• Infrastructure, 
• Vibrant Demography and 
• Finance Minister has announcd Government Reforms and Enablers across Seven Sectors under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
• The government took several bold reforms such as Supply Chain Reforms for Agriculture, Rational Tax Systems, Simple & Clear Laws, Capable Human Resource and Strong Financial System in this regard.
• It aims to boost employment generation and minimise the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
• Under ABRY, Government of India is crediting for a period of two years both the employees’ share (12% of wages) and employers share’ (12% of wages) of contribution payable or only the employees’ share, depending on employment strength of the EPFO registered establishments. 
• To strengthen India’s critical healthcare network in both urban and rural areas.
• Establish an IT-enabled disease surveillance system through a network of laboratories at block, district, regional and national levels.
• Labs will be connected through the Integrated Health Information Portal.
• To provide support to 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centres in 10 ‘high focus’ states and establish 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres.
• It is in addition to the National Health Mission.
• Exclusive Critical Care Hospital Blocks with over five lakh population.
• Ministry of Commerce & Industry said that the program, which is aimed at self-sufficiency or being ‘aatmanirbhar’, has substantial accomplishments across 27 sectors , including strategic sectors such as manufacturing and services .
• Facilitate investment, 
• Foster innovation, 
• Enhance skill development,
• Build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure,
• Protect the intellectual property,
• Make India digital,
• Create healthy relationships with various countries,
• Provide employment opportunities.
• To increase the manufacturing sector’s growth rate to 12-14% per annum;
• To create 100 million additional manufacturing jobs in the economy by 2022;
• To ensure that the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP is increased to 25% by 2022 (later revised to 2025).
• Startup India was introduced in 2016 as a call to innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers of the nation to lead from the front in driving India’s sustainable growth and create large scale employment opportunities.
• The entrepreneurial portal had more than 65,000 startups registered.
• Of which, 40 attained the ‘unicorn’ status recently, bringing the total as of date to 90.

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