Limitation of state

In India, the state is struggling with several issues simultaneously. The major ones are listed as follows:

• Alleviating poverty

• Achieving higher rate of economic growth

• Improvement in power situation

• Development of infrastructure

• Meeting the regional aspirations for development and modernization

• Improving indicators of health, education, gender gap

• Sustainable development

• Defense against foreign attacks

• Maintaining law and order – dealing with violence and terrorism

• Improving governance – fighting corruption

• Empowerment of women and religious minorities and removing social and spatial inequalities

We have listed the major issues. Do you think that this is an exhaustive list? Would you like to add some more issues or drop some? Do you think that irrespective of background all the people of India will produce the same list? Will they also prioritize them identically irrespective of caste, class, education, urban-rural residence, state, age and gender? If there are divergences of opinion what will be its fall - out? Will that not mean that people of India will not be able to vote for one single party and the days of multiparty government are going to stay? The next three lectures will expose you to the ideas of the major political parties in the country.