Explained: Self Reliant India

The Prime Minister recently emphasised the importance of promoting indigenous products and self-sufficiency.

More on the news

• Self-sufficiency:Promoting indigenous products and self-sufficiency is important for prosperity, and by adopting them, one can keep India's traditional art, culture, and civilisation alive.

About Vijay Vallabh Surishwar, a Jain saint:

• The Prime Minister was speaking at a gathering to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Jain saint Vijay Vallabh Surishwar.
• The Union Culture Ministry organised the event.
• A commemorative postage stamp and coin honouring Acharya Surishwar were also released as part of the celebration.
• Historical significance: The Prime Minister stated that Acharya Surishwar's insistence on peace and harmony could be seen even during the horrors of Partition.
• He noted that during the freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi followed the Jain gurus' path of "aparigraha," or renunciation.

What exactly is self-reliance?

• Self-reliance is defined as an individual's, a household's, or a community's social and economic ability to meet basic needs (such as protection, food, water, shelter, personal safety, health, and education) in a sustainable and dignified manner.

India's potential for self-sufficiency:

The labour force:

• Self-sufficiency is dependent on increasing the income and productivity of the majority of the labour force.
• There are two approaches to this.
  • To begin, incentivize farmers to shift away from grain-based farming and toward cash crops, horticulture, and livestock products.
  • Second, shift the workforce away from agriculture and toward manufacturing.
• India can only become self-sufficient if it takes advantage of its best endowment — 900 million working-age people with an average age of 27 — and appropriates its demographic dividend, as China did.

Position in the world:

• India is in a unique position at a time when all other manufacturing behemoths — Japan, the EU, the US, and even South Korea and China — are ageing in lockstep.
• Most of these countries have exited low-end labor-intensive manufacturing, and countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, and others have taken their place.

Development and research:

• State-funded R&D, including basic research, by PSUs, research institutions, and universities must be significantly increased, far exceeding the current paltry 1% of GDP.

Education:

• Finally, India's meagre public expenditure on education must be significantly increased (as opposed to current privatisation trends, which would only reduce access), including in skill development.
• Without widespread access to high-quality public education, no country has achieved self-sufficiency.

Initiatives by the government to promote self-sufficiency:

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan:

• The vision of new India is the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, or Self-reliant India campaign.
• The goal is to make the country and its people self-sufficient in all aspects.
• Aatma Nirbhar Bharat is built on five pillars: economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography, and demand.
• The Finance Minister announced government reforms and enablers in seven sectors as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.
• In this regard, the government implemented several bold reforms, including agricultural supply chain reforms, rational tax systems, simple and clear laws, capable human resources, and a strong financial system.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana:

• Its goal is to increase job creation and reduce the socioeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Features: Under ABRY, the Government of India credits both the employees' share (12% of wages) and the employers' share (12% of wages) of contribution payable for a period of two years, or only the employees' share, depending on the employment strength of the EPFO registered establishments.

Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana:

• The goal is to improve India's critical healthcare network in both urban and rural areas.
• Create an IT-enabled disease surveillance system by connecting laboratories at the block, district, regional, and national levels.
• The Integrated Health Information Portal will connect labs.
• Features:
• To assist 17,788 rural Health and Wellness Centers in ten 'high focus' states, as well as to establish 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centers.
• It supplements the National Health Mission.
• Exclusive Critical Care Hospital Blocks with a population of over five lakh.

Make in India:

• According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the programme, which aims for self-sufficiency or being 'aatmanirbhar,' has significant accomplishments across 27 sectors, including strategic sectors such as manufacturing and services.
• Make in India, the Government of India's flagship program that aims to:
  • Encourage investment,
    • Encourage innovation,
    • Improve skill development,
    • Keep your intellectual property safe.
    • Make India a digital country.
    • Develop positive relationships with various countries.
    • Make available employment opportunities.

Make in India" had three stated goals:

• to increase the manufacturing sector's annual growth rate to 12-14%;
• To add 100 million new manufacturing jobs to the economy by 2022;
• To increase the manufacturing sector's contribution to GDP to 25% by 2022. (later revised to 2025).

Startup India

• Startup India was launched in 2016 as a call to the nation's innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers to take the lead in driving India's sustainable growth and creating large-scale employment opportunities.
• More than 65,000 startups had registered on the entrepreneurial portal.
• Of these, 40 recently achieved 'unicorn' status, bringing the total to 90 as of today.

Read Also: Gross Domestic Product vs Gross Value Added