LettersIndia, 79 years young, has more to achieve
Readers discuss the journey ahead for India, and a fascinating tribe living on North Sentinel Island
India is celebrating its 79th birthday this month. Its economy could soon overtake Japan’s as the fourth largest in the world. This progress should trickle down to everyone in the country. Rural clinics need to be better equipped and staffed. Housing needs to be affordably priced; nobody should have to sleep in the open.
India needs to generate millions of jobs for its exploding young population. School and university education needs to be more job-oriented. Everyone wants to specialise in information technology, but a country needs manufacturing and medical skills too. We also need clarity about the areas in which artificial intelligence can improve productivity – “AI” should not just be a buzzword.
Indians should guard against celebrity worship. Whatever film and sports stars are wearing and eating should not be more important than our own lives. Respect knowledge, not sensationalism.
The young need to be reading more books and spending less time on digital apps. Indians ought to exercise more to keep obesity at bay. Let’s rediscover the joy of long walks in the mountains, among trees and flowers.
These are my many hopes for India. If we fulfil even a few in the next decade, it will be a productive journey.