Five point development plan for India

This is something that I had been wanting to write for a long, long time. What would I have done if I were the Indian Prime Minister. Or, alternatively, in Gurcharan Das style, the five-point agenda to make India a superpower by 2020.

1. Public transport system - The objective is to lower the social cost of cars, contain traffic & lower our fuel consumption. The latter being most important, as this could greatly help in reducing our oil imports & our trade deficit. With lower fuel consumption, we can discard our obsession of building forex reserves (and hence strengthen our exports). The aim should be to create a punctual public transport system where women could travel in buses/trains.
2. River linking project - The aim is to control floods/droughts, harness river water for electricity & irrigation and prevent an inevitable water scarcity problem. It is as important to harvest the excess water as it is to link the major rivers. This project could result in a second green revolution if complemented by other steps (such as crop rotation), as a lot of arid area can come under cultivation.
3. Building a relevant education system - The objective should be to create a population base which is appropriately suited to the needs of our industry. Here, auto mechanics and carpenters are as important as engineers & MBAs. In other words, our vocational education system should be on the same pedestal as IITs, at least on the reputation front. Good workmen would contribute to improving the efficiency of the industry & incorporating innovative practices. The seeds of this kind of education, however, need to be sown at the primary level itself. This would also help in inculcating the value of dignity of labour amongst ourselves, which we so seriously lack. Then, it can go a long way in reducing the ever-growing income disparity in India.
4. IT implementation in Govt departments, e-governance - The aim should be to reduce red tape & corruption. The benefits are many 1) reduced time taken to set up a new business 2) less paperwork hence lower corruption 3) accurate records 4) lesser frauds 5) easy point of contact with officials, eliminating 'brokers' 6) a robust complaint redressal system and many more. This would make India much more attractive for foreign investors.
5. Infrastructure development - Much has been said about it already. Objective should be to reduce time spent at ports, toll booths & govt departments (IT can help in all of these). Bridges & highways are important too, but I see them improving already. Power is a concern, but river linking with run of the river projects can help. In the meantime, coal plants are the only way out, slowly upgrading to clean coal technology (India has vast coal reserves). A lot can be done by preventing power theft, but I can't think of an easy solution for it other than political will. In fact, energy & infrastructure are next only to political governance when it comes to India's weaknesses.