We journos love the word 'exclusive' in the context of an exclusive story. It gives us a sense of achievement and euphoria of having information that no one else has. But let me talk about 'inclusive'. You know, it's now fashionable to use the word 'inclusive' in the context of inclusive growth and this whole spiel about bridging the divide between haves and have-nots. On Budget Day, Chidambaram sprinkled the i-word generously in his budget speech, my Editor picked it up for his edit, TV discussions repeated it ad nauseum and all the pink papers included 'inclusive growth' in their post-budget op-eds. In fact, recently, I also read an interesting piece titled The All Important Inclusion .... do check it out.
Now having heard/read all that's been said/written about the importance of inclusive growth, I just have one question: On one hand, this Government claims that it wants inclusive growth. Says it is committed to creating equitable distribution of opportunities. On the other hand, it allows Special Economic Zones that are elitist, well-endowed, tax-less, lawless privileged enclaves of excellence.
Tell me, do you really buy this inclusive story?
3 comments:
Not that you've indicated so, but your post seems urban focused. You want to talk inclusive? Read what Ajit Balakrishnan, founder rediff.com has to say in Mira Kamdar's 'Planet India'. Suddenly 'inclusive' will take on a whole new meaning.
For more on inclusion, see the April 9th issue of Outlook.
you're just waiting for me to crack and identify myself... don't do a public blog like this and not expect this kind of keen academic attention.
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