An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions Free

In An Uncertain Glory, two of India’s principal economists, discuss the country’s social and economic problems which they insist lies in its complete negligence of basic essential needs of its people. Throughout the book, a particular focus is given to the poor education and health conditions that result in a wide growing gap between the rich and the poor.

The authors of this book are Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen. Jean Drèze is a Belgian native, who moved to India in 1979 and became an Indian citizen in 2002. He received his PhD from the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Amartya Sen is an Indian economist, who is Thomas W. Lamont University professor and professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University. Sen received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions welfare economics and social choice theory.

An Uncertain Glory gives a lot of food for thought for professionals of several disciplines. Historians and economists can compare the development of India’s government and economy after the end of the colonial rule in 1947 and draw conclusions. Business professionals, investors, health care professionals, and HR professionals, who are considering India as a place of business, are also able to see implications for doing business in India. As an HR professional and a graduate student of HRM, I saw numerous considerations necessary for firms outsourcing services to India or planning to do business in India. For example, basic infrastructures like power and transportation systems may not be readily available impeding productivity and efficiency for multinationals.

India gained independence in 1947, after the British colonial rule, and quickly adopted a democratic political system. Over the last three decades the growth of the Indian economy has increased, from 5.2 percent in 1990 to 7.6 percent in 2010. Economists suggest that India holds the spot as one of the second fastest growing large economies in the world. India is a classic example of a nation of striking contrasts. The rich are very affluent and the poor are really indigent. A challenge for South Asia, including India, is its poor investment in human development. This is characterized by low literacy rates, great gender disparities, uneven income distribution, and extreme poverty (Khilji, 2012). An Uncertain Glory conveys some interesting and astonishing facts about India. About 50 percent of Indian households still practiced “open defecation” without access to lavatories (p. 63). As investigations showed, many schools do not have any teaching activities. Almost half of all Indian children are malnourished; this percentage is in stark contrast to other countries, such as China and Brazil that has only 4 and 2 percent of malnourished children. Only nine countries in the world have lower investments of public expenditure on health than India. India only spends $39 per year per person on health expenses. The book is full of similarly surprising statistics people may not know about India. The Indian elite, qualified and educated, is what the media and society largely focus on, while neglecting the challenges and needs of the underprivileged majority.

As the authors argue, a good use of public resources generated by economic growth will enhance people’s general living conditions. This will further stimulate economic growth. Otherwise, in the long run a lack of development of human capabilities will threaten high economic growth. Countries like Japan, South Korea, and China have successfully pursued economic growth as well as human development and can be considered as stellar examples. A special emphasis is given in the book to the role of the Chinese universal system for health. This has proven to have a direct effect on longevity and health of people in China. After removing universalism in 1978, life expectancy in China decreased from 14 to seven years. Therefore, China decided to reintroduce universal health care on a large scale in 2004 and has now guaranteed health care for over 90 percent of its population (p. 15). Brazil has also been successful implementing universal health care, which has proven very beneficial also for the country.

Organized public pressure, an outcome of democratic politics in states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, has brought about successful social programs. This has led to an increase in rank on the human development index for India. Tamil Nadu has instituted a public distribution system, which subsidizes a minimum quota of rice and other essential commodities to every household. Tamil Nadu also instated other “public health” activities that are aimed at preventive care with exemplary results. The state also offers free lunches in schools, childcare, and public transport initiatives, which resulted in a reduction of deprivation of basic necessities of life compared to the rest of India. Taking the state of Tamil Nadu as a role model, the authors urge public sector involvement in areas like health care, education, and nutrition. Drèze and Sen caution that this will only be successful if accountability and transparency of the public sector increases.

There are several cultural and societal characteristics in India. Women are still underrepresented in the workplace. Women have a low political presence in the Indian government. A part of this can be attributed to the value India puts on masculinity, which describes that the society is driven by competition, achievement, and success (Shi and Wang, 2011). This negatively translates to the power and advancement of women. Also, women have a higher mortality rate than men, which largely goes with the need for increased health expenditure. Natality discrimination, which is a term to describe sex-selective abortion that particularly target female fetuses, is a problem especially for female fetuses. An increased status of women in India will give women more knowledge about rights for education and health care. Such an increased awareness and empowering of women has resulted in a drop of birth rates in other developing countries. The authors argue that women need to establish social agencies promoting their rights. Social agencies have the freedom to question values to think independently. Women organized as an agency would most likely result in enlightened reasoning, a reduction in sex selected abortion, and a fight for more rights. Proactive steps have been taken toward the increase in participation of women in the workforce.

India scores high on the dimension of Power Distance, 77, indicating an appreciation for hierarchy and a top-down structure in its society and organizations (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). This concept is illustrated by the lack of diversity in Indian businesses and strengthened by the existing power of its caste system. Discrimination against castes still prevails in India today. The upper class, such as the Brahmans, has an overwhelming control over public institutions and control large parts of the media outlets. Many organizations and boards show no diversity at all, indicating all members are from usually the same caste. A survey found that of 315 editors at leading print and media outlets in Delhi revealed that 85 percent belonged to upper classes and about half of these were Brahmans. Similarly 45 percent of corporate boards in India are comprised of upper caste, mainly Brahmans and Vaishyas (p. 222). This phenomenon will result in nepotism and related forms of favoritism in hiring. Khilji (2012) also suggests that nepotism will also result in organizational inefficiencies and distrust among employees. Hence, the lack of employee diversity in Indian organizations may be challenging for multinationals.

Peter Drucker, the well-known business expert, emphasizes HRM practices and human capital as valuable sources of competitive advantage. Organizations need to embrace and value diversity and recognize that human resources are sources of sustained competitive advantages (Oyler and Mildred, 2009). To create an inclusive workplace atmosphere organizations need to leverage the skills and talents all kinds of employees. This will result in a variety of viewpoints, higher performing employees, and a broader customer base. It will be invaluable for Indians to realize the worth of having cognitive diversity.

Drèze and Sen stress the need for collaborative effort among all stakeholders in India. They highlight the need for the three institutions of democracy, namely legislative, executive and judiciary to collaborate on important public projects. India has already taken several steps in the right direction from a legislative standpoint. The authors stress a need for transparency and accountability like the Right to Information Act did for the Indian government and private sectors. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NGERA) of 2005 set the stage for improvements such as the right to minimum wage, payment within 15 days, and essential worksite facilities (p. 200). India also established the Public Distribution System (PDS), which provide households with commodities of wheat and rice or similar in accordance with a ration card. The rice and wheat is provided by the central government to state governments for distribution. Recent reforms to this system have successfully been made to broaden the coverage of the PDS (p. 206). These legal acts and public programs are definitely changes to better India’s living conditions for the general population. However, the rapid population growth in South Asia will require a massive concerted effort to increase both education and technology levels to those of global standards (Khilji, 2012). These collective approaches are necessary as India is forecasted to be the second largest economy in the world putting more demands on the needs of its population (Khilji, 2012, Khilji and Rao, 2013).

The current inadequate social systems call for an increased need for companies to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Although companies alone cannot erase the problem of disparities, initiatives can be taken to increase awareness in the community. Hopefully this eventually will break the wide disparity and help foster the need for accountability of the public. A case in point – Coca Cola in India successfully built manufacturing plants in underprivileged rural areas which helped farmers increase their income. Simultaneously, Coca Cola engaged in water and sanitation work in schools and communities improving living conditions for many Indians (Barkay, 2012). This illustrates how foreign companies can lead by examples and donate to the communities or allocate funds to improve conditions for the underprivileged (Khilji and Rao, 2013).

Additionally, many large Indian companies have already realized the importance of social responsibility and giving back to the local communities. The “India Way” that domestic organizations follow is a framework with its main focus on social mission and investment in human capital. This clearly shows that the Indian businesses really want to uplift the disadvantaged communities in their country (Khilji, 2012, Khilji and Rao, 2013). Khilji and Rao (2013) stress that younger people are more open to organizational changes and thus traditional workplace attitudes are slowly changing. Therefore, large Indian companies following the “India Way” can successfully reach out to the young labor force to implement any radical changes.

“Uncertain Glory” is a confrontational, yet appropriate title for this book. India prides itself on its economic growth and advances made in the relatively short time period from its independence in 1947. Yet, so many public issues for the common man seem largely unaddressed. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider. Compared to the other BRIC countries, India lacks in crucial areas such as literacy, nutrition and general health care. Not only is this “glory” uncertain pertaining to economic growth; it is also questionable how much glory India truly deserves looking at the social initiatives and public sector involvement. Overall, this book is very useful for anybody wanting to learn more about the “real” India. It bluntly lays out problem areas and suggestions for improvement. This book will help global practitioners understand the current conditions and cultural differences and evaluate how they can do their share to improve conditions for underprivileged people. The power of business is often underestimated – but those coming from the western world are more experienced with community outreach programs and can help instill a similar mindset in the Indian culture.