The reigns of world’s largest and the oldest democracies, India and USA respectively, are now in the hands of assertive populist political figures.
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, is crafting his governments’ programs and policies to transform India as Viksit Bharat@2047. The slogan Make America Great Again (MAGA) has been popularized by Donald Trump. He aims to ensures that the USA continues to be a superpower in foreseeable future.
It looks that the two leaders a similiar political vision: The National Interest First. To accomplish the objectives of the vision, both the leaders believe in pursuing the capacity building and capacity augmentation of their respective nations.
Why the “MAGA” Movement?
The United States of America embodies a robust economy ($29.02 trillion GDP with only 340.10 million people in 2024) and still it needs to strengthen its economy through technological advancement & expansion in various sectors so as to maintain its supremacy over the competitors.
Trump is, therefore, dispensing his confidence in “STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to see his ambitious plan “MAGA” a success. However, it is not an easy job because the US is facing three major problems: 1) How to protect jobs for native-born Americans?, 2) US is preparing for the 4th industrial revolution (industry 4.0) with the adoption of path-breaking technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twin, block-chain, machine learning etc. to establish “smart industries and infrastructure” for the development of cost-effective and high quality products for global market, but China is emerging as strong challenger and 3) There is huge gap between demand and availability of skilled human resource (HR) to manage MAGA mission successfully.
The US Labour Bureau expects a shortage of 1.2mn skilled work-force by 2026. Under these circumstances, the US wants to establish its authority over the development and adoption of futuristic technologies anticipated for different sectors of economy, healthcare, education and national security.
This has necessitated the US to have renewed focus on talent search, its refinement, up-gradation and best utilization. The US has to concentrate upon investing on consolidation and development of “STEM” talent. Probably, the US will undergo some policy reforms which can address domestic concerns, attract the best talent from around the world and build the capacity of its own institutions to produce timely HR in appropriate numbers.
Understanding Amongst Politicians in US
The people and politicians in the US always look forward to seeing their country as a military superpower & an economic giant. Therefore, it would be easy for Trump to receive unconditional support from opposition benches for policy reforms to pursue “MAGA” mission successfully as happened during 80s for the protection, promotion and commercialization of ‘Intellectual Properties’ and also for stimulating expansion of innovations for public use by enacting “Bayh-Dole Act 1980”.
The Act was drafted by two senators, one belonged to the ruling party while the other one was from the opposition party. In fact, the implementation of this Act transformed the USA’s technological landscape by creating competition amongst research institutions & scientists to innovate and it also triggered “public-private partnerships” to commercialize innovations & advanced technologies. This Act helped the US in enhancing productivity of institutions and realization of industrial, technological & economic revolutions. Would our politicians in India learn from this example?
India’s Dilemma
The Prime Minister Modi’s vision for “Viksit Bharat@2047” embraces various facets of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and good governance. To achieve all this, consistent cooperation from political parties to the government will be of great help.
The present Indian political scenario is relatively different from the US. Opposition leaders in India would rarely offer tangible suggestions to the government for reforms in any sector. Many of them believe in the status quo. The country’s achievements and initiatives are typically negated by many of them to build a confusion in public.
Besides this, the political parties have started competing with each other in pledging more & more freebies to lure voters without giving a thought on socio-economic consequences. They know very well that this competition will lead to economic disaster and also create a frigid & uninspired population in the long run. Still they continue to offer freebies with the sole aim to capture power.
Anti-industry tirades started by politicians during the 70s are still in the agenda of major political parties. Interestingly, they always talk against industrialists of their own country but would never question MNCs. This low vision outburst against domestic industries culminated into very slow growth in employment generation, skilled human resource development and industrial expansion in India.
Surprisingly, our politicians seldom pay attention to talent, indigenous technical knowledge (ITK), geographical indications (GI) and creativity. Therefore, “brain-drain” & “knowledge-drain” from our country continued over the several decades.
Not only this, the reforms urgently required in the agriculture sector to transform the rural economy and to harvest global market opportunities are facing political apathy. The three bills on reforms in agriculture brought out by the government in 2020 were withdrawn on November 19, 2021 under the pressure of the opposition’s fake narratives. Astonishingly, those who continue tearing like crocodiles for farmers’ welfare, did not offer any concrete and practically feasible suggestions for reforms, though the situation requires urgent political solution on this issue.
All aforesaid actions at political level created a discouraging, subversive and unfavourable environment for scientists, entrepreneurs, farmers & industries and also obstructed India’s ability to compete with advanced and emerging economies.
Emerging A Resurgent India
Still, the government of India is confident that Viksit Bhart@2047 is an achievable target. A well-known German writer and former ambassador to India “Walter J Lindner”, in his book entitled “What the West Should Learn from India” published in December, 2024, has rightly & emphatically valued the spirit of India to go extra miles and also in resolving challenges & complexities. His thoughts are being proved true by people of India and government.
The recurring inspiration by Narendra Modi, since the beginning of his first tenure as Prime Minister of India in 2014, for pursuing programs like “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, “Aatmanirbher Bharat”, “Make in India”, “Vocal for Local”, “Start-up India”, “Connect India”, “PM Gati Shakti Master Plan”, “Skill India”, “Diversify Agriculture”, “Aspirational Districts Development Program”, “Empower Women”, “Mundra Yojana” for small entrepreneurs, “Encouraging “FPOs”, “Recognition of Demographic Power”, Transformative push to “Renewable Energy/clean Energy Generation”, “National Water Mission” and his own monthly “Mann Ki Baat” program made dramatic impact on the mind-set of people of the country.
A feeling of empowerment in people has been developed which helped in bringing a visible progressive change in diverse sectors.
An example of a transformative journey of start-ups which began in 2016 can be a great source of encouragement for youth. India developed third-largest & vibrant start-up ecosystem in the world with 1.59 lakh start-ups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as on January 15, 2025. Out of them, India has 112 Unicorn Start-ups ranking third globally after the United States and China (https://www.growthnavigate.com/). Unicorn means a privately held start-up company that is valued at USD $1 billion or more. These start-ups are generating sizable revenue and employment. In fact, start-ups are fast emerging as “Engines of Change” and “Ambassadors of Enlightened India”.
In the agriculture sector too, the success stories of FPOs and SHGs established in different states are very encouraging and indicate that if handholding of small and marginal farmers is properly done, they can do miracles. The success story of “Milletpreneur” Dipali Mahato, Purulia, Bengal, published in Times of India on 9.1. 2025 is an eye opener for small & marginal farmers, planners and scientists.
Due to the handholding of “SwitchON Foundation”, she could engage over 500 farmers with her pursuits and transformed rural women’s life. Similarly, the story of Andhra Pradesh based “Millet Sisters’ Network” with 2000 women small farmers is highly encouraging and remarkable as this organization successfully up-lifted the social & economic status of small farmers. Several such progressive & innovative farmers and FPOs are emerging as the torch bearers to show a reformist path to other farmers.
Now India has significantly improved its ranking in travel and tourism competitiveness. Our PM himself is consistently trying to develop emotions in youth to see India first. The steady efforts by the government to attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit “Incredible India” are commendable. These efforts have started paying dividends in terms of employment and revenue generation.
Exhilarated by seeing the power of talent and creativity in Indian youth, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi regularly takes note of innovators. Recently he devoted several hours with youth during “Viksit Bharat Young Leaders’ Dialogue” on January 12, 2025. His presence was applauded by youth as they felt that their efforts were being recognized. In fact, the PM is laying a strong foundation for Viksit Bharat by encouraging youth and acknowledging their talent.
It is noteworthy that modernization, advancements and expansions in India’s infrastructure including transportation (highways, expressways, freight corridors, railways, aviation, and waterways) and digital connectivity networks have paved the way for attracting investments and triggering inclusive economic growth. Therefore, the leading national and international financial institutions have also recognized consistent economic growth of India towards realizing $5 trillion GDP.
Visualizing the change, people of India have developed a passion for progress and are aspiring to see Viksit Bharat@2047 a reality. Many of the hard-core political opponents, who had always been unyielding to the impact of aforesaid efforts, are now relenting to think positively on these accomplishments.
Capability for Viksit Bharat@2047
India, with only $3.89 trillion GDP and 1450.92 million people in 2024, has to go a long way to making the Bharat Viksit a reality. However, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is being cherished for his daring decision to fix a target “Viksit Bharat@2047”. The target is robust and the economy is too small but can be achieved because the government is highly assertive, people are now motivated and have developed confidence in leadership.
The demographic advantage is in favour of India. Nevertheless, India has to implement National Education Policy 2020 strictly and also in the true sense. The country needs to invest in retaining talent, skilling youth and unlocking potential skill sets hidden in women and rural, neglected and underprivileged communities.
STEM & E (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Economics) would play a major role in steering the efforts to achieve the target of Viksit Bharat@2047. Our country is experiencing a growing disinterest in these subjects. This trend needs to be strategically reversed as soon as possible through reframing of the curriculum to make science, mathematics and economics education interesting to students.
Epilogue
India needs to enhance efficiency and productivity of its institutions, agriculture and industries. Therefore, the government has to do course corrections to achieve the target of “Viksit Bharat@2047”. The hint dropped by the US President to increase tariffs on imports from several countries including India must be taken seriously.
Such problems would continue to come in future as well and therefore, India has to invest regularly on development of resilient technologies, up-grading production technologies, ensuring quality, developing dependable supply chains and searching new markets.
(The author is Professor (Retd), Haryana Agriculture University, and Ex Consultant Haryana Farmers’ Commission; Views expressed are personal)
