Half full, half empty

It8217;s a bit like that half mug of ale, which the optimist insists on seeing as half full, and the pessimist as half empty. UNDP8217;s Human Development Report 2000, which has human rights as its central theme, has several words of commendation for India and its democratic traditions. Not only has the country risen by four notches from last year8217;s ranking, it has set standards of democratic functioning that are exemplars for the rest of the world. For instance, India8217;s experiences with affirmative action, whether they were through political and social quotas for scheduled castes and tribes, or for women in local governance, have been rightly cited as examples of the creative use of human rights instruments in social transformation. Similarly, the Supreme Court8217;s insistence on the right of all Indians to eight years of free schooling and basic health care, as well as the struggle of the Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Sangarsh Samiti to win for the people of the state the right to information, came in forspecial mention.

But before an effulgence of self-congratulation manifests itself, it may be useful to take another cold, hard look at the evidence at hand. For starters,remember India may have climbed four notches, but it is still only 128th among 174 nations, and its recent elevation has more to do with its marginally improved per capita income, rather than other parameters like literacy and healthcare. Finally, human development is all about eliminating inequalities and the marginalisation of whole communities, and it is here that India8217;s progress has been markedly sluggish 8212; as sluggish, in fact, as its dispensation of justice, with more than 2,000 cases pending per judge. The Report states unequivocally its concern that despite half a century of elected governments, India has failed to provide something as basic as primary education to all its citizens. This year8217;s UNDP report also makes a crucial link between human rights and human development, since both are seen as crucial in securing basic freedoms. It argues further that democracy, or the mere act of voting, is insufficient. What is necessary is 8220;inclusive8221; democracy, which goes beyond majoritarian rule toembrace the rights of all minorities within a particular system. The Report urges the world, one that made significant strides in universalising democracy over the last century, to work towards the goal of ensuring all rights for all people in all countries in this one. This may, ultimately, be just a pipe dream, but it is certainly one worth having.

International reports of this kind are not, and possibly cannot be, sensitive to local nuance and requirement 8212; for that each country needs to generate its own indices and data and India has plans to do just that. For instance, the present document glibly states that the 8220;South Asian subcontinent8221; split into two nations in part because the Muslims of India feared the rule of the Hindu majority. The presence of over a hundred million Muslims in post-Partition India belies such an easy hypothesis. But as an indicator of international and national trends and as a generator of ideas in an increasingly interdependent world, such reports are to be welcomed and, more important, comprehended.