The public distribution system, the child welfare programmes, the BPL (below poverty line) schemes have made so little difference that farmers are killing themselves at an alarming rate in rich states like Maharashtra and Punjab. In Vidarbha last week there were eight farmer suicides in a single day.

With the Indian economy growing at more than 8 per cent a year this state of affairs is unacceptable. But it cannot change unless we make drastic social sector changes. Instead of wasting our energies on reserving seats in elite institutions for OBC students we should be taking a close look at the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to correct its flaws. Instead of a public health policy that concentrates on reserving seats in medical colleges for the backward castes, we need a policy that acknowledges that more than 90 per cent of the country’s rural health facilities exist in name only.

I could go on and on and on but would like to end this piece on a happy note. With all our failures and with all China’s successes there is no doubt in my mind that it is the Indian way that will endure because we have something that the Chinese people will not have in the foreseeable future: democracy.

The Chinese may have better governance but in my Indian eyes the idea of a country ruled by despotic, omnipotent officials is too horrific for words.