OPEN LETTER TO MODIJI

Dear Prime Minister Modi,

Let me tell you right at the onset, this is not a letter about your one-year performance. No. I think one year is too short a time to judge you; maybe after six months?

Your speech today at the Chinese University was truly impressive. Nothing surprising there, as this is your strongest skill. But Sir, you made us proud.

While you were in China, I do not know if you heard the story of this 26-year old maverick, IIT dropout, Rahul Yadav of Housing.com. Well, let me update you in case you missed it – he just gifted away his entire Rs.200 crore worth of stake in the company to the 2251 employees of his company. He has created a real furor in the social media. He is the new poster boy of the new world.

We can argue about this deed, whether it was more of a PR stunt or genuine charity, till the cows come home. But the point here is not about his charity or even about Yadav; it is about the booming world of e-commerce. I know you have your ears and eyes very well trained on the social media but I wonder if you have realized that all the start-ups, all this hullaballoo about IITians preferring to stay back in India and explore their entrepreneurial spirit is happening in the space of e-commerce only. Every new start-up that you read about  nowadays is almost always, 95% of the times, happening in the field of e-commerce only. I haven’t heard of new graduates, brimming with ideas and energy, starting a brick and mortar company; have you heard of any one recently?

In case you did not get the reading on the wall – the youth of modern India is more entrepreneurial than ever before and all are setting up ventures in the field of e-commerce. This arena is easy because it requires minimal capital, limited space which is as such scarce in India and if the “idea” is good, venture capitalists and private equity funders are queuing up with bags full of money.

This brings me to a very pertinent question, might be disturbing for you – where does this place your “Make in India” program? Your pet peeve, I wonder how many of these youngsters, striking it rich and providing employment to many, would want to actually go through the rigmarole process of setting up an industry;  probably only the sons and daughters of industrialists? And that too depends on getting land, power, umpteen numbers of clearances from various Govt agencies and not to mention crores of rupee spent in greasing various palms.

And frankly, there is only space for one China on this earth. You are currently in China and I am sure you have seen the economies of scale which they have built up. Do we even have that kind of space? More importantly, why should India emulate China and become a factory place for the world?

Modiji, I seriously think you need to rethink where you want to take this “Make in India”. World over, right since ancient times; as you will be very well aware , Indians are known for their proficiency in things which require a lot of intellect, a lot of creativity. Excelling in mathematics, science and art is in our dna, we are genetically endowed with these skills. So when we have this strength of brain power and creativity, why do you want to make it all about brainless factory work? Why can’t your “Make in India” be all about making India an R&D hub for the world?  Let China make things while India can create things which China can make? Doesn’t that automatically put us in a higher position – brain is always right at the top.

Modiji, at the same time, I feel you should channelize all your energies into revitalizing the Indian agriculture sector. Farming contributes only 15% to India’s GDP but provides employment to 60% of the population. So instead of strengthening that why do you want to take away all farming land, put up factories there and later import all food grains from Brazil and rest of the world?  Am sure you have the foresight but yet, let me tell you that later in the world, only those who have abundant water and food will rule the world. Let’s work on that.

Well, I hope you pay serious attention to these thoughts and maybe feel it worthwhile to work on? And I hope you were able to break some ice with President Xi on border issues. Did you tell them Arunachal is as Indian as you?

Thanks and wishing you the best for times ahead.

Regards

Ruma Dubey

PS: I could not help but wonder why you were wearing dark shades while seeing the Terracotta warriors. The ‘Matrix’ look?  Sadly, did not go too well in the social media.