Since independence, India was neither fortunate enough to have a charismatic leader like Turkey’s Mustafa Kamal Pasha, who could have taken the nation to the path of development single-handedly, nor had we inherited the sound infrastructure, robust economy or institutions from our previous rulers which could have led us to development automatically. We had build our nation brick by brick and had various achievements to our credit such as emergence of professionals, preserving and propagating the institution of democracy, maintaining the freedom of speech and press, retaining the unity & integrity of the country, combating terrorism for decades, conserving by and large the secular characteristics of the society, registering rapid progress in the field of agriculture and defense through research and development. The corridor of India’s major achievements passes through one single passage-educated middle class.
The key to development lies in man’s mind. From here, he conceives ideas, develops institutions, in which his thinking finds an expression and creates opportunities to realize his goals. In India, this responsibility was borne by middle class. Because upper rich class exists in minuscule minority and hence unable to make a mark in national development and population living below poverty line is busy in sustaining itself. So the mantle of nation building had fallen on the middle class.
Emergence of middle class is not a “passive phenomenon” and it does not come out on its own. The grit, determination, stamina and putting the next generation’s needs before its own are some of the factors which make the emergence of this class possible. And today this class is acting as the architect of modern India, providing human capital not only to India but to many countries of world , working as watchdogs to preserve the highest institutions of the country, attracting global players to use India as a hub, pumping money in the economy, and adjusting well to the shifts, be it cultural, economic, technical or social. Since independence, India’s major achievement is the rise of world’s largest single middle class, on which rests the other achievements of our country.
