Challenges for India in 2008

As India steps into 2008 along with the rest of the world. The nation faces several problems in administration, health, finance, environment etc. Bustling population, spreading disease, malnutrition, illiteracy posing a larger thread than ever. Poised at this threshold the government and the citizens have to act quick to rise this nation from its current level to that of a secure home. This entry deals with the increasing administrative problems that are cropping up in India 

1. 
   Parliament: The largest democracy in the world also one of the
   largest(795 members)। It has a very fractured design, distributing responsibility and hence allowing faster decision making and efficient collaboration. However conflict in leadership has made it the playground for perpetual arguments instead of the powerhouse of progress. The continuous low attendance and lack of activity caused the nation loss of several hundred crore rupees in revenue in 2007. With only 46 bills passing in 2007 it was the most inactive year in last 7 years. Lack of activity and progressive leadership has one of the leading caused of this failure. 
   
2. Judiciary System: Perhaps the biggest strength of a
   democratic system is the freedom that comes with it, any violation of our rights can be challenged in the free court। The freedom to voice against the government or even the constitution. Today the liberal use of this freedom, along with lack of foresight of our government over allocation of judges has led to over 20 million (2 crores) pending cases in lower courts and over 3.7 million in higher court. The sanctioned number of judges is 14000 where as the over all demand is around 44000. The actual number is much less(around 12k). If this continues the judiciary system will collapse like here( 80 year old man dies without trial), though some hope is there. Its sad when things can be done so cheaply still we are not able to solve our problems. 
3. Bureaucracy: All across the world bureaucrats are blamed to be slow and inefficient. I will not argue these facts however Indian bureaucrats are certainly no different. Susceptible corruption and redtape, India is placed at 83 worldwide in corruption. There is a lot of scope for improvement. Till now the only improvisation suggested is to disinvest but other alternatives can be applied to bring competence in the system.
   • Pension: Of all the problems that India faces due to bureaucracy this one is one of the less obvious one. About 17 years back, India was a large slow train with crumbling large bureaucratic machinery. Several privatizations later, after India liberated the entrepreneurs from the bureaucratic chains, this bulky machinery is retiring. This is a big economic liability on Indian tax payers. Thousands of employees will retire this year creating a pension overload of lacs on Indian taxpayers. To tackle this certain initiatives are being taken 
     1. 
        Increase the retirement age to 62 from 60
         
     2. VRS(voluntary retirement scheme) to reduce the economic load
     
     
4. Tax Collection: : Less than 31.5 million people
   in India pay taxes in India। In a population of over 1.1 billion its a very small percentage. The archaic methods of tax payment and calculations have led India in this situation. This is arguably the biggest civil violation of Indian laws. You will be surprised to know that income tax in India is staggeringly high(over 30%) against 13% in Russia, 20% in Singapore etc . This violation is due to inept logs, old registry methods. It demands an overhaul of this structure to increase the tax paying population and reduce the percentage tax.

Constant work from various agents of government and more aware citizenship with an effective use of media will be required in the coming year. India is poised to grow huge with its booming economy. A urgent focus on spreading education and improving infrastructure will set the gear for India to enter the new era of development and prosperity.