Nuclear Energy

are being privatized; medicine prices have zoomed; college fees have gone through the roof;
electricity prices are rising; bus fares are rising; the public distribution system designed to check
speculation in prices of foodgrains is being eliminated; and now, drinking water supply in cities is
also being handed over to these corporations, who will then hike its prices 10-15 times.
Consequences
1. Obscene Inequality
Globalization has led to a sharp increase in polarisation in the country. The rich have grown
enormously richer: in 2010, the number of dollar billionaires increased by 17, driving the total to a
record 69; dccxx those with disposable assets of over $1 million (Rs. 4.6 crores) increased by 51%
over the previous year to an estimated 1.27 lakh during 2009. dccxxi And so they have declared:
“India is shining”, India is becoming an “economic superpower”; and now after the 1,2,3 Nuclear
Deal, India is on it way to becoming a “nuclear superpower” too.
On the other hand, it has also led to crores of people being pushed into destitution. This is
evident from a host of government data. The latest official survey carried out in 2004-05 shows that
an appalling 87% of the rural population are unable to access the minimum recommended 2400
calories per day; the corresponding percentage for urban India, where the nutrition norm is lower at
2,100 calories, was 64.5. dccxxii Another official report submitted to the Prime Minister says that
overwhelming majority of the population – 77 percent, or 836 million people – are living on Rs.20
or less a day. dccxxiii According tothe National Family Health Survey of 2005-6, nearly half (46%) of
India’s children under the age of three are underweight, an indicator of malnourishment. dccxxiv Then
how come the government is claiming that poverty in the country has reduced after globalisation?
It has managed this by a simple trick of lowering the country's already low poverty line! dccxxv
2. Heading into a Financial Collapse
As the country's ruling classes ruthlessly push ahead with economic reforms, the economy is
getting more and more entrapped in an economic crisis, which is already worse than the crisis of
1991 that pushed the government into globalising the economy. Discussing this is beyond the scope
of this book, here we restrict ourselves to giving a few statistics:
� The external debt of the country has gone up to $273 billion as of end-June 2010, dccxxvi
which is more than three times the debt of $83.8 billion at the end of March 1991! dccxxvii
� The trade deficit has shot up to $117 billion in 2009-10, dccxxviii which is more than 40 times
the deficit in 1991-92 of $2.8 billion!! dccxxix
� The current account deficit rose sharply in the quarter ending June 2010 to $13.7 billion,
from $4.5 billion a year ago. Even the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has admitted that
it is worrying!!! dccxxx
This has pushed the country even more into the clutches of foreign corporations and speculators,
and their governments, because the Indian economy has become more and more dependent on
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