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Two recent events have a lot to offer in terms of understanding India's slow and clamorous development process. The first of these is the ghost of Mandal Commission Report haunting India 25 years on. The second is the relatively innocuous <keyword id="33523" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Religion">religion</keyword> census data of 2011 that has been released recently. The first started with a series of rallies (the last one being held in Ahmedabad) demanding reservations for the relatively well off community of Patidars or Patels in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>. The demand for reservations is particularly misplaced in the historical context as the Patels were the people in the 1980's who were against the reservation system. Also, the Patel agitation now should raise some serious questions about rethinking and redesigning the reservation system. Does the present reservation system benefit the socially backward for whom it was made? Does our changing reality call for an economic basis for reservation rather than one based on social backwardness? Does the present system lead to mainstreaming of the masses and bring on social justice? Does it ensure equality in society? How long should it continue? Are alternative methods of mainstreaming feasible? How many generations and how many times should a person be entitled to reservations are all questions that not only the policymakers but the society as a whole should ponder over. One must keep in mind that the Great <keyword id="135752" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Babasaheb-Ambedkar">Babasaheb Ambedkar</keyword> wanted reservations to end after ten years. It has been 68 years and yet the system continues. Just continuing with the past systems like reservations as they exist today militates against the idea of a thinking and a democratic society. 

	It is also important to understand the mindset of the 'race to the bottom' by the community and political leaders wanting to secure reservations for their community members. Today the reality is that people want economic benefits like jobs far more than they hate social backwardness. It forms the basis of this 'race to the bottom' where most communities do not mind a social backwardness tag in lieu of economic benefits.
 

	Also a country where almost half the seats in various facets of government service are reserved militates against the idea of a meritocratic society- the best man/woman for the job. Social justice for somebody should not be the basis of social injustice for somebody else especially if it could lead to serious damage to society. Thus, the need is for a rethink of India's reservation policy. 
 

	Another major development was the release of the religion based census that showed that the Hindu population is just below 80% in India. The Muslims continue to constitute the second largest majority with a population of just over 14 percent. Religious data is often questioned for its release date and also at times to showcase the fall in Hindu population and rise in Muslim population. While these are popular narratives, that may not hold the scrutiny of reality and data, they underscore an important point that religion continues to be a predominant identity in post independent India even after 68 years of independence. These socio-historical identities continue to be relevant and continue to be used by political parties for garnering votes. It at times acts as an impediment to social and economic progress.
 

	In the years ahead India should work towards pushing these identities backward or realigning them to enable the rise of a meritocratic society based on ethical and moral values. That will surely help in improving India's developmental outcomes.
 

	(The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India.) 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

Caste and religion: The identities that need to be relooked for development

When <keyword id="920574" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Robert-Knight">Robert Knight</keyword> launched two newspapers, The Englishman and The Friend of India, between 1810 and 1890 in India, did he ever fathom about growth of those newspapers? And that they would ignite the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+Independence+movement">Indian Independence movement</a>? Knight, who was a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=British+East+India+Company">British</a> man himself, fought for free press and also resisted attempts by governments, businessmen and cultural spokespersons of influencing press and journalists. Knight became an inspiration for journalists and publishers who started promoting self-rule and criticized the policies of the British. 
 
By 1925, newspapers mushroomed across the length and breadth of the country. Knight’s The Englishman and The Friend of India merged and became The Statesman in 1875, and other newspapers like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=The+Times+of+India+">The Times of India</a> (1838), The Hindu (1878), Anandabazar Patrika (1922) and many more dotted the streets of India. 
 One more newspaper, which grabbed eyeballs was The Indian Express. Sensing the need to aware people and fuel the freedom struggle further, <keyword id="1943309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ramnath-Goenka">Ramnath Goenka</keyword> launched The Indian Express in 1932 and subsequently formed the Indian Express Group with various sister publications. 
 Goenka, born in <keyword id="30033" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bihar">Bihar</keyword> on April 3, 1904, went to <a href="Chennai">Chennai</a> to learn the business and worked as a despatch vendor with the Free Press Journal. In 2000, he featured in India Today magazine’s ‘100 People Who Shaped India’. 
 The Indian Express, whose tagline is ‘<keyword id="58267" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Journalism">Journalism</keyword> of Courage’ became an inspiration with its stories and grew leaps and bounds. 
 
Presently, Viveck Goenka is the chairman and managing director of The Indian Express Limited. We bring you how Indian Express expanded and is still enlightening readers with its stories: 
 1. The Indian Express: The English daily is known for its opinion pieces. From a single-edition paper in <keyword id="6357595" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Madras">Madras</keyword>, it grew into a multiple-edition paper. It is published from about nine locations. Raj Kamal Jha is its chief editor. Born in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bihar">Bihar</a>, he is also an acclaimed novelist. It also comes up with The Sunday Express and lifestyle magazine EYE on Sundays. It twice won the Vienna-based <keyword id="823770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="International-Press-Institute">International Press Institute</keyword>'s India Award. It has also won the Kurt Shorck Award for International <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Journalism">Journalism</a>, Natali Prize and the <keyword id="1148382" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="International-Federation-of-Journalists">International Federation of Journalists</keyword> - Journalism for Tolerance Prize. 
 
 2. Loksatta: Established in 1948, Loksatta is one of the most widely read Marathi newspapers in the country. The daily is published from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mumbai">Mumbai</a>, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, and Delhi. Loksatta Vruttant is a daily supplement with the paper that focuses on city specific issues. Other supplements include Lokrang, Chaturang, Viva, Vasturang and Career Counsellor. 
 
3. Screen: It is a leading weekly film magazine in India. Its content focuses on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bollywood">Bollywood</a>. It also has an e-magazine version. It was founded on September 26, 1951 with Manorama Katju as its editor. Screen, established in 1995, organizes and sponsors the Screen Awards to honour actors, directors and technicians for excellence in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Hindi+cinema">Hindi cinema</a>. It also sponsors Screen Gold Medal for excellence in direction at the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Film+and+Television+Institute">Film and Television Institute</a>. 
 4. The <keyword id="336252" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Financial-Express">Financial Express</keyword>: It is a business daily, published by the group since 1961. It publishes 11 editions in English from cities such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword>, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. Headquartered in Delhi, the daily has also pioneered two special annual awards - the FE India's Best Bank Awards and the FE-EVI Green <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Business+Leadership+Awards">Business Leadership Awards</a>, aims to fete the best performers across sectors for their endeavours to tackle the issue of climate-change. 
 
5. Lokprabha: Launched in 1974, it is a weekly Marathi magazine. It gives extensive and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=in-depth+coverage+">in-depth coverage</a> on various topics, ranging from social, political to cultural. Edited by the celebrated journalist, Pravin Tokekar, Lokprabha has over the years received many honors, Dr. <keyword id="3002513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Babasaheb-Ambedkar-Samajik-Patrakarita">Babasaheb Ambedkar Samajik Patrakarita</keyword> award being one of them. 
 
6. Jansatta: It was launched in 1983 with a single- minded purpose to reach out to a large section of the Hindi speaking Indian intelligentsia. In Hindi, 'jan' means people and 'satta' means government. Therefore, one can appropriately recognize the meaning of 'Jansatta' as people's mandate. It is regularly published from Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Chandigarh">Chandigarh</a>. 
 
7. The New Indian Express: In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death, the Indian Express Group split between the family members. The southern editions are known as The New Indian Express, while the northern editions, based in Mumbai, retained the original name The Indian Express. Both companies – The Indian Express Group and The New Indian Express are now separate entities. 
 
(Image: The Indian Express)

#IndependenceDay: The rise and rise of The Indian Express Group

Be it land, apartments or commercial realty, every investor wants to own a property on which he can get attractive returns. But, investing in <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword>, especially in cities and metropolitans, is an expensive affair. 
 
In such a scenario, investing in offbeat locations, which require modest investment, could prove to be beneficial. It is the fringes of the cities that are giving attractive investment options today. 
 
The potential is being tapped by developers, who are offering better options to investors in these suburbs. If chosen wisely, these offbeat options can offer significant returns over low investments. 
 
Earlier also, we had highlighted few offbeat locations in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu that could be a great investing option. Here are few more places that have great scope for investment. 
 
Nagpur, Saswad, Raigad- Maharashtra 
 
These three places in Maharashtra are well-connected with rest of the Maharashtra and are becoming popular among investors. Let’s start with Nagpur. 
 
Nagpur: It is the third largest city of Maharashtra and as per a recent survey, conducted by ABP News-Ipsos, Nagpur has been identified as best city in India. 
 
Nagpur is one of the emerging metropolises and has registered significant growth, making it an attractive destination for real estate developers. There are several development projects underway here. The multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is the biggest development project, which aims to convert airport into a cargo hub with integrated road and railway connectivity. 
TCS, one of the India’s largest IT company, is building campus in the city and Infosys has also started construction of its Nagpur campus. The city has several prestigious educational institutes as well. 
 
Nagpur will soon have its own metro. Recently, the Maharashtra government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cisco for making Nagpur a smart and safe city. 
 
Also, Nagpur is a few hours away from Mumbai and Pune. Besides the economic and infrastructural developments, the city also has various public attractions. Sitabuldi Fort and Seminary Hill are few of the attractive tourist locations in Nagpur. 
 
Saswad: Saswad is just 31 km away from Pune railway station and is well connected via city buses too. 
 
The area is in proximity to Jejuri MIDC and Lonand MIDC, amongst others. Saswad also has a number of educational institutes such as Saint Joseph English Medium School, Waghire High School and Waghire College. 
 
Saswad is an ideal location for tourists and is a weekend getaway. The area has many attractive tourist destinations like Jejuri, Malhargad Fort and Purandar Fort amongst others. The place is a perfect match for trekking and exploring. The area has a rich history and cultural heritage. 
 
The location will be viable for land or second home investment. The city is still developing and owing to its proximity to Pune, it has the potential for growth. You can enter with low investment and end up getting profits. The prime benefit in investing in this area is in close proximity to industrial areas, metropolitan city and tourist spots. The infrastructural development in and around the area makes it ideal for investment especially in land. 
 
Raigad: Raigad, a district in Maharashtra, is 84 km away from Mumbai and 110 km from Pune. Panvel, Alibag, Mangaon, Roha, Pen, Khopoli, Kharghar, Taloja, Khalapur, Uran, Patalganga, Rasayani, Nagothana, Poladpur, Alibag, Karjat and Mahad fall under this district. 
 
Raigad is connected to Mumbai through Sion-Panvel Expressway and is accessible via Mumbai-Pune expressway, NH-7 and NH-17. The Maharashtra government is working on a proposal to develop a private smart city at Pen in Raigad district. 
 
Raigad is close to places like Lonavala and Khandala and the presence of Adlabs Imagica, Ballaleshwar Ashtavinayaka temple in the vicinity makes it an ideal location for a getaway. 
 
The area has institutes like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, which is the only technical university in Maharashtra. The location has tremendous growth potential making it a promising investment destination. 
 
Trichy, Tamil Nadu 
 
Tiruchirappalli, also known as Trichy, is on the smart city list. Located 322 km south of Chennai and 379 km north of Kanyakumari, it is the fourth largest urban agglomeration in the state. 
 
The city was ranked second cleanest city, according to recent Swachh Bharat Abhiyan survey. 
 
Trichy is a major engineering equipment manufacturing and fabrication hub. Industrial units such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Golden Rock Railway Workshop and Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT) have factories here. This has lead to significant rise in employment opportunities. 
 
The city is well connected with government owned buses and auto-rickshaws. Trichy is located in close proximity to two prominent National Highways, NH 45 and NH-67. The Railway Heritage centre was inaugurated in 2014 and International airport is only five km away from the main city. The city has various reputed educational institutes like Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Technology amongst others. Buying land or second home in the city or at the outskirts will be beneficial because of the infrastructural growth in and around the city. 
 
All in all, adding these destinations in your investment portfolio can be a wise decision. Apart from selecting the right location, it is equally important to choose a well reputed developer. It would be ideal to select a developer who has lot of projects in the outskirts and considerable knowledge to manage such investments. 
 
(Author of this article is Lansel D`souza, Senior Vice President, Expat Projects and Development Pvt. Ltd.) 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

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Caste and religion: The identities that need to be relooked for development

Amit Kapoor

#IndependenceDay: The rise and rise of The Indian Express Group

Gunja Deo

Investing in these offbeat locations can promise huge returns. Find out

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