Never mind values and people in the path of growth!

The latest tainted milk scandal shows China lacks something that even its years of spectacular economic growth cannot make up for or justify!

A similar fate is besetting India as well. Everyday there is more and more written, seen and spoken on the apathy of the system towards the common man – be it assistance during natural or man made disasters or just some simple plain government policies for the common man.

What is missing in both these economic super powers is the moral dimension in the respective countries growth without which both India and China, it seems, cannot hope to command respect or admiration from others. But this moral dimension would be hard to come by unless both the countries resurrect the human values it lost during the decades when the class struggle was the order of the day.

Despite calls for a people-based-policy, the lack of political reform (in the case of India it’s about political will as well) has allowed inertia to set in. The political system continues to put the political leadership and the parties first, never mind the people and human values.

This latest milk scandal in China bears striking resemblance to the SARS outbreak in 2003, both being by-products of an archaic political system.

This scandal first came to notice in December 2007. But it was only a company in New Zealand that sought a product recall in August 08 just days before the Olympic Games.
This matter was hushed up and the Chinese media was told not to do negative reporting that could mar the games. The Olympics was not a premier sporting event, BUT for China the most important political event in its history.

Weeks passed, until the NZ PM intervened and told the world about the tainted milk.

Lives could have been saved only if the Chinese media had been informed and allowed to report the truth.

Remember the “India Shining” campaign some years back, when farmers were committing suicide!

Countries like China and India (not so much though) should seriously reconsider their propaganda policy, one that has brought harm not only to their own people, but in the case of China, to other countries as well.