Dr Karnati Kiran Kumar

Theglobal order of consumption has been changing over the years. New innovations have made some countries economically and politically strong besides changing the consumption patterns of developing and underdeveloped countries.

The wars of the 19th century to recent global conflicts have been intended to control resources and secure their procurement for technological or machine-made products, which are prominent in the process of economic development. Over the centuries, many countries were colonised. In the 18th and 19th centuries, western countries, such as Britain and Portuguese, among others, invaded and conquered various countries. As a result, crapping patterns and consumption habits in colonized countries changed in contrast to their traditional consumption patterns. Changes in people’s consumption patterns led to occupational destruction and a sudden surge of unemployment in colonized countries. India was one of the colonized countries that was exploited immensely over the century.

A dominant strategy needed: The growth and development of the nation depend on the dominant perspective of the policymakers. Policymakers should opt for a policy suitable for the nation’s progress, rather than simply adopting and imposing other nations’ policies and ideologies. Sometimes, the origin of policymakers is a matter of concern. A policymaker from a rural area can understand rural issues and find solutions to resolve the issue Furthermore, those from urban backgrounds can develop effective policies for urban development. Historically, we failed to understand this logic, tried to imbibe another ideology, and failed to implement it. As a result, it has led to the failure of many public welfare programs and caused the persistence of structural unemployment and poverty.

Break the misconceptions:

The thought process in the country should change from importing goods and services to exporting them, so the world should depend on Indian goods and services. The country’s innovations should be adopted by other countries rather than confined to the nation’s use. India’s path-breaking innovations, such as EVM voting machines, came into existence in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections to ensure the smooth conduct of the electoral process in the largest democracy. Before 2004, the election process was chaotic, with the pouring of ink in the ballot boxes, firing, stealing of them, crimes and physical attacks on officers. Since 2004, the electoral process in the country has undergone drastic changes, resulting in the election being conducted smoothly using indigenous technology. We failed to supply those innovations for introduction in other countries to ensure the smooth conduct of elections. Rather, our politicians are creating misconceptions about EVMs even after they have won elections. Moreover, the UPI digital payment system is another path-breaking innovation that we can use widely within the country, and the central government has also succeeded in introducing it in some countries to enable seamless transactions and benefit our fintech sector. By comparison, we failed to spread it across the world as other developed countries do with their Innovations.

In the world of competition and technological advancements, India happily adopted ATMs, credit cards, debit cards, digital technologies, and social media platforms from other countries without any misconceptions about their use. When it comes to Indian technological innovations, some political leaders create and endorse chaos without fact checking.

Getting into the details:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian companies developed vaccines such as Covishield (Serum Institute of India), Covaxin (Bharat Biotech), and Corbevax (a heterologous booster option) to protect people and prevent the spread of the virus. But again, misconceptions spread and caused many deaths during the second wave. The misconception iswhether it is an Indian organ or of foreign origin; it should be cross-checked with the government, and a comment should be made on it. But some people always start a game to make the situation worse and want to make themselves better off at the expense of others. There are many other innovations in the country. We failed to make it a global product rather we confined ourselves to India, and some lost existence.

Lack of vision:

The nation’s politics should not come at the expense of the country’s growth and development. At the micro level, our politicians are more interested in getting into power and acquiring assets for themselves. At the same time, at the macro level, it lacks responsibility for national growth and development. If one political party says a developed economy can be achieved by following one growth model, and the other political party says the nation should adopt a strategy for growth and development by following another development model. However, it should not undermine the economy’s performance on either side. As competition between political parties exists, so too does competition among countries for control and command of markets and resources. Political parties and politicians need to craft their manifestos with national interest in mind rather than seeking power for its own sake. On the other hand, business tycoons in developed countries seek to expand their markets by dominating and controlling politics in developing and underdeveloped countries. Individuals or political parties (ruling and opposition) should not be their mouthpiece at the expense of domestic business and common people’s lives.

Time for introspection:

Regime change and deep states are underway in south Asia. In recent times, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal saw a surge in youth protests that created chaos and badly affected their economies. The disruption of a peaceful environment and political unrest will create negative economic consequences, such as low FDI and Investment, unemployment, inflation, and low purchasing power, ultimately leading to poverty. As witnessed in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Bangladesh is the best example for understanding the impact of the political unrest on the economy. As per reports, the Bangladesh economy was about to get middle income status, but it has fallen to lower income status due to the political unrest in the country. Prior to that infrastructure building, the ready-made garment industry drove strong and consistent growth, averaging six to seven per cent, annually. According to a recent RBI report, “South Asia economic update” revealed that Bangladesh’s overall GDP increased by an estimated 3.4 percent in FY2026–2027, which is the third year in a row that it has slowed down. Private investment shrank for the second year in a row as difficulties in the energy sector, banking sector weakness, tighter fiscal constraints, high production costs and subdued credit growth. The rate of inflation has continued to be higher than eight to 10 per cent. If anything is wrong in the system that can be corrected through the electoral process. No protest should disturb the smooth progress of economic progress.

India can become Viksit Bhaarat when Indian goods and services flood into the international markets with the absolute trade advantage. The business in the country should target the domestic and international markets. The Indian business community should collaborate with academia. That will bring new innovations to change the world order of consumption. At the same time, India must utilise own demographic dividend for nation-building.

(The writer is Assistant Professor (School of Economics), University of Hyderabad)