I dream of India being an egalitarian society, which can happen when every basic need of the people is fulfilled. Every community from urban to rural should become a small self-sustaining republic, which will help achieve that goal.
Similarly, when it comes to technological choices, local resources need to be harnessed for the benefit of local people. There should be full democratic participation in planning and development. I wish people rise above casteism, communalism and forces that instigate violence for the sake of national integrity. I also hope that disparity, especially among farmers, comes down. Our country needs to start looking at its own needs and priorities.
Medha Patkar , social activist
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I hope 2015 will bring in a bureaucracy-free science administration in the country as well as favourable budgetary support for science. The problem today is that bureaucracy is a limiting factor in the functioning of science. The kind of rules and procedures applied to scientific institutions and the way budget is provided and monitored are such that it is extremely difficult to do science. Appointments of scientists and directors of institutions are also becoming difficult following the procedures prevailing today. We have to make life more bearable in this regard. As far as budgetary support is concerned, science is getting just around one per cent of the GDP today. It is high time to increase it to two per cent of the GDP if, at least, some of the institutions in India are to be on a par with those in advanced countries in quality and facilities.
Prof. C.N.R. Rao , National Research Professor and Honorary President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
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Governments have come and gone but women's issues continue to be an area of concern. From the Indians at large, I expect a change in mindset vis-a-vis objectification and subordination of women. Society has to accept women at par and give them due respect. As for the government, I look forward to an apt implementation of technology that helps women, be it to either lodge a complaint or monitor the city using CCTV cameras. I hope women's issues takes precedence over economic aspects for a change.
Shaina NC , politician (BJP National executive member) and fashion designer
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I would like post-graduate medical education to be entirely free like in the U.S. and the U.K. An MBBS doctor, during his post-graduate training programme, should be paid enough to take care of his family, like young doctors pursuing higher medical education in the U.S. and Europe. I would like the government to introduce English education from Std. I, so that children from rural India can compete with city children for competitive exams. I am not proposing English as the medium of education but English as a language to be taught from Std. I.
Devi Shetty , chairman and founder, Narayana Health
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I hope 2015 will be the year of growth for India. With inflation coming down drastically, and the government getting its act together and removing impediments to business and reduction in oil prices, the stage is set for growth. The mood is positive among people and business. Job openings too would see an increase. Interest rates would be down. Flow of overseas capital would see an increase with greater faith in India. The big challenge for business is settling the disputes arising out of the retro tax amendment. Globally too the US economy is on an upswing. China is trending down but expected to stabilise and Europe could see the stirrings of growth. The Middle East is a worry as also Russia with lower oil prices. I hope the ISIS would be eliminated and Pakistan addresses its own ghosts, and terrorism declines globally.
T.V. Mohandas Pai , chairman of Manipal Global Education and Aarin Capital Partners
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I look forward to India’s higher education system becoming stronger with more and higher quality research, more PhDs graduating, and greater interest among youngsters to get into diverse fields. I also look forward to intense experimentation with new and emerging online pedagogical tools, in an attempt to address the challenge of rapidly increasing access to education.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi , Director, IIT Madras
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I am a retired person. At this age, all I want is a peaceful country, hopeful of development and secularism, variety and diversity and pluralism surviving in its best hue. As a lawyer, I wish for good judicial appointments and faster movements of justice system; a Uniform Civil Code that takes best from all (religions) and benefits women.
Leila Seth , retired Chief Justice
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In 2015, I would like to see art and culture granted more focus and funds by the current government. At present the funds allocated to art and culture is only 0.05 per cent, which is ridiculous. Governments come and go, but culture and heritage remain; so it is high time the governments gave it a thought.
Anjolie Ela Menon , renowned artist
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All the reform movements taken by the State and Central governments should be thoroughly executed as together they add up to a lot of growth. And when growth is accelerated rapidly, it will help put our economy back on a growth mode. I would also like to see initiatives like Swach Bharath, and focus being given to women’s empowerment.
Adi Godrej , Chairman, Godrej Group
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I wish for a communally harmonious India in 2015. Communal discord is the biggest threat to India and the world now. I wish, and pray, for a society that builds no walls for religions or castes. The followers of various religions make up a society and the country, but we should always be sure that humanity matters the most. For people like me, it is saddening to find that we are fast losing humanity; I wish we could regain some of it in this New Year.
M.T. Vasudevan Nair , renowned Malayalam author and filmmaker
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I would like India’s banking sector to be more inclusive with cost-effective services and customer-friendly banking products reaching the far-flung areas of India. I would also hope to see the Non-Performing Assets in the sector decline, as infrastructure projects that have been stuck begin to get kick-started providing the much needed reprieve to banks that funded them.
Naina Lal Kidwai , Director, HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairman India
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I hope for more stability for our country and a better government. Systems fail not because they are faulty but just because the people who make up these systems do not do the job they are meant to. Be it governments or individuals, the new year should see everybody doing their job. I also want the Parliament to function with less noise. A working Parliament is a reflection of people willing to work. With regard to Bollywood, with all the attention drawn to gender equality, I hope the industry spends more time reflecting it — creating characters and films that are sensitive to the issue.
Dia Mirza , actor and producer
Inputs from S. Bageshree (Bangalore); Madhumitha Srinivasan (Mumbai); Rana Siddique Zaman (New Delhi); P.K. Ajith Kumar (Kozhikode); Shubashree Desikan (Chennai).
