Satyameva Jayate

Sir Mark Tully was almost there on From Our Own Correspondent. Economic development depends on having the people to do the work. One more baby just means "a little more rice if possible, a little less rice (for everyone else) if necessary". But it soon enough turns into one more person first to plant the rice and then to pick it. India does not have the ageing population profile of Europe or, lest we forget, China. Although the social and cultural benefits of having plenty of old people, fully integrated into the family and the community, will have to wait for another post. Yes, I am indeed a Saint Helenian after all.

Education is the key to turning stock into gold, and India's steadily rising literacy rate more than points in the right direction. Next comes the organisation of educated workers to defend and demand their education, their jobs, and so much else such as healthcare, housing, and so on. That is why the people who want to deny educational opportunities to the workers do so. That is why the people who want to frighten them into submission by means of institutionalised joblessness do so. And that is why the people do so think that the problem with the world is that it has proles and darkies in it.