India’s Development Dilemma: Why We Prioritize Bureaucracy Over Innovation.

Why India is Lagging in Development: A Harsh Reality

By Akhilesh Sharma

India, despite its vast potential, remains far behind in development compared to many other nations. The root cause lies in overdeveloped politics, an obsession with government jobs, a broken entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a lack of support for research and innovation. While other countries invest in technology, business, and sports, India remains fixated on government job security and coaching institute profits, stifling true progress.

1. Overdeveloped Politics: A Barrier to Economic Growth

Politics in India is not about governance but a full-fledged industry where power struggles take precedence over national development. Instead of making business-friendly policies, encouraging R&D, and creating employment opportunities, politicians focus on vote-bank tactics and bureaucratic control.

• Policy Paralysis: Frequent changes in policies disrupt industries and prevent long-term investments.
• Red Tape & Corruption: Businesses suffer due to complex regulations, bribes, and inefficient administration.
• Politicization of Education & Jobs: Decisions on education and employment are politically motivated, prioritizing reservations and favoritism over merit-based progress.

📌 Result? The economy struggles, businesses find it hard to survive, and skilled individuals either move abroad or waste years chasing government exams.

2. The Sarkari Naukri Obsession: A Nation Wasting Its Talent

In India, a government job is not just a career; it is a symbol of power, respect, and lifelong security. Families push their children to prepare for UPSC, SSC, banking, and state exams rather than exploring innovation, business, or private-sector careers.

🔴 Why This is a Problem?

• Unrealistic Expectations: Millions of students prepare for a few thousand government vacancies, leading to years of wasted time and mental stress.
• Extreme Social Respect for Government Employees: A government job is seen as superior to entrepreneurship or corporate careers, discouraging risk-taking.
• Delayed Careers & Lost Productivity: Many youth spend 5-10 years preparing for government exams they may never clear, causing late entry into the workforce.
• Brain Drain & Unemployment: Talented individuals either leave India for better opportunities or remain unemployed, as the private sector struggles to attract top talent.

HR Perspective: The Reality of Job Seekers

As an HR professional, I have personally observed that many candidates return to private jobs after failing to secure a government job. However, they expect a high salary despite being freshers with no relevant industry skills.

🔴 Key Issues:

• The years spent preparing for government jobs do not add any value to their private-sector careers.
• They expect salary hikes and better positions despite not being skilled for the industry.
• Private companies hesitate to hire such candidates because they lack practical knowledge and experience.

📌 The Real Question for Youth: Why should a company pay you a good salary if you are not skilled for the industry and have only prepared for government jobs? This is also a major reason for the lack of skilled talent in the private sector.

3. The Harsh Truth: Lack of Training & Skill Development

Having taken numerous interviews, I have noticed a common problem among job seekers:

• Candidates lack essential industry skills and expect high-paying jobs without being prepared for the role.
• Many are too old to enter trainee programs, having wasted years preparing for government jobs.
• Even when training is provided, most candidates are not interested in learning—they see jobs as an entitlement, not an opportunity to develop skills.

🔴 The Bigger Question: How can a country develop if 80-90% of its youth wastes years preparing for government jobs instead of contributing to the economy?

📌 Reality Check:

• A majority of young Indians spend their most productive years chasing government jobs that have limited vacancies.
• This results in a loss of manpower, economic output, and skilled professionals in the private sector.
• The economy cannot grow if the majority of youth remain unemployed and refuse to upskill or contribute to businesses and industries.

4. MSME Sector & Manufacturing: The Backbone of Economic Growth

Even though businesses generate most of the country's revenue, they face huge taxation burdens and lack of government support.

🔴 The Harsh Reality of Business in India

• When a business earns ₹1, the government takes nearly 50% in taxes (GST, corporate tax, professional tax, etc.).
• MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) are crucial for economic growth, yet they receive very little financial or policy support.
• High taxation & bureaucratic red tape make it difficult for small businesses to grow, despite contributing significantly to GDP.

The Truth About India’s Manufacturing Industry

Despite India’s claims of becoming a global manufacturing hub, the reality is that:

• We are not truly manufacturing; we are only assembling and trading.
• Most electronic products are imported as components from other countries, and Indian companies only assemble them.
• The primary cost and profit of these products go to the country that owns the design and core technology, leaving India with low-margin assembly jobs instead of high-value manufacturing.

📌 Conclusion: If India wants real economic development, it must move beyond assembly-line jobs and invest in real R&D and core manufacturing capabilities.

5. More Respect for Bureaucracy Than Job Creators & Olympians

One of the biggest paradoxes in India is how respect and status are distributed:

• An IAS officer is treated as a VVIP, while an entrepreneur who creates thousands of jobs and contributes crores in taxes is ignored.
• Olympians and athletes struggle for sponsorship, while government officials enjoy lifetime perks and privileges.
• Entrepreneurs are the biggest taxpayers and job creators, yet they face higher scrutiny, bureaucracy, and regulatory hurdles, while government employees enjoy job security with minimal accountability.

📌 Reality Check: In developed nations, entrepreneurs, innovators, and athletes are national icons. In India, they are secondary to bureaucrats and politicians. If we truly want progress, we must shift our mindset and start valuing those who contribute to the economy rather than just those who govern it.

Final Thoughts: Why India Must Change Before It's Too Late

India has great potential, talent, and resources, but its obsession with government jobs, coaching centers, and political drama is slowing down progress.

✅ To truly develop, India must:

1. Reduce extreme respect for government jobs and encourage entrepreneurship and industry-based careers.
2. Break the coaching industry monopoly and invest in R&D, skills, and real education.
3. Make doing business easier by reducing corruption, taxes, and bureaucratic hurdles.
4. Support MSMEs, startups, and small businesses, as they are the real drivers of the economy.
5. Give higher recognition to entrepreneurs and job creators, not just government officers.

The future belongs to nations that innovate, not to those that rely on government salaries. It’s time for India to wake up, rethink priorities, and take bold steps toward true development.

🚀 The question is: Will we choose growth, or will we continue chasing government jobs forever?

By Akhilesh Sharma Director, Adamant HR