People talking about Dynasty, Cronyism & Nepotism all good. It seems we have inadvertently given a free pass to mediocrity by tinkering with Varna System which is very distinct to the caste discrimination. If anything the first filtering should be elimination of MEDIOCRITY.

To become Atmanirbhar ( self reliant ) - key components are 1) Innovation 2) Vision to think big ( comes with risk taking ability). To achieve 1) We need to up our avg IQ from 82-84 & for 2) Replace Jugaad with solid solutions via critical thinking.

IQ level -Focus should be to get into 90's in order to make first copy & then above 100+ to innovate something world class. Reduce agro export of the best procure & provide it to kids/mid day meal schemes food quality over years is not sufficient to up the IQ level to 90's.

If we begin today by investing in the kids by next decade we will bear the fruits of innovation. Expect very little from current generation (age above 25+) Most, if not all have a 'trader' mindset with avg IQ of 82-84. Sub optimal critical thinking,no or little tribal instinct.

Study Japan, Germany,China food program for the kids in the school ( rich or poor). Baring India,none exports exclusively the best quality food leaving its citizen esp the young ones to have sub par/GMO food. Priorities - GMO soyabeans or Hemp Protein?which has high 3/6 Omega?

We are happy with mediocre progress therefore we take solace that we have fewer hungry kids than say two decades ago,but that is not enough to make India self reliant.We need innovations for in-house sol,export & also to avoid exploitation of foreign powers via trade treaties.

Research - This country was mocked at for producing inferior quality products. After two decades, they are ahead than Japan in all domains baring Robotics. There are two reasons, gradual increase in their avg IQ level. This can be achieved only via quality good food. Fix Basics.

Other reason - Be proud of local tag,use local product where possible. We bring down our own. Innovation cannot happen in a jiffy. Its always 2nd copy,1st copy & then the world class product. We lost on innovation due to various reasons n we need to kick start innovating.

While Urban Indians well off middle/higher income households do have higher IQ touching 90's than avg Indians 82/84 due to prosperity n hence consumption of protein rich diet/good quality food. They lack in 2) Vision to think big picture n they are prisoner of 'trader' mindset.

Middle /higher income households r not much into innovation despite having best of protein rich diet/access to best education et al because we fear the failure,ability to take the risk & thing big is missing. We are happy following the herd & adopting easier path of 'margins'

Either we need some big jolt to wake us up or an inspiration. Later is amply available & so far we remain stubborn. We waste too much of our resources/time on securing our future & hording.Overdoing it makes us ultra conservative n kills the instinct of risk taking to innovate.

For children of lower income/mid level income in non urban India our immediate focus should be pushing best quality of food + universities/schools & day we focus more on outraging against WCD ministry than Finance ministry we will take our first step to being self reliant.

Invest in future, up the IQ level, stop exporting best food. First feed the best to our kids. Think of various way to ensure protein rich diet. GMO Soya beans not helping we barely moved needle on IQ. Neighbour country managed to up their Avg IQ to 107/108 try hemp protein maybe.