Tommy Hilfiger and the cotton farmer
India's economic growth is something that we are all happy about. Growth rate of 8%,forex reserve of xxx million $ are all news that makes up very happy.The long cherished dream of seeing india reach its potential of becoming a developed nation doesn’t seem that far.
There seems to be an euphoria among everyone in this category. They are all happy about the exploding growth and on the fact that india is becoming a developed country. The media gives much importance to growth related news, reflecting the current readers hunger for development related info. All the political parties are supporting the economic liberalization. There are plenty of jobs around and business is booming.
well that is all good. But if we take a short break from this euphoria of india shining and becoming a developed nation soon, and see what we want and where we are right now. There is a huge difference. I want to put a basic question. what do we want to achieve with this economic growth?. who do we think is getting benefited from this growth?.
If by becoming a developed nation, we are dreaming to provide the basic amenities, health care etc and everything needed for an indian citizen to lead his life free and with self respect. if that is what is our goal, will the growth path that we are taking right now fulfill it?.
why is that iam reading the first page news of NOKIA setting up a factory which will give employment to xxxx people eagerly or Tommy Hilfiger’s new investment plans, but don’t care about the last page, small news item of the cotton farmers dieing in the andhra pradesh?.
If my ultimate aim of growth is to see every indian citizen to have a decent living, why am i not worrying about the farmers?. Well i think it is because he was never in the list of peoples who i associated with a developed india. who was i thinking, when i thought about a developed india, all the software engg's, businessmen and the urban population that is to be benefited by the market driven economy?.
Did my shining india include the guy in a village who earns his living with 2 buffalo’s or a farmer or an uneducated laborer?. No i guess not, actually they were more of a hindrance in my big idea of a modern india. Forget rural peoples, even many Indian states didn't feature in my dream of a shining india, like the ever forgotten North east states, orissa, bihar, sikkim and so on. This doesn't mean that iam thinking about every body in the remaining states. The life of the illiterate mass of the villages are not going to change dramatically in the next decade for sure. So exactly who are in my Developed india dream?. Probably 10% population of current india. But the thing is this percentage controls many essential thing about the country, like the media.This 10% is creating this euphoria that everybody is getting benefited and we are doing the right thing.
When are we going to really care about the rest of the 90% who are not in the india's shining ring?.After accumulating enough wealth in the next few decades?. And what are we supposed to do till then?. Forget them completely, treat them as how we treat them now, unimportant and useless?.
why am i being angry at the Narmadha bachaoo andholon guys?.Why do i think that the protestors are hampering india's development?. Thousands of villagers are protesting a dam cause it is submerging their land, house and village. The govt still hasn't addressed their concerns. And those poor guys are doing an incredible thing of protesting in a non-violent and democratic way to tell the govt that their lives are in jeopardy. But that doesn't bother me.I want a modern india as soon as possible, human rights, improved living conditions for villagers, fast and easy law and order can wait.
Why is the govt that is spending crores and crores of rs on infrastructure is not spending a little part of it on creating more courts and appointing more judges. why is it not passionately bringing growth and changes in the law and order or judicial system?. It maybe cause both the media and public does not give that much importance to it.
what is happening to me?.Is the money getting to my head?. why am i not caring about the villagers whose life's are going to be affected by the dam. They are indian's too, they are also supposed to be in the developed india. Why do i get angry at the farmers of andhra pradesh who voted against an IT friendly chief minister like chandra babu naidu. Even though those poor farmers were dieing because of the agrarian crisis, it didn't matter to me.The only thing that i was caring was that if somebody else becomes a chief minister the modernization of india would have to wait.
Iam afraid that this euphoria, this shine that is happening on a small part in india is so bright, that it blinds the darker sides.The glare is keeping us away from seeing the dark sides.
Yes growth is important, we do need the growth, but we should also understand that growth is not the solution for everything. Nokia's factory or big roads are not going to stop a woman from getting raped in a train or it is not going to give her a belief in the indian judicial system, so that she can openly report about it. We need to grow parallel in social development, in educating every indian, in strengthening our judicial system and in so many other things. But we don’t seem to care; growth on monetary things seems to be at the top of everyone’s mind.
True development lies in educating and empowering our citizens. Economic development is only a small part of the overall development that india needs. If we are thinking about a developed india, we should think about every one in india and above all not disrespect the rest of india who cannot see the supposed shine.
