We travelled over 7500kms through 24 districts of Madhya
Pradesh (MP) spanning 7 divisions and five major regions, i.e., Bundelkhand,
Baghelkhand, Mahakaushal, Nimar and Malwa.
The first impression is that MP is truly an agrarian
economy. People are friendly and complacent. Life moves slowly, except in
Indore which has large immigrant population and has evolved as major education
and ITeS center over past decade. Poverty is in abundance. Economic divide is
relatively wider. Social and religious divide was however not as prominent as
seen in the neighboring Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP.
The key highlights of the trip were as follows:
(a)
The state is truly an agrarian state. People are
generally complacent and youth is not running for greener pastures as was seen
widely in the neighboring UP. The best part is that people are extremely
conscious of nature and environment – a trait not seen commonly elsewhere.
Bhopal would be a serious contender for best cities in the countries. We found
the capital city incredibly clean, green, sustainable, friendly and secure.
(b)
The socio-political structure is largely feudal
in nature where people look upon political establishment and administration for
most provisions.
(c)
The political awareness of people is relatively
lower. We found rural population mostly indifferent to the political
establishment. The urban population, though politically aware, was not found to
be having strong allegiance to any political party or ideology.
(d)
The incumbent Chief Minister however enjoys
tremendous goodwill especially with rural and semi rural youth and women. The
urban youth and elite find him less aggressive in pursuing growth agenda but
still prefer him over most other leaders from the state.
(e)
The state has seen steady progress in
infrastructure building and social sector development, especially primary
education and health, over past one decade. As such we did not find any
anti-incumbency in the state for ruling BJP. To the contrary, Congress appeared
a divided house with number of central leaders (through their proxies) staking
claim for the top post after end 2013 state election. We feel BJP may win again
comfortably.
(f)
The urbanization trend has not touched a large
part of the state; primarily due to low population density, large tribal
population and huge protected forest area.
(g)
The state has successfully eliminated the dacoit
culture from Chambal valley. Most erstwhile dacoit families have been
assimilated in the mainstream. Law and order does not appear to be a problem in
the state.
(h)
Farmers were found to be in general poor,
ill-equipped and using primitive technology. Power situation has improved
somewhat but still far from satisfactory.
(i)
Industry is largely agro-based. ITeS is emerging
as a major industry.
Read our special series Mandate 2014
Modi
Vs. Rahul
Thought for the day
“Don't let your special character and values, and the truth get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.
- Aesop (620-560BC)
Word of the day
Anodyne (adj):
Not likely to offend; bland; innocuous.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Shri Nārada Uvāca
Is the Modi vs. Advani vs. Sushma Swaraj vs. Shivraj vs … contest in BJP a sign of evolution of the party in democratic traditions or degeneration of the party into individualism?
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