Thought for the day
"The little reed, bending to the
force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over."
-
Aesop
(Greek, 620-560BC))
Word for the day
Fisc (n)
A royal or state treasury; exchequer.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Malice towards none
PM Modi would certainly be nominated for Noble Peace Prize.
Wonder, is that the goal or the fringe!
Focus on your strength
The recently released Socio-economic Caste Census (SECC) data has
opened many eyes. It not only demolishes many myths about the Indian growth
model, but also highlights the adhoc and unsustainable character of the
economic development. The outcome of the exercise taken for the first time also
severely dents the argument in favor of famous "Make in India" plan.
I am not startled by the data thrown by the mammoth exercise,
since I have personally witnessed the ground reality during my numerous excursions
into the hinterlands of the country. The readers are well aware, I have been
highlighting these facts repeatedly through my blog.
As per the census data, in India agriculture is the primary source
of income for only 30% of the 179 million rural households. While 51% depend on
manual or casual labor for a living, 56% rural households do not own any land.
Even in the state of Punjab, considered predominantly an
agriculture dependent state, farming is the main source of income for less than
30% of rural households, while 48% depend on manual labor as the primary source
of income. Staggering 65% of rural households in Punjab do not own land.
I had emphasized this fact few months back (see
here) to highlight the bizarreness of opposition parties' campaign against
the proposed modified land acquisition law.
The census data also highlights that illiteracy is pervasive and
persistent in most states, especially in rural areas. An overwhelming majority
of rural population depends on "casual manual labor work" for
survival.
India could not be fathomed as an economic story without her 1.3bn
strong populace. Unless at least two third of the population actively
participates in the process of "earning-consuming-saving-investing",
the story is without a plot.
It is clear that the "high" industrial growth achieved during
the decade of 2000s has mostly failed in creating enough sustainable employment
opportunities.
Industrialization that brings riches to 5-7% elite and leaves 40%
"struggling to survive" and another 30% "barely surviving",
is therefore neither sustainable nor desirable.
The census data should invoke a serious rethink amongst the policymakers,
planners and lawmakers about the extant socio-economic development paradigm.
I continue to believe that for our country the ideal socio-economic
development model would be that focuses on the intrinsic strengths rather than weaknesses.
More on this in coming days.
No comments:
Post a Comment