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Open Forum
New
Delhi, 12 August 2015
Development
Strategy
DO AWAY
WITH PRO-RICH IMAGE
By Dhurjati
Mukherjee
The new BJP leadership has moved
away from its earlier economic ideology. The pro-industry stance of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi cannot be criticized altogether but this should not be
at the cost of revival and rejuvenation of the rural sector, where most people
live. As is well known, there is a crisis in the agricultural front but the
Government’s intervention is far short of the actual need.
Though facing a financial crunch,
the Government provided relief for the rich by lowering corporate tax by 5 per
cent but had not kept its promise of implementing the Swaminathan Commission
report, which recommended minimum support price that gave farmers a 50 per cent
profit. Why this was necessary?
In fact, the corporate
sector got a relief of Rs 250,000 crores. If the government had just reduced
the relief to 4 per cent, the Rs 50,000 crores required to implement the
Swaminatan report could have been generated. The focus of Modi, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley and the new leadership was focussed on the industrial
class and not the poor farming community.
Let us also take the
amendments to the land ordinance, some of which the Government has sought to
amend now. The amendments were aimed at giving more concessions to the
industrial class in acquiring land. But it is well known that the BJP had
supported the 2013 land Bill after discussions with the then government for
almost three years. The argument of the need for land for industry cannot be
doubted but that cannot be at the cost of the farming community.
There have been umpteen
instances where arranging for alternative livelihood has become rather
impossible for displaced farmers and land losers. Not that it is just the
present government but the UPA government also promised a bill granting
homestead land and a land reforms policy for distributing surplus land among
the landless but the draft never reached the Cabinet.
The whole strategy of
development of a highly populated country like India has to be such that the
people from the lower echelons of society are able to upgrade standards and
assured of a decent livelihood. The development of modern industry, which is
mechanized and needs very few labour, is necessary but not at the cost of
agriculture and agro-based industry which can generate employment opportunities
on a large scale. The recently launched skills development approach is
undoubtedly a right decision but even absorption of most of these skilled
personnel may be difficult in the present circumstances.
The Modi government has
to evolve a developmental approach that is sustainable and reaches the greatest
numbers, specially from the poor and the economically weaker sections.
Emulating any western model of development has no relevance for a country like India, where
unemployment and underemployment is very large and also where the maximum
population lives in sub-standard conditions in rural areas.
In fact, if one delves
deeper, one can question the very strength of how Modi managed to gain
popularity at the Centre. As Chief Minister of Gujarat,
the development of the State as an industrialized one cannot be doubted. But
growth indicator of a State doesn’t mean just industrialization but overall
development, whereby there is all-round prosperity. There have been a section
of economists who have been harping on the Gujarat
model of development as the ideal for the growth of a State. But if one goes
deeper into facts and figures, one gets the impression that Gujarat’s
position in all-round development is rather poor.
The recently released Rapid Survey on Children 2014,
which the Modi government held up from September last year, shows that the
state has lagged behind the national average at 42 per cent for ‘stunting’ when
children are unusually short for their age), 18.5 per cent for severe stunting
and 18.7 per cent for ‘wasting’ (when children weigh too little for their
height). Moreover, while the immunization coverage in the country rose from 61
per cent in 2009 to 65.2 per cent, that in Gujarat
fell from 56.6 to 56.2 per cent.
One also can easily
imagine the state of the rural sector in Gujarat.
But though Maharashtra has also been a
front-runner in industrial development, the Survey lauded the performance of
the State and attributed the success to better feeding of infants, pregnancy
care, higher incomes and motherhood at more mature ages as well as its reach to
the poorest, including adivasis. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar were found to have shown improvement though not in
absolute figures.
In its report the
Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the State Assembly (earlier
this year), tore apart the tall claims of the State government led by then
chief minister on agricultural growth, social indicators and expenditure on
social infrastructure, right to education etc. GDP in agriculture clocked a
negative growth (6.96 per cent) in 2012-13, the first year of the 12th Plan,
compared to previous years.
Failure in social
sector such as State Child Protection Policy was also highlighted. The report
noted that while the all-India sex ratio improved from 933 to 943, it worsened
in Gujarat. There were also instances of the
State’s failure in preventing child marriages, poor implementation of the Right
to Education Act, failure in execution of mid-day meal scheme etc. The report
also took note of poor pupil-teacher ratio and poor implementation of water
supply scheme, among others.
Though Modi has been an
ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, during his stint in Gujarat
he did not follow his ideology of rural rejuvenation and grass-root
development. He concentrated on the development of cities and gave all-round
impetus to industries. There are reports of him displaying little interest in
reforming State schools and making them functional or encouraging scientific
research in State universities.
Now being at the helm
at the Centre, Modi
has been found to be anti-environment. Tracts of mangrove forests on the coast
that acted as reservoirs of ecological diversity and as storm breakers were
given away to a well-known industrial house. Large forest areas in remote
villages were also handed over to private firms. Even after taking over as
Prime Minister, there are reports of dismantling of environmental safeguards.
The apex Indian Board of Wildlife was reconstituted with scientists and
conservationists replaced by pro-business groups.
What is indeed shocking
is that the legally vested rights of the adivasis have been disregarded. The
hydrological function of the forests was removed from the criteria by which
woodlands were to be protected. All this was done to aid the corrupt the mining
lobby. These
are only a few examples to highlight that the priority has been misplaced. If
it is not checked and the same formula applied as in the State, it
would be a big blunder. The right approach needs to be balanced with a
pro-rural, pro-farm approach and above pro-common man outlook. Will there be a
shift in focus as yearned? ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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