INDIA: FATE OF
GRASSROOTS
By: K. A. N. Talpasai
Amidst the changing scenario of economic prosperity in the country, at the grassroots level, it appears that the living conditions of substantial percentage of the
rural population remain unchanged. Growth in GPP accompanies higher inflationary trends. During inflation, there would be shifting of fortunes from lower income groups to higher income groups. Inflation is nothing but mass taxing. In other words, it is taxing the
poor section of the people for the goods and services not at all used by them , but used by higher
sections of the society. On the other day, a writer was suggesting for not increasing prices of hydro carbons, and for absorbing the loses incurred by the petroleum companies by resorting to deficit budgeting. In the case of deficit budgeting, the expenditure in excess over the revenue receipts would be met by printing currency notes. This measure would inevitably lead to inflation. Poor people bemoan that the prosperity of the nation is not getting percolated to their level. When the attention of a poor fellow is drawn about the fact about accelerated rate of development of physical infrastructure, like construction of roads etc., that has been being taking place, the poor fellow responds that underprivileged sections of the people don’t use the roads much and they don’t help them in betterment of their livelihood, any way.
Poor and marginal farmers have been finding tough to pull on their lives. Cost of agriculture inputs have been souring day by day and the support procurement price fixed by the
government has not been lucrative. The cost of credit is becoming dearer and it is really pinching the poor. When ever, there is occurrence of failure of crops, in the absence of any insurance coverage to recover costs, the debt burden becomes unbearable. The intractable and distressed situations drive the villagers demented and they are prone to resorting to suicide, as there is no other option is open to them which can come to their rescue to overcome the situation. The condition of the poor and marginal farmers has become worse than the condition of the poor workers deployed on their fields. When a poor worker fails to get any work in his village, he migrates to near by village or sub-urban or urban areas and secures some work or the other, to be sure of at least getting a pittance to sustain his life. Where as, poor or marginal farmers cannot afford to desert their small holdings, leave their native villages and go to other places in search of greener postures. This is because of their helpless or pitiable situation- because of the debt trap they are caught with and they do not know how to get extricated from it, without losing their farm land Economists explain us that giving subsidies to the poor is not good for the country in the long run. A sustained GDP close to 9% and above per annum over a long period would improve the lot of the poor as it generates
employment. Works being taken up across the county under the National Rural Employment Guarantee schemes (NRGES) have been proving very beneficial for the poor in securing at least 100 days employment in a year. It is also an indisputable fact that they are getting better
wages than the opportunity wages- than what they would be otherwise getting from landlords or contractors. Nonetheless, the fair wages they are getting from the government may not be fair in literal sense. They are being paid based on their out put, in some cases, at rates less than minimum wages. When none of the government employees on the pay rolls are subject to rigorous scrutiny ,whether the salaries they are drawing are commensurate to the work they are turning up, I wonder why the poor workers must be subject to rigorous scrutiny of their productivity vis-à-vis the wages they are entitled to get.To amelioratethe condition of the poor, it is not enough to create job opportunities for 100 days a year; they must able to get opportunity to get work throughout the year. It is equally necessary to provide opportunities to them for getting literacy and for improving their skill profile. Honing up of their inherent skills would help in production of useful goods for use of other better sections of the society. The paradigm shift must be from providing bread to the poor to providing self- sustaining abilities in getting engaged in productive employment through out the year. For this urban centric management approach must be changed to rural centric management approach. In the changed scenario, the poor would not go to schools; schools would come to their door steps for teaching them Public administration of the state affairs would not be handled from state or central government capital cities, but a majority of ministries or departments must be located in remote rural villages. This would bring the bureaucracy closer to the rural population, the physical infrastructure imperatives would be addressed by the administrators for their own sake, if not for the sake of the poor.
K.A.N.Talpasai
Email: ktalpasai@yahoo.com
Adiseshu.karlapalem@gmail.com
Address for communication:
K.A.N.Talpasai
Sr.MIG Flat No.15,
Mandakini Parisar,
C-sector, Indrapuri,
Bhopal-462 021
India
Tel.No: 0755-2754944
Mobile: (0)9893783020
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