Time for a moral revolution in India

We have seen it all. There have been ups and downs in our economic and political history, but nothing that has now been seen in the past few years -- a systematic and organized way of the rich and the neo rich to become very rich in the name of globalization, and a vast majority not even forming a small part of the so-called boom.

This is terrible, to say the least. If one looks around, it is very obvious to find the IT and the IT-enabled services people, walking away with a huge booty, while virtually every other sector has remained far behind. Yes, wages have risen for the senior managers,in all sectors, but they are a minority, anyway, as far as employment in the organized sector is concerned.

If there was a real boom, why is that we are unable to come to grips with immiment shortages? Why is that when globalization has not brought down prices, as it was widely believed?

The answer is that those who control the economic levers of real wealth in India, have started yet another revolution in the name of Special Economic Zones, which is another way of looting the poor. Hundreds of acres of fertile farmlands have been sold to the rich and the famous. There is hardly any place left in rural India, that is left out. Since there is a decline in productivity of farmlands for a very long time, due to a very huge variety of factors, a huge number of owners of farmlands have happily sold out to whomsoever wanted to buy them -- and for whatever reasons.

Nowhere is this so evident, as it is in the one hundred and twenty kilometer stretch between Chennai and Vellore, in Tamil Nadu, along the Chennai to Bangalore highway. The road is excellent on both sides, as it is part of the Golden Quadrilateral project of the former BJP Government. Since access to the surrounding villages is available, hundreds of acres of otherwise fertile land have been sold out to "Madras people", in local language. This is a phrase to refer to the rich businessmen of Chennai, who have a huge amount of black money with them. The have happily invested in such lands -- and then done nothing about them.

The logic and reason? No one really knows when the greenfield international airport will come up near Sriperumbudur, which is 40 kilometers from Chennai. But it is expected to happen in the next five years or so. And once it happens, there will be atleast two special economic zones that will come up somewhere near the airport. And upto one hundred kilometers, one can expect to see hundreds of small factories catering to the huge ones. In any case, those who invest in such lands can happily sell them for a huge profit, and laugh all the way to the bank.

So, what has happened? Hundreds of acres of fertile land, which could have yielded rice,groundnut, sugarcane, and much else, is no lying totally idle, and in some cases, have been converted into residential colonies. Approval from the local Panchayat? No problem, as this is available anyway.

So, one is forced to live with such shortages of food items, or inputs that go into our day to day food. No wonder, prices of all essential commodities have gone up the roof. The policies of the Government to encourge private enterprise is quite alright. But this policy should not throw to winds, the ground realities that India is basically an agricultural country, and cost of all essential commodities have to be held in control, if we want peace in rural India.

Yes, the so-called connectivity has helped development. The computer and internet revolution has even brought about a minor revolution, in as much as the Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) industry has now been partly re-located in the rural areas.

However, lopsided development, where the price rise is very harsh on the poor people, is a real cause for concern. We should strengthen the Public Distribution System, and make all food items available to the poor, at highly subsidised prices. This will do justice to them, as they just cannot afford to buy such items from the open market.

A moral revolution is simply called for. Corruption should be controlled, atleast to some extent. If corruption is so huge, how can one expect to see any development? The rising social tensions are all part of the basic malise -- the rich have become very rich, and the poor have become very poor. The so-called globalization scheme has only added fuel to the fire -- it has not meant anything to hundreds of thousands of people.

Let us follow policies that will make a huge difference to our continued self-sufficiency in food, and various inputs that add to our expenses for our daily food. If this is done, half the battle is won. We need to follow policies that will narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. Otherwise, we will land our country and our people in deep trouble, and we will sow the seeds for a massive violent revolution,the kind of which we have never seen before.

Certain experiments such as micro credit have yielded excellent results. Let us continue with such schemes, and give the rural poor something to cheer about. Otherwise, we will loose out on every parameter of social development, even if rising medical standards is something we can feel proud of.

What exactly is the moral revolution, and how it has to happen, will have to be widely debated and understood by one and all. A big debate is worth the salt, and let us start one through this website, so that we can pool all ideas and do something about the whole thing.

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