Ruined Rural Economy - India Had We Part -1

"Until unless we irrigate and till the heart of farmers and land
in the villages, the country of farmers is going to be
destroyed under concrete jungle of urbanization"

On 28 February 2007, India's think tank Mr Economics would be once again addressing the so-called august gathering of Members of Parliament. How is the present junta further going to ruin the predominantly rural and agricultural economy of this country is yet to be seen, but how nicely they had abetted and forced over 1000 Indian farmers to commit suicide is not hidden. Perceived economic growth of 8.25%, which the current leadership of MMPC (Man Mohan and P Chidambaram) is going to achieve, is at what cost? Has the Junta ever realized its true effect on common Indian citizen, they would have certainly renounced the Western and European oriented glittering Economic growth and adopted the Concept of Indian Rural Economic Developed (IRED) plans? I am surprise to record that neither the PM nor FM or any other ruling clan leader is looking beyond the limited period of government tenure of elections. When the apex leadership of India is so short sighted then what you accept from others. These leaders generally aim to become ministers to fulfill their caskets thinking who knows next time they might not be elected. In view of the rising prices and its effect on a common man, I am going to discuss the long term threatening effects of today's uncontrolled economic leaps.

First of all I find that the government intelligentsia leaders are closing their eyes towards rising trend of criminalization of Indian Society amongst Haves (HV) or Haves Not (HN). The days are not far off when every Indian would be moving with a gun like United State of America to shoot dead others even under suspicion. The days are not far off when our mothers, sisters and young lasses dare not move alone. The ever increasing suicidal graph of helpless farmers, to whom all various present State governments are trying to please with extended bank loan credit facilities for respectable funerals, is further indicating the priority of steel over stomach. I solicit a true reply as to how, and how a common man, casual labor, salaried employee, or contractual worker is going to live honorably on his minimum meager and skimpy wages of rupees 50 and maximum of rupees 30,000. Truly speaking rupees 30,000 monthly salaried man pays nearly 55% through direct taxes and 32.8% allied taxes such as surcharges, service tax, education levy, medical tax and what not in a month. He is ultimately left with nearly rupees 5000 only to manage his home per month while per kilogram of pulse cost him rupees 58, milk rupees 22 a liter, onion rupees 25 a kilogram and rice/flour rupees 15 per kilogram. How he is going to educate his children, meet other expenses and live respectable life with in honest means is too whoop to the Government of India.

Second issue is that our successive governments have ensured that every Indian citizen becomes criminal and corrupt. As it is, all Indian, by and large have accepted that the corruption has become as an unwritten law; and they believe it cannot be weeded out of Indian society. A prominent social worker and freedom fighters Shri Jagan Nath had said that the cancer of corruption has gone into our blood; therefore, to remove the corruption from society, we need to change the blood, which is an impossible preposition, and can never be done. We Indians have to accepted corruption as inherited gift of our present leadership to future generations. I feel that since none of the member of economic conglomeration has really seen the plight of poor farmers and HN adults, they are failing to perceive the drifting of pious and religious Indians towards western style of criminalized society. Why Mr FM is increasing taxes and indirect skin peeling levies on poor citizens without realizing its final effect on a common man. When I am paying Income tax then that is a service tax at all?

Third point of discussion is as to why our leadership is ignoring the ground reality of larger section of Indian society being neglected? A few important issues being overlooked are, one no endeavour made to address a common man's need, two no efforts made to analyze the effect of rising prices on salaried people; three, no fore thought as to how middle income group citizens would make easy leaving; four no vision or long term strategic planning to control spiraling effects of ever increasing living cost and five no I repeat no efforts on sharing burden of taxes between a common man and business community profit. Every new tax imposed is directly making a deep hole in common man's emptied pocket. The business community had, without cutting or impinging their own share of profit ranging from 15% to 500% in various products, passed on the entire burden of taxes on consumers directly; and on every common man of this country indirectly. Mr FM while sitting in air-conditioned rooms with planning teams could never see the raining drops of sweat from the forehead of a street man, thereby, shifting every indirect tax varying from service to various educations, health and other surcharges on every common man.

Fourth, I am surprised while concluding that, the present Indian Government is the only government of its kind in the world which is plundering, looting and preying on her own citizens to fill the coffins of western master and mentors under the slogan of Growing India what World Bank perceived. The perpetrators had actually ruined the rural Indian economy and brought in concrete jungle of criminal society. I am very sure if the present trend of neglecting villages continued; the days are not far off when India would not be physical but economic slave of western economies and financial systems. Why are we, knowing well the low cost of every finish product, increasing its rate over hundred of percents when all the basic material, labor and machinery are cheapest in the country? Where would you find in the world a man ready to accept employment of rupees 500 a month to survive? If all these basic industrial elements are cheapest, then why to increase prices?

Fifth, the present economic changes have resulted in siphoning of billions of dollars abroad as foreign direct investment by pushing up market index from 4968 points to 14000 points today. Despite all these hypes, there seems to be no visible miracles of developments seen in the country anywhere? Why every policy is lacking rural objectives of growth. Until, unless we follow Som Spiraling Rural Economic Cycle (SSREC) model of development, not only Indian farmers would continue to suffer but also the country as well. SSREC model is based on community management business through Rural System of Rolling Economy (RSRE). In this pattern, the basic needs of individual are divided into three groups of necessity; one, what a family should have; two, what family must have; and three what a family could have? These necessities are then subdivided into various demands of every house hold. These demands are one minimum basic needs, such as eatables, pulses, flour, vegetables, and milk products, two required subsidiary needs such as additional varieties of pulses, costly rice varieties, different clothes, small means of transport, cultivations equipments, Medicare items and three luxurious needs which are not necessary for life but required to raise living standard. So far, all Indian governments have failed to meet providing the first two needs of Indian common man in the society. Most of the Indian workers, labor force and farmers who had meager land holdings are at the verge of committing suicide. Do we have resolve to stop further criminalization of my India? I say yes, but with Indian oriented economic development model only.

Sixth I am going to ask, are we Indians going to eat computers or steel bars? Why the cost of finish products in own country is high when both basic elements of raw material and labor are the cheapest in the world? The Common Minimum People Program has really become Cremate/Criminalize Maximum People Program of today. Once again Indian business community is working like East India Company of yesteryears before partition. When the raw materials, labors and working forces are cheapest in this country then why finished products are so costly? Why government is imposing such a high tax and for whom? Which citizen, the governments wants to take care of?

Until, unless we irrigate and till the hearts of farmers and land in the villages, the country of farmers is going to be destroyed under concrete jungle of urbanization. Our father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, a visionary was not wrong when he advised then Indian leaderships to divert more resource to develop villages rather than building jungles of towns and metropolitan cities. Alas! Shri Jagan Nath had been alive to see his predictions turning true that new bunch of foreign educated leaders are going to ruin Indian rural economy? Some recommendations as to how we are going to overcome these problems would be discussed subsequently.

SSERC concept of economy begins to expand outward where as urban pattern of economic development is convergence in nature. The village economic prosperity expands from villages to towns, towns to cities and cities to metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities thereby benefiting every area, community and town. On the other, the urban development pattern creates large conglomerations of machine which sucks in large skilled and unskilled labor from villages, thereby, allowing mushrooming of numerous slums in every nook and corner of such cities. The large scale migration in addition to increasing burden on local resources also creates heavy demand on hygienic services such as water, electricity, health, education and so on. If we move services to villagers then we can not only stop migration but also allow universal development of villages and cities.

Ultimately the burden of all taxes is going to be borne by a common man because there has been no differentiation between HV and HVN. In the year 2006, over 3000 cases of thefts, which I studied in various areas, were involving unemployed and school dropout youths who took to crime to meet their basic necessity of live that is flour, vegetable, salt, sugar and ghee. They never even thought to worry about secondary needs such as cloths and others. The Indian government had actually made them criminals because when they could not produce enough grains to sustain their family due prolonged crops failures, they took to crime of snatching by force. They believed that what items they had stolen were luxurious for rich but proved fodder of survival for their families. A group of four young men, who carried out over a dozen thefts, was so happy saying that they had made nearly two to three years of financial arrangement for their families to meet their minimum basic needs of life. Are we going to make such youth my dear FM?

What I mean with Rural System of Rolling Economy is that one village economy should be earning needs of other and so on? The vicious cycle of needs, demands, production and supply should confine to local areas with in a village first, group of villages second, villages and towns third, with in towns fourth and town to metropolitan fifth. If we follow this model of economic development, I am sure India would become one of the most prosperous rural Developing Economy of the world. We need to develop villages and expand outward and not destroy the villages to bring Industries and uproot poor farmers by throwing a few thousand of bucks at them. When, modern township of Gurgaon expanded near Delhi no farmer, whose land was acquired, has ever though that their future generations would follow the path of crime. The present of most of the people is horrible. Our deaf, dumb and mute monkeys need to awaken and save the country from scourge of criminalization or else every second minute a crime or rape would be future of this nation of saints and religious people.

I request to readers to solicit their views so that we united could save the country where a gas cylinder does not cost you rupees 500, a kilogram of pulse rupees 200, a packet of salt rupees 25 and a liter of milk rupees 100. A freelance journalist, who is regularly writing on various economic and other issues; and contributing to various magazines, periodicals and internet sites.

S Kalpna Sharma 9412939267