Category: Rural India

Just all end up as election slogans? Who is the urban development minister? And also, who is the rural development minister? Can one recall at once? Such is the urban-centric, New Delhi-based power elite that occupies all the ministerial posts and party jobs! And we talk of aam aadmi, tongue in cheek! We seem to…

Rural India is now a changed place! 50% of the GDP now comes from rural India. Also, nearly 50 % of the rich and very rich are rural households. This is how a leading national newspaper headlines its story! Rural India in shambles! Rural India had been a game for long. It is both good…

Only 6 MPs attend Lok Sabha debate on poverty! MPs absent themselves often! Only six members were present, to start with, in the Lok Sabha, which was to discuss the issue of eradication of hunger in the country. The attendance was less than one per cent. The current strength of the House is 540. Jairam…

Rural development, a tired theme? But still it drives fear and tremors in Delhi! Ministers can proactively do many things! Corporate social responsibility can be identified and publicized! Civil society initiatives need appreciated and recognized by the governments. The PM must be silently cursing the electorate of Punjab and Uttaranchal for being ungrateful. The Finance…

Prime Minister’s many promises not much for  agriculture! Any small landownership is seen as a political liability! It is here the problem for reforming agriculture starts. Energy security, the President stressed. Very important. Poverty, we will eradicate, the PM asserted standing on the Red Fort. So, dignified the speech, so convincing the arguments.  We could…

What hopes NGO would make a change this time? President Abdul Kalam inaugurated a three-day national summit on rural NGOs in Delhi in April. He spoke with much candour and conviction. What he said is that a large number of NGOs that get lots of foreign funds don’t spend them properly. The funds don’t reach…

Ethnic social issues and a feeling of uncertainty of the future. Migrant Bihari labour in Assam.   And this senseless tragedy! That Indian development is uneven is recognised but no one speaks out. That is the tragedy of our leadership, the experts committees and the lack of the courage for outspokenness by the party activists…

Is Rural India losing out? Urbanisation, creation of new suburban cities, future of the villages! Readers of this column must have had the feeling that we are dumping down our own individual views on what constitutes the genuine rural development vision. We don’t have any ideological individual view or vision as such. Rather our view…