- Prem P. Verma
It was quite a coincidence that in the recently concluded 2-day Seminar on “Growth and Human Development in Jharkhand” under the aegis of Institute for Human Development, Eastern Regional Centre, such well-known personalities both from Delhi and Jharkhand voiced the same analysis for the ills plagueing the State –
Sri Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister and M.P. from Jharkhand – There are 46% people in Jharkhand below the poverty line.........Development should be such that the local culture and tribal population is protected.
Sri Babulal Marandi, ex-Chief Minister and M.P. – In development we should concentrate first on basic needs like roads, electricity, water, health and education and not big plans…….Only industries cannot give development to people.
Sri Sudhir Mahto, Deputy Chief Minister – Big industries will not give employment to all……Small scale sector has to be encouraged…..Labour migration has to be stopped. We should construct small check-dams.
Sri Bhuvaneshwar Mehta, M.P. from Jharkhand – There is plundering of mineral resources……Character of tribal state is in danger. 16% population has been displaced…….We need to concentrate on villages.
Sri Saryu Roy, M.L.A. – Agriculture should be given priority. We should not depend on large irrigation projects.
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, Educationist and Social Worker – We have to take development to the jungles and mountains…….Villages have to be developed.
Dr. Abhijit Sen, Planning Commission Member – Instead of big investments, more welfare schemes are required. Basic needs like health, education, employment must be addressed.
Sri B. N. Yugandhar, Planning Commission Member – There should be proper use of resources. Jharkhand is a land of diversity. People’s participation is a must……Priorities should be defined.
Sri Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister and M.P. from Jharkhand – There are 46% people in Jharkhand below the poverty line.........Development should be such that the local culture and tribal population is protected.
Sri Babulal Marandi, ex-Chief Minister and M.P. – In development we should concentrate first on basic needs like roads, electricity, water, health and education and not big plans…….Only industries cannot give development to people.
Sri Sudhir Mahto, Deputy Chief Minister – Big industries will not give employment to all……Small scale sector has to be encouraged…..Labour migration has to be stopped. We should construct small check-dams.
Sri Bhuvaneshwar Mehta, M.P. from Jharkhand – There is plundering of mineral resources……Character of tribal state is in danger. 16% population has been displaced…….We need to concentrate on villages.
Sri Saryu Roy, M.L.A. – Agriculture should be given priority. We should not depend on large irrigation projects.
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, Educationist and Social Worker – We have to take development to the jungles and mountains…….Villages have to be developed.
Dr. Abhijit Sen, Planning Commission Member – Instead of big investments, more welfare schemes are required. Basic needs like health, education, employment must be addressed.
Sri B. N. Yugandhar, Planning Commission Member – There should be proper use of resources. Jharkhand is a land of diversity. People’s participation is a must……Priorities should be defined.
It was wonderful to hear so much truth for the first time being spoken, perhaps unknowingly, from so many quarters at the same time. I was left wondering that how come the State does not opt for the right course when there is total agreement on the problem causing the malady. From the respected Planning Commision members like Abhijit Sen and B. N. Yugandhar to senior politicians like Subodh Kant Sahay and Sudhir Mahto to intellectuals like Dr. Ram Dayal Munda and Dr. Dev Nathan – all of them emphasized that agriculture and rural development were the keys to realizing the dream of Jharkhand that the people have and desire.
If this is so, why do we keep clamouring constantly for rapid exploitation of Jharkhand’s limited mineral resources and heavy industrialization as if this was the path of Jharkhand’s happiness? Is it because industrialization sounds modern and attractive in this age of technology while agriculture and talk of villages take us back to the past era? It almost seems and one gets led to the conclusion that the moment we feel educated in the anglicized mould, we must move away from any contact with and contamination from our rural brethren (who constitute incidentally more than 65% of the total Indian population). It is more fashionable in the corridors of power in Ranchi and Delhi to talk of cars, computers, mobiles, call centres, high technology gadgets than the simple nitty-gritty of adequate food production, housing, medical care, schools and basic sanitary needs. People at the bottom of the pile have waited for 60 years for their basic requirements to be met and all we have given them is the glitter of speeding autos, luxury ads in television and false promises of future happiness to be brought about by the trickle down effect of globalization. In the meantime, we keep asking them to be patient and give up their rich agriculture land (more often than not their only ancestral property) in return for future comfort and happiness which never comes. No wonder the credibility of the educated civil class including its leaders and bureaucrats is at the lowest ebb and the bottom frustrated population has taken the path of violence after patiently waiting for 60 long years.
We at Jharkhand Alternative Forum (JADFO), a group of concerned members of civil society, have therefore taken up some jobs of development in the rural sector, as so clearly enunciated in the successfully concluded Human Development Seminar. JADFO has enunciated that correct development of Jharkhand can only be carried out if the following points are kept in mind (agreed to by all in their own way in the Seminar) –
1. Rural development as opposed to urban
2. Investment in and modernization of agriculture and agro-based industries
3. Promotion of small and cottage industries in the rural areas
4. Minimal or nil displacement of the rural population
5. Creation of employment opportunities in the rural hinterland to discourage migration to urban centres
6. Development projects based on People’s Plan with grassroots participation
7. Community ownership of projects and assets
8. Protection of nature and environment along with rural growth
We at JADFO are currently working on -
a) Power generation for rural sector based on non-diesel, non-petrol generating models with the power generation, distribution and maintenance being done by the village gram sabhas
b) Revival of Jharkhand handloom weavers so that villages can once again hum with the sound of handloom machines
c) Building of ‘Akras’ (community halls) for community dialogue in villages where community participation and decision making is facilitated which has been a tradition in the tribal areas of Jharkhand
d) Promotion of tourism with community participation and ownership so that tourism becomes a direct income generating activity for the people of the area rather than outsiders. Chandil Lake on Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway is a good starting example of this community sponsored tourism.
There is a lot more to be done primarily in the agriculture field and JADFO invites experts in this sector to participate in the rural development of Jharkhand by helping the Jharkhand farmers to grow more food crops with natural seeds, organic manure and suitable small irrigation schemes.
JADFO is currently on a crusade to give electric power to villages of Jharkhand through small community-controlled units using no petrol or diesel. With adequate decentralized power available in villages, various employment schemes in rural areas can be worked out to prevent migration to cities which are already turning into overpopulated slums. Also, with availability of power, irrigation schemes with pumps operating in farms becomes a reality and a lot of inputs to agriculture can be provided.
If this is so, why do we keep clamouring constantly for rapid exploitation of Jharkhand’s limited mineral resources and heavy industrialization as if this was the path of Jharkhand’s happiness? Is it because industrialization sounds modern and attractive in this age of technology while agriculture and talk of villages take us back to the past era? It almost seems and one gets led to the conclusion that the moment we feel educated in the anglicized mould, we must move away from any contact with and contamination from our rural brethren (who constitute incidentally more than 65% of the total Indian population). It is more fashionable in the corridors of power in Ranchi and Delhi to talk of cars, computers, mobiles, call centres, high technology gadgets than the simple nitty-gritty of adequate food production, housing, medical care, schools and basic sanitary needs. People at the bottom of the pile have waited for 60 years for their basic requirements to be met and all we have given them is the glitter of speeding autos, luxury ads in television and false promises of future happiness to be brought about by the trickle down effect of globalization. In the meantime, we keep asking them to be patient and give up their rich agriculture land (more often than not their only ancestral property) in return for future comfort and happiness which never comes. No wonder the credibility of the educated civil class including its leaders and bureaucrats is at the lowest ebb and the bottom frustrated population has taken the path of violence after patiently waiting for 60 long years.
We at Jharkhand Alternative Forum (JADFO), a group of concerned members of civil society, have therefore taken up some jobs of development in the rural sector, as so clearly enunciated in the successfully concluded Human Development Seminar. JADFO has enunciated that correct development of Jharkhand can only be carried out if the following points are kept in mind (agreed to by all in their own way in the Seminar) –
1. Rural development as opposed to urban
2. Investment in and modernization of agriculture and agro-based industries
3. Promotion of small and cottage industries in the rural areas
4. Minimal or nil displacement of the rural population
5. Creation of employment opportunities in the rural hinterland to discourage migration to urban centres
6. Development projects based on People’s Plan with grassroots participation
7. Community ownership of projects and assets
8. Protection of nature and environment along with rural growth
We at JADFO are currently working on -
a) Power generation for rural sector based on non-diesel, non-petrol generating models with the power generation, distribution and maintenance being done by the village gram sabhas
b) Revival of Jharkhand handloom weavers so that villages can once again hum with the sound of handloom machines
c) Building of ‘Akras’ (community halls) for community dialogue in villages where community participation and decision making is facilitated which has been a tradition in the tribal areas of Jharkhand
d) Promotion of tourism with community participation and ownership so that tourism becomes a direct income generating activity for the people of the area rather than outsiders. Chandil Lake on Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway is a good starting example of this community sponsored tourism.
There is a lot more to be done primarily in the agriculture field and JADFO invites experts in this sector to participate in the rural development of Jharkhand by helping the Jharkhand farmers to grow more food crops with natural seeds, organic manure and suitable small irrigation schemes.
JADFO is currently on a crusade to give electric power to villages of Jharkhand through small community-controlled units using no petrol or diesel. With adequate decentralized power available in villages, various employment schemes in rural areas can be worked out to prevent migration to cities which are already turning into overpopulated slums. Also, with availability of power, irrigation schemes with pumps operating in farms becomes a reality and a lot of inputs to agriculture can be provided.
To conclude, all our attention in Jharkhand henceforth has to be on agriculture and rural development than being obsessed with New Ranchi or flyovers or malls or cavalcade of VIP cars with flashing red lights. The so-called Naxalites are only asking for this from the leadership at the helm of affairs.
Is anyone listening?
(The author is the Convenor of Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum at Ranchi and can be contacted at email – premverma42@yahoo.com)
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