Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Shocking revelations during survey of rural areas' that was published in Newsband

Shocking revelations during survey of rural areas

During the survey made in the rural areas of India it was found that in over 90 per cent of households, the main earning member makes less than Rs. 10,000 a month. Over half the households are landless and the same number relies on casual manual labour for the larger part of their income. Just 20 per cent of households own any kind of a motor vehicle. The countryside remains unable to find jobs that can pull families out of poverty. Agriculture remains at subsistence levels, with low mechanisation, limited irrigation facilities and little access to credit. Just over 3 per cent of rural households have a family member who is a graduate, so skilled jobs are going to be hard to get.

This survey appears to have suppressed some ugly facts. The government stands accused of suppressing vital new information on the status of malnutrition among children, contained in a survey commissioned by the UNICEF earlier.

The census data is a slap on the face of nearly seven decades of self-governance. India continues to be an 'area of darkness'. We have come to adopt a policy by which nothing is allowed to work. We have become a country of reactionaries. While democracy may be the best form of government where every voice is heard, in our case it has also sadly ensured that no promise is delivered.

With successive governments neglecting the rural areas, a huge number of villagers are increasingly migrating to cities. Large slums in every other city of the country are a testimony to such exodus. The worst sufferers are those in the agriculture sector. Farmers are selling their agri lands to the neo-rich or the industrialists offering lucrative prices resulting in lesser job opportunities for the farm labourers who increasingly are opting for MNREGA Schemes or working as construction labourers. Even today we are talking of smart cities, bullet trains, Make in India and Digital India, totally forgetting the rural masses whose pitiable condition has been exposed by the Survey.

Of course, India has also manystrengths that have enabled it to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. These include its call centres, its many talented and entrepreneurial people, and its widely recognised achievements in design and entertainment. Yet, there is no guarantee that these strengths will be sufficient to ensure that the economy continues to expand at high rates in the future unless additional reforms to labour laws are implemented, the weak Indian infrastructure is overhauled and the corruption is eradicated.

Concentrating on rural non-farm employment will plays a huge role in enhancing the economy of households. Not only small farmers but also the landless is important. Non-farm employment will reduce migration and poverty.