Economic Development of Villages!
Call it a real estate boom, or call it economic development or simply call it common sense gone awry, the villages in India, especially those on the National Highways, and 3 or 4 hours away from the cities, are seeing a not so strange phenomenon – Selling agricultural lands.
May be the rains wouldn’t come, or they would come at wrong time; may be necessary government help wouldn’t come or it came at wrong times; may be a farmer never thought to improve his knowledge of land or may be he simply wouldn’t learn, his land wouldn’t give him enough money. Add to this family, births, marriages, and deaths, and what not. In the end it looks like circumstances laugh at farmers because his land, which gave him food, shelter and respect, is the only reason why he is still poor.
So what does a farmer do? Hope that all would go well through out the year, which include timely rains, fruitful seeds, loans from the government, health of family and what not. Well instead, if I were a farmer, I would sell the land. Exactly thats what is happening now.
And if I don’t do it now, the ever developing economy would make the it necessary for the government to ‘acquire’ acres of lands at prices, which wouldn’t buy a thola of gold.
So in the end, the farmers run to the cities – they become the masons, the watchmen, the rag picks, the whatever. Has life changed. Yes. But somewhere, a farming land will have a factory built over it that produces canned food, or a house is built on it, which serves those eating canned food. Well, would you call this industrial revolution. Nope…this is a cumulative result of serious inefficiency. And who does it affect?
None as of now…or children of our children. Is there a way to stop this economic development…there is…but as long as we are concerned about our pay packages and not ‘enjoying work’ well…there is no stopping to economic development…even at the cost of a future somebody’s life.