Empower the Rural India

To start with let me tell you a small story.

This story is about a woman who lives in a remote village in U.P. This place is very backward. The life is so cool with contaminated water supply, poor sanitation, no power supply, no connecting roads, no hospital and no medical aid available.

Without the electricity, living in mud houses where they make floor with cow dung. Men of this village does not work and enjoys playing cards under the natural shade, smoke Bidi, eat gutkha in the morning and drink in the evening and sleep. Women does house hold work, goes to the farm ( as workers, as the land is with the zamindaar and work hard the whole day, comes home, do rest of the household work, listens to abuses, get kicked from husband for some small mistakes, gets ready as a sex equipment for the husband and sometimes for the zamindaar and in the end cries and sleep. The kids of this village does not go to the school as their are no teachers. some of them just play day and night - eat and sleep, and some are infected with child labour. Kids also watch their parents fighting and learns how to abuse and treat the mother as treated by their fathers. Some of the kids who stops their father gets beaten up and in the end they also sleeps as they are too tired. So the life goes on like this for them.

So this is the story. This is still happening in India and if India needs to grow, it has to start growing from the Base. And the Base is Rural India. According to the 2001 Indian census, 74% of Indians live in 638,365 different villages. We are talking about super power but the real super power will be achieved only when the villages of India will get the basic facilities like electricity, water, food, employment to both men and women, medical aid, education to men-women-children and infrastructure.

There are still many villages where their is no electicity and still living with lamps on in the night. Water which comes is contaminated. Medical facilities are just for the name sake. In many of the cases these villages are getting expired medicines. Education is just for the name sake. In many of the villages there are school buildings but there are no teachers. In some of the villages, there are no roads. People use the railway track to cross the river lines. Malnutrition is very common among the villagers as they are too poor to afford the good food. Many of them lives on rice and dal. And I can bet you if you can eat rice and dal cooked by them. Its a hard life out there.

Now, let's talk about or dream a village which has all the basic amenities. People are aware of importance of cleanliness and importance of educating themselves and their kids. As they keep their area clean they do not fall sick frequently. As they are educated, they know what is right and what is wrong. Now no one can fool them by giving them expired medicines, zamindaar can not just make them work forever for him, women are not used as a baby making machine, women are not forced for early marriages, kids are enjoying going to school and are not forced into child labour. Education has helped them getting jobs such as government teacher or working in government hospitals. May be few companies will also start their operations from that village as they will be getting skilled labour. Now the kids and the family members are getting good food to eat as the parents are earning well. The roads are proper and is connecting to the main road. A bus is easily available for them to move from one place to another, even for work. Now if you see them you will find clean and smiling faces because now they are fit and fine and living a healthy life style. BUT THE QUESTION IS -- WILL THIS HAPPEN?

Just promising the villagers for a better life is not enough. Its good to give them hopes and see smiling faces. But is this enough? If the government is not doing then who will do it. Crores of Rupees are been collected on the face of upliftment of the poor. Taxes are collected on the face of uplifting socio-economic status. But where does the money go. As we keep on hearing the money is spent on the statues of our so called leaders and increasing assets of our leaders. If this is not true then why any common man when meet another common man and if they talk about India's growth, thinks that our leaders are just filling their stomach. Isn't it true. Who's to be blamed for villagers condition or poor's condition. The system has to work more efficiently. It has to show results. I appriciate the way Mr. Rahul Gandhi is working hard in accelerate the youth congress membership campaign. Now if the government does something to uplift the villages of India, that would be great. The people who are forced to come to big cities to find work would be happy to stay in their village with their families. People have not closed their eyes or can't speak. They can see everything but as they do not have power - power of literacy, power of healthy living and power of awareness, they are forced to listen or elect the leaders who are selfish and just bothered about themselves.


In the last I will say .....If the government is really really bothered about poor's upliftment or India to become super power, then they should be doing some thing in real and not just talking about it.


( I may have used few harsh words. I apologies to those who have not liked the words used )