Nature Remembers You...

Nature Remembers You...
Imaginations..Questions..Solutions

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Leaving Agriculture for Industrial Development:Raw Deal

Most center to the argument about shifting of population from agrarian base to non agricultural base since the carrying capacity has declined to support large population. Many tend to believe that with industrialization jobs would open up but what a class, it would be mostly jobs of doorkeepers, odd-job-boys, maids, mason-helpers, etc will be available! Some one may add another job: that of a Hawker. From a peasant or agricultural laborer (though poor, no doubt) becoming a maid / servant / gatekeeper / hawker / rickshaw-puller…etc ... a ‘development’ indeed!

Some ‘lucky’ ones may become some makeshift Tea cum snacks stall owners or betel-leaves–cigarettes–chewing-tobacco stall/'galla' owners on the pavements, always in a precarious existence – any time the ‘Cleansing cum Beautification’ drive of the govt can bulldoze them out, and they’ll have to rebuild their shanty stalls again.

In the name of industrialization we may have taken lot of land but the promise of the job still eludes many, most of the land owners are forced to leave their ancestral occupation to the serve the urban middle class. The states also now train such poorly educated people for the service of neo-rich society by conducting training programs. From the independent human being, the land owners were turned to dependent community on the industrial economy, however remains uncertain.

Educated sons and daughters of the so-called ‘middle’ / ‘upper-middle class’ people are upbeat and vying for those few thousands of good-paid jobs that may come up in the Special Economic Zones or Special Investment Regions. The management level jobs in the industries and mainly in the ‘service’ sectors serving the well-to-dos. The media, businessmen, and the likes are full of glee. And they will have plenty of ways to earn more money and plenty of things to do with their lots of money. But all of them together constitute only 12-25% of the population, at maximum 30%.

The enrichment of the selected community group or class in states or country for the development is not the development of rest in the society. For the remainder, those fellows at power have that old rotten rusted “Trickling Down” theory. Yes, some thousands among tens of millions of unemployed youth will get the rest of the lower end jobs. Some will get consolation of doing own “ business ” "dhandho" thats paltry Rs 1500 – 4000 per month. But the problem of unemployment will not even fractionally be solved. The people disposed by development will become paupers in their own land.

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