Why our nation is still underdeveloped ?
Indians don't lack intelligence. Neither do they lack self confidence. Many people say we dont have the right infrastructure.. But infrastructure is a part of development.. Just by making lots of roads and rails do not make a nation developed. Imagine we implement world class metro railway systems in all of our cities. Will there be enough people to use it ? No organisation, be it public or private can survive by making losses on and on. It needs to be self sufficient. Or in other words we need a vibrant economy. By the term 'vibrant economy', I dont mean lot of ppl doing white collar jobs. Just by infusing lot of IT companies or BPOs, we dont get developed. I agree that these organisations mean a lot to the youth and nation now.They are providing jobs, generating economy because of our advantage in exchange rates, giving a meaning to the life to the young generation.. I'm not an American basher. But the point is we , as as a nation needs to do much more..
I work in a very comfortable environment.In an air conditioned cubicle , a swanky office space, enjoying all the comforts that I've earned..Just two kilometers away,I can see the real face of India..Children about 10 years old, or perhaps less working in hotels, stores and all. Their face tells me a lot about their lives..True as they say, India is a land of extremities.. You can see abject poverty and unparalleled opulence side by side.. Even though the globalised economy has provided a lot of changes to the nation, life still remains the same for more than 80% of population..And thats where the heart of nation lies.
Well, why is this contrast ? Development should mean human resource development. And as the Akshaya video rightly identified, the root cause of problems carving our nation is hunger and lack of education . Why ? Because its a vicious circle.. Young children dont see education as worthy because it doesnt bring them bread. It further drives them back to work.
In return they are exploited. And this chain continues..from generation to generation..Disagreeing with many people, I dont think over population is a trouble for our nation. But,an uneducated and impoverished population is certainly a big trouble. An educated population is certainly an asset.
Can a mid-day meal program change their destiny ?
The answer is 'NO'. It cant change the nation altogether. But it is a good starting point. It prompts more children to attend schools and helps in keeping the existing students there itself.
The next step is education. By education, I dont mean just learning to read and write. It means imparting the capacity to think independently, design their own careers, enabling themselves to contribute to the nation... To understand this argument, I present the case of my home state..
We boast of having a highly literate population. Thats infact true if you take literacy as the ability to read and write a little bit.. But I see no big difference in the situation of kerala..Yes, we have better living conditions, better health, ..but the unemployment scenario is just as bleak as other states.. There are scores of unemployed graduates. Perhaps the highest percentage of that figure is in kerala. This is where the modern day education has failed in its bid...and also its where we need an attitude change...
Government / private companies alone can't provide employment to all. We need to find jobs on our own.. And we need an attitude to view any job with dignity. This is one area where we need to learn from the west.. An Indian is looked with contempt if he works as a daily wage labourer or a coolie. But if he does the same abroad and sends back money, he's viewed with lot of respect.. This feeling has to go. After all, every one can't be a doctor or engineer or something like that..We still need people to do other jobs. And it is where education should play its role. It should instill the right kind of values in the youth. They should have a capacity to think on their own..understand exploitation, avoid being sycophants to the religous pranks..
And that is precisely where Indian education has failed.. I would say, unless we reform and reorganise this sector, we'll be still bearing this 'under-developed' tag even after 100 years.
What is required of the youth ?
India needs individuals with good values . Remember the 'page-3' dialog - "You have to be in the system to reform the system" . More educated youth should come into politics.They should be into decision making...decisions that will shape the destiny of the nation..There is nothing wrong in pursuing a career of your choice or making money by right means.. But,to make the life meaningful, we should give some thing back to the nation..the nation that provided you the education, the job, the comforts that enabled you to read this blog...
One day,I'd follow this path...
Ajith
1 comment:
ya ya Arijit u have got very good thinking hope the rest of the world i mean rest of India thinks the same way . We say coolie as a worthless man . Yesterday i saw few labourers in my hospital taking out the machine for repair i think they were moving the machine out but i observed one thing there they were pulling that heavy machine with ropes but u know one man is leading the whole things so skillfully .We can not do if that person is not there the work won't be done . White coller jobs are very easy we all sit and work and talk and do what ever we want but that daily wages person slogs all through the day we should treat them with enough dignity as u rightly said . We should not see how much english he / she knows or how much money he / she has or how rich he/ she is . We are all human beeings need to be treated with respect ... Thanks a lot for a wonderful blog it is really touchy worth reading
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