Gandhi, Turbulence, NREGS and the 21st Century
Democracy is the art and science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic and spiritual resources of various sections of the people in the service of the common good of all
-Mahatma Gandhi
When our nation’s Father visualized a free India, he probably forgot that age will wither the ideals that were once fresh in every Indian heart that throbbed with the name “India” What could be a more ironic turnout than the recent detection of the UPA government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) being exploited by corrupt Panchayat heads and officials on pretext of rural development. Could the government be less exorbitant on such a sensitive issue? Perhaps better committment to the purpose could have saved the cause of upliftment at areas that include the drought-stricken Bundelkhand which has been most unfortunate in wielding to basic necessities of its inhabitants. The allocation of Rs. 39,100 crores for this year’s budget by UPA fails to stop the increasing corruption in the systems that are required to be functional withe NREGS scheme. The “hoarding” of job cards by sarpanchs, panchayat secretaries or others is a common problem which gives them enough time, space and power to manipulate the days of work. To this Jean Dreze, development economist answers, “they want to be free to make fake entries in the job cards, beyond public scrutiny, as part of their attempts to fudge the records and siphon off NREGS funds.“ Besides, according to him, this “hoarding can be made a punishable offense once the Grievance section comes into action under NREGS program” He further says that the development of kaccha roads has been instrumental in connecting the Jharkhand mandis and villages with the cities (which has long been an important strategy of agro-driven Punjab). It is yet to be seen how well NREGS fairs in the wake of unemployment.
India is where diversity reigns not only in culture but also in provision and guarantee of basic amnesties of life. Gandhi’s ideal of “work is worship” and work for the “common good for all” is perhaps a hollow symbolic heritage of the past, of the age which boasted of unity in diversity. On the 2nd of October, every year, we resolve to make a better world, free from violence. And every year, the crime graph, in accordance with Crimes In India (CII) annual reports published by CBI, raises questions on women’s security in particular. Violence graph is on the rise with a 35-40% increase in rape cases with 2/3rd of them unreported due to various stigmas associated with the rape-victims. Deaths by burning that fall under Dowry cases are increasing at an alarming pace. At an age when feminism is the literary furore, and the idiot box is dominated by females, Indian stand is really on the brink of ridicule.
via cleveland blog
Coming to the global front, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes, as he stated in a message marking the third annual International Day of Non-violence, that Mahatma Gandhi’s “powerful idea” of non-violence could stabilize the major inconsistencies of the world. He agrees that ‘We strive, for example, to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction,’ he said. ‘Recent initiatives and meetings, including last week’s Security Council summit on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, have improved prospects for reductions in global arsenals.’ And not just that, the purpose must go beyond the use of weapons, he stressed.
Perhaps there is a hint of disapproval here of India’s refusal to be a part of Nuclear disarmament program as organized by UN. But Ban-Ki-moon’s message was clear enough. A change is necessary to stabilize worldly equations in the wake of recession and security threat.
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