Lopsided growth

Sir, - This refers to the article ``Poverty & employment in the 1990s'' by Mr. C. Rammanohar Reddy (The Hindu, Jan. 20). After quite a long time, we get to see an article which shows the disparity in the growth structure of the country.

Of late we find that the governments are putting in some effort to improve the lot of the common man. But unfortunately the thrust is more and more pronounced, as the article highlights, in the urban areas rather than the villages. The importance given to globalisation and push to IT sector will have its share of benefits as well as drawbacks in the urban areas. But there is no denying the fact that it is, if anything, going to demoralise the rural population. The results are already visible in the agriculture sector.While the government has virtually done very little or nothing to improve the basic facilities in the villages over the past 50 years, it has not thought much when exposing these unprepared rural people to the effects of globalisation. The prices of almost all the agricultural commodities have been crashing over the past six months and the government is not in a position to do anything to save the villagers.

It is very unfortunate that we have done virtually nothing to strengthen the hands of the rural people before asking them to face the tough competition from globalisation. The half-hearted effort of the governments to provide the basic facilities like education, sanitation and at least good roads have not borne fruit in any big way. Unless the rural people are educated to at least a minimum level, they can never get any benefit from the IT revolution. To change the mindset of these people and to get them more competent to face the competition from abroad, they will have to be provided security of livelihood over a period of time.

If the rural population starts feeling that their future is very safe it will have a snowballing effect with, first, the stoppage of migration to the cities. This will in turn help to check the menace of growth of slums and related problems in all our metros. Governments have to open their eyes and realise that Gandhian model of growth has to be followed to at least a minimum extent. If they still persist with what they are doing now, we will have a highly lopsided growth system whereby our country will be a nice company to some of the South American countries like Brazil, Mexico, etc.

B. Vishweshwara Bhat,

Bangaradka (Karnataka)

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