In a rural village in Orissa, children bear similar marks of childhood. All their stomachs have spotted marks due to branding from iron rod. The local superstitious belief holds that this will stop the undernourished stomach from protruding any further. This blind superstition is quite common but rarely challenged…. Children from the formerly manual scavenging community in Madhya Pradesh do not attend the local school due to discrimination…. A mentally unstable young woman lies within the compound of a government hospital in Indore, unattended but in dire need of medical help…
As a land of distinctive complexities, the issues existing in the nation are truly “one of its kind”. The ages of colonial rule and domination has made this country exhibit the traits, characteristics that have for long only focused on the diversities. However, larger issues like marginalization, poverty, displacement, violence etc form the crux of the unity that we often talk about. I personally have felt that only the “issues“ bind us together and not the numerous other high morals and ideals that we proudly boast.
As in all cases, we identify POVERTY as a burning issue (“since forever”). Development aid towards tackling this has been the highest since anyone can recall and yet even as we approach the new millennia the situation is still the same. Whatever happened to the millions and millions of rupees spent, the efforts utilised in poverty eradication programmes or the energy of the various poverty reduction strategies? Unfortunately, we are not even in the position to answer these but only carry on forward as challenges have mounted and problems multiplied.
Though it is useless to journey back on scrutinizes it is imperative that mistakes are not repeated. The basic problem is the fact that the “concerned” not been properly analyzed. Very straightforward judgments and vertical top down way of thinking been employed. The planners, the implementers and the concerned often exist at different planes of understanding making the process complicated. There is also a serious lack of understanding with regard to the ground situation, which alienates the process of development and change from those concerned. Changing trends have highlighted this bias but gaps exist in effectively integrating this to the process. Surveys, consultations, movements etc are numerous but a sustained impact, effort emerging from the grassroots is absent, and the top-down schema of development approaches keeps prevailing.
The overall scene of our entire development process is not changed or evolved radically. There are increased corporate like ngo setups, project based plans, programmes, activities etc but the crux is essentially the same as before. The attitude of looking into “concerned people” as rightful owners is still absent. The concept “Rights Based Approach” is yet to replace the “beneficiaries” perception of all the actors involved in the development scene.
As a continuous and ongoing process, poverty receives very little attention. The majority of the population in a way contributes towards the sustainability of this poverty. As a part of the development spree and process, we have become active participants contributing towards the changes in the society. In addition, we remain as mute witnesses to the causalities that emerge due to this one-sided development process. Hunger, trafficking, illiteracy, child labour, farmer suicides etc are all outcomes of the process of poverty. In India similar to most other nations, the outcomes get solutions while the core problem remains intact.
As a land of distinctive complexities, the issues existing in the nation are truly “one of its kind”. The ages of colonial rule and domination has made this country exhibit the traits, characteristics that have for long only focused on the diversities. However, larger issues like marginalization, poverty, displacement, violence etc form the crux of the unity that we often talk about. I personally have felt that only the “issues“ bind us together and not the numerous other high morals and ideals that we proudly boast.
As in all cases, we identify POVERTY as a burning issue (“since forever”). Development aid towards tackling this has been the highest since anyone can recall and yet even as we approach the new millennia the situation is still the same. Whatever happened to the millions and millions of rupees spent, the efforts utilised in poverty eradication programmes or the energy of the various poverty reduction strategies? Unfortunately, we are not even in the position to answer these but only carry on forward as challenges have mounted and problems multiplied.
Though it is useless to journey back on scrutinizes it is imperative that mistakes are not repeated. The basic problem is the fact that the “concerned” not been properly analyzed. Very straightforward judgments and vertical top down way of thinking been employed. The planners, the implementers and the concerned often exist at different planes of understanding making the process complicated. There is also a serious lack of understanding with regard to the ground situation, which alienates the process of development and change from those concerned. Changing trends have highlighted this bias but gaps exist in effectively integrating this to the process. Surveys, consultations, movements etc are numerous but a sustained impact, effort emerging from the grassroots is absent, and the top-down schema of development approaches keeps prevailing.
The overall scene of our entire development process is not changed or evolved radically. There are increased corporate like ngo setups, project based plans, programmes, activities etc but the crux is essentially the same as before. The attitude of looking into “concerned people” as rightful owners is still absent. The concept “Rights Based Approach” is yet to replace the “beneficiaries” perception of all the actors involved in the development scene.
As a continuous and ongoing process, poverty receives very little attention. The majority of the population in a way contributes towards the sustainability of this poverty. As a part of the development spree and process, we have become active participants contributing towards the changes in the society. In addition, we remain as mute witnesses to the causalities that emerge due to this one-sided development process. Hunger, trafficking, illiteracy, child labour, farmer suicides etc are all outcomes of the process of poverty. In India similar to most other nations, the outcomes get solutions while the core problem remains intact.
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