Gods own country now Peoples own country

Kerala- Gods own country with the Arabian Sea in the west, the Western Ghats towering 500-2700m in the east and networked by 44 rivers; Kerala enjoys unique geographical features that have made it one of the most sought after tourist destinations in Asia. An equable climate, a long shoreline with serene beaches, tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters, lush hill stations and exotic wildlife. Waterfalls, sprawling plantations, paddy fields, ayurvedic health holidays, enchanting art forms, magical festivals, historic and cultural monuments. The mythological story about Kerala was a land rose from the sea where the axe- landed thrown in penance for waging the terrible war by Parasuram, the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Kerala, India's most advanced society. With almost hundred percent literacy, world-class health care systems, India's lowest infant mortality, and highest life expectancy rates, the highest physical quality of life in India. Peaceful and pristine, Kerala is India's cleanest state.

According to the famous phrase “Roti (Food) Kapda (Clothing) aur Makan (Housing)”, the basic necessities of human being are: Food, Clothing and Shelter of which food and clothing are available cheaply in this modern and advanced society. But the major problem faced by the human society today is lack of land i.e. people don’t have their own land. Approximately there are over 1.5 crore landless families all over India.

The prestigious Zero Landless programme of the Kerala government: United Democratic Front (UDF) was flagged off by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in October 2013. The Zero Landless programme envisages distribution of three cents of land each to 2,43,928 families identified across the State. The decision of UDF government to provide ownership of land is set to be a significant socio-economic influence within Kerala. The entire project is estimated to be completed by 2015. Distributing title deeds to 11,118 more people, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh proclaimed Kannur the first zero landless district in India. 286 scheduled tribe persons also got deeds. He also declared it to be “India’s first big state to be open defecation free.”

“Fifteen years ago, Ernakulam was declared the first district in the country to achieve 100 per cent literacy and today, Kannur acquires a rare distinction of becoming the first zero-landless district. I would suggest that the Kerala government should take the initiative to make use of the Indira Vikas Yojana, and build homes for all the families who get land under the scheme. If the state government moots a proposal to this end, I will give all the necessary support from my ministry for the housing project.” Ramesh said. The minister urged all other states to follow the Kerala example and distribute land among the landless. “Very soon, Kerala will be the first big state in India to be declared open-defecation-free, which is a big achievement.” he said.

It’s interesting to learn that there is a National land reform policy which says that every landless person should get 10 cents of land for building a house. Due to expensive land and lack of availability of land in Kerala the area was reduced to 3 cents which still is an appreciable step by the government. But the question is when we have such a national land reform policy why are the governments of other state not implementing them and why we as citizens not demanding its implementation as it’s our right being a part of the constitution. Currently our leaders are just behaving as good orators and just go on speaking (almost everything false) about the progress and development models being implemented. If any such models are really being implemented then they shouldn’t be just limited to paper but should be applied practically so that the common people can get the maximum benefit out of it.

Strong political will and political decisions need to be taken keeping apart personal benefits in mind by the government just as what the government of Kerala did. Hats off to their effort. Now in true sense one can say that "Gods own country is Peoples own country."

Statue of Unity- Is this all what India needs???

 



While Gujarat and some of its prominent political leaders are taking pride in the recently laid foundation stone of the “Statue of Unity” on 31 October 2013, the 138th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel- “Iron Man of India”, I would like to raise a question- “Is this the need of the hour? Is this all that India needs?

The Statue of Unity is a proposed 182 metres (597 ft) monument of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that will be created directly facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island called Sadhu Bet of Narmada River, near Bharuch in Gujarat. The project was first announced on October 7, 2010. The total height of the statue from its base will be 240 metre consisting base level of 58 metre and statue of 182 metre. It will be constructed with steel framing, reinforced cement concrete and bronze coating. A consortium of Turner Construction (consultant of Burj Khalifa), Michael Graves and Associates and Meinhardt Group, will supervise the project. It will take 56 months to complete the project, 15 months for planning, 40 months for construction and two months for handing over by the consortium. The entire project (the statute and other buildings including the memorial, visitor centre, garden, hotel, convention centre, amusement park and research institute) would cost about Rs. 2500 crores. The first phase of the project, including construction of the main statue, a bridge connecting the statue to the river bank and reconstruction of the 12 km road along the river banks is estimated to cost Rs. 2063 crores.

The Statue of Unity will be double the height of the Statue of Liberty in the USA and five times taller than the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The construction is estimated to cost Rs 2063 crores, and will be completed in four years. The proposed 182-meter tall Sardar Patel's statue will be erected on a small rocky island in the middle of the Narmada riverbed facing Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia. The iron needed for this statue and other structures will be collected from farmers of villages all around India in a form of donation of their used farming instruments. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust set up 36 offices across India to collect this iron instruments till the construction starts on January 26, 2014.

The question that is raised is when the country and its states are facing problems like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, inflation and recessions etc. Is it necessary at all to invest such a huge amount of money in building up of such monument that would in no ways directly help towards the development or progress of the nation? The only revenue that the statue would generate is from the tourism department which would directly go into the government funds and not into the hands of common people. Is this what Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ever dreamed of? The numbers of poor families in Gujarat’s villages have risen by at least 30 per cent over the last decade, going by the state government's own data. In April 2000, there were 23.29 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the villages. The number rose to 30.49 lakh as on June 26, 2012, as per the "dynamic list" which the state rural development commissioner's office constantly updates. The highest numbers of poor families were in the tribal districts of Narmada (72.45%), Dahod (71.75%), Dangs (70.14%) and the Panchmahals (50.73%). Even some local people have opposed land acquisition for tourism infrastructure development around the statue. They also claimed that Sadhu bet was originally called Varata Bawa Tekri, named after a local deity and so it was a site of religious importance. People of Kevadia, Kothi, Waghadia, Limbdi, Navagam and Gora villages opposed the construction of the statue demanding back land rights of formerly acquired 927 acres of land for dam and the formation of Garudeshwar taluka.

We live in a country where we have a lot of roads, monuments, Char- Rasta’s (Crossroads), government buildings named after national and political leaders in their honour. We have respect for them in our hearts and even follow their ideologies at least some of them if not all. Still spending such huge amount of money over such monuments causes a hindrance towards the development of society. With the likes of CWG and Adarsh Scams around the corner the common peoples’ faith over such projects seems fading. Instead of such investments implementing of the “Food Security Bill” or any such schemes and programmes for the development and progress of society would be helpful. At least the effect of this can be seen and the common people can access the benefits of the same directly. The most common question that needs to be asked commonly by the common people is: “The Statue of Unity- Is this all that India needs???”