On the eve of the Indian Independence anniversary, I would like to relate an appalling conversation I had yesterday with someone who is actually a good friend...lets call him UM by his initials...
UM: This NREGA program has to be stopped. Its just driving up the labor prices.
Me: What??? Maybe its a good thing that people have a choice now. Labour is so undervalued anyway.
UM: Excuse me?? Its like paying people to do nothing, theres very little tangible output!
Me: So??? Thousands of people in Govt departments do nothing...definitely dont produce "tangible output" but we pay them fat salaries...
UM: Thats no reason to defend a badly-designed program.
Me: Well, it provides employment, contains migration, increases the shockingly-low labour wages. Its a genuinely pro-poor intervention.
UM: But these people dont pick up any skills..
Me: They are doing unskilled work either ways..
UM: Tell me what is the use of this program. There is no construction of any public goods.
Me: Just like how a high-budget bridge that was never built tragically collapses due to rains and needs to be rebuilt?
UM: Oh come on. At the cost of 55000 crore rupees?
Me: Precisely..a fraction of our budget.
UM: Ok, we have slightly different views..
Me: Diametrically opposite you mean..
I got an sms today which said that we should be proud an Indian owns the East India Company now!!
To 63 glorious years of independence...we are so lucky we weren't born a century earlier!!
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5 comments:
why do you want to stop migration?? It should happen that is the only way forward.
Migration should be voluntary, and not the only way to survive.
all of it is usually voluntary unless you count narmada and all
I hope you are right. In most rural areas Ive seen, thats not the case though :(
Well... yes... that is his perspective...
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