Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Pseudo Economy......DR ANIL P JOSHI

Globe presently moving toward recession and there is apparently no nation that has been able to prevent this economic jolt. Added to this, other factors that have further discouraged early recovery are unpredictable climate, global warming, food scarcity etc. This has to be largely realized to every one of us that source of such disaster lies somewhere in our inapt policies. This is high time to review certain issues globally. Every nation and every village should now have a responsibility to think and redecide their economic policy. The question that now being thrown whether we should talk of development or sustainability of society. The past focus of society on development has largely caused economical and ecological imbalances. Darwin theory of survival is more important in present context as depleting fundamental resources once again have challenged question of our survival.

We are presently living in an era of pseudo- economy. Global domestic production is simply measured by its growth in front of infrastructure, industrialization, education etc. Growths of fundamental resources forest, water, food, soil merely have any significant role in such GDP. The economic growth was more focused on secondary and tertiary sectors. What was produced in such economic growth was not for survival but for luxury. Development was defined on roads, infrastructure, cars, industry etc. We all time deliberately forgot that such development can only offers handful of people luxury and not fundamental needs for all. Such needs as only come from forest, food, water, soil etc. the results of lopsided economic development approach have led to social and natural disasters. Any economic development approach that cannot sustain itself in view of growing demands production and recycling abilities will collapse. Industrial production face recession as consumers has ceased buying mainly because of its shifted resorted priority. The example of recent slump in the market is mainly because of inability of common person to buy a car, AC or others, simply because of cost of other essential items have shot up which forms fundamental needs. Unabated industrial growth on non food products had more market in rural India or for common urban. This group of people have always been coaxed to buy mobile and motorcycle which they have been managing a through their meager savings. Increased cost of fundamental needs i.e. food and allied material discouraged common buyers to go for others luxury items. Since industrialists have now common men their buyers the inabilities of latter have chased economy flow. This has been observed that upto 50-60 % of total income of middle men has gone into food items and other fundamental needs. Any economy which ultimately caters our luxury and can merely collapse because of falling consumption and cannot be recycled is Pseudo- economy. The true economic processes must be learnt from the age old rural economy. There was striking balance between production and consumption and all economic intricacies were within community. Any surplus income was shared with other communities for their respective products and services.

True economy must first focus on primary production of forest, water, food and soil conservation. This forms the true capital of any state. The surplus of the state should be shared with others for state needs. There has been just opposite in recent past. We have been competing for industrialization of non farm products which are largely service items or to say luxury. There has been saturation in present economic scenario from consumer’s points of view. Had there been emphasis on farm or farm based industry and development/ conservation of resource, the cost of fundamental needs would have been marginal. Thus the saving of the middle man would have given him more and more opportunities for other facilities.

There are few examples that need to be quoted here. None of us would have thought of water being sold at battles. This is roughly a business of 1000 crores today. The drinking water which is a fundamental resource is commercialized today. The billions of bottled water lying in shops definitely prevent a natural process to happen. Ultimately the sufferer is common men who is a buyer also and have to pay higher cost of a resource where his rights exist. The same water would have irrigated millions of tonnes of food. This resource was poorly managed both for its quality and quantity. This ultimately has led to resource scarcity. Better quality of resource would not have encouraged commercialization of this resources. The days are not far when other fundamental needs will be sold, considered to be essential for life and are free. This is greed of couple of human and unscrupulous approach that has thrown all of us in bizzare. Since it is a matter of our survival, should we allow this to happen and not resist it? We are definitely shirking from this fact.

Unfortunately we have not created any mechanism to measure status of our resources periodically. We have not also given growth rule of these resources in our development plan or Gross development production. Our lopsided economic development strategy has suddenly brought us at a dilemma. We should realize that there can be a control on curse of industrialization but we cannot escape from nature’s tyranny and expression of the same can be seen since recent past. This is high time to create strategy to measure gain/ loss of fundamental resources the ultimate lifelines. This would also help in deciding future industry, development policy too.
An unequal economical development has been sole cause of today imbalances. Most of the economic (Pseudo) activities were concentrated in urban where there was governance. Education, politics, secondary production technology and science revolved around these centers. Since these factors decide growth, unabated economic, political proliferation occurred here. Whereas immediate resource needs of economic were catered by country side community. Surplus earning triggered market for other luxury products from industries. Since the buyers of these products were limited in town and cities only, industries begun to hunt market in rural India too and trapped Rural common. Mobile and motor cycle are two important example. In the name of rural connectivity and facility, these two industrial products were also promoted. This set out flow of money from rural India to urban.

It is not denied that rural community don’t need these assets. These can be placed as needs but not necessity. Unfortunately market forces and imposed advertisements have attracted specially youths, for such products. A small village town has been marketing mobile sim cards upto 1-2 lakhs monthly. Do we really need mobile connectivity on the other hand? The forest which constitute essential environment of any village has been rapidly vanishing could not drawn serious attention of planners. This resource that helps over all delivery of water air soil is depleting, threatening human existence but there is no powerful advocacy to conserve/develop this resource. We in run of development forgot many important resources that are our fundamental needs. Our priorities have changed from needs to luxury.

Lust for luxury basically begun from urbanized culture. Every physical efforts was mechanized and energy for the same was exploited from nature. Unabated exploitation of resource continues since longtime and no serious assessment was done to review depleting resources. Forest water and soil have been mainstay of our life. Their constant declinations have been observed and factors for the same were also well known, but largely neglected in lust of gaining industrial products.

Science & Technology has also been bias. It was invented within three directions more. To exploit resources to meet human greed has been its focus and secondly, industrial products to cater services for human luxury and away from decentralized rural resources utility. Because of the above factors all economic activities were focused in urban areas and therefore political and social too. This bias technology development fluxed out human and natural resources from villages and ultimately there became void in rural India. Villages suffered further setbacks in its development while over crowding cities demanded more and more job within limited scope. Both rural and urban world is passing through a quiet turmoil.

We are presently suffering from pseudo economic phase. We should immediately focus on development of true economic reserves. Such capital can only ensure us of bright future with ecological sound economy. A prudent approach will bring a balance between nature and human activities, rural and urban and between need and necessity.




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