Need to develop a mind of our own

Over decades Indians have been treated as guinea pigs. Politico global traders keep preaching Indians what to build, what to wear, what to eat, what to study, how to live, what to buy, which crops to grow, what to drink, how to spend and where to invest etc. This kind of mind control over decades has eroded people’s confidence, original thinking, economic resilience, job diversity and ultimately prevents the country from becoming self-reliant.

India has built many infrastructures without examining its impact on economy. Recently, the state legislature’s Public Accounts Committee has stated monorail and sky-walks in Mumbai are waste of public money and not useful to citizens. Before metro rail was operational in Hyderabad in 2017, it was propagated that it would reduce automobile density on road. Surprisingly, the number of four wheelers in Hyderabad had increased from 8.5 lakh in 2016 to over 50 lakh in 2018.

The Andhra Pradesh (AP) government plans to build Japan type huge concrete wall along its coast in order to protect villagers from cyclone. Over the years, the state has destroyed 90% of its mangrove forest which once acted as natural shield against cyclone. A leading UAE based international cooling provider has reportedly entered into a 30 year agreement with AP government to cool the new state capital, Amravati with 20,000 refrigeration tonnes cooling capacity. The point is why the state capital is fast replacing its natural coolants: tree lairs and water bodies with tonnes of concrete, plastic and steel?

Both western Maharashtra and Telangana had built large number of dams and reservoirs with massive public expenditure. Interestingly, Maharashtra ranks first in farmers suicide followed by Telangana. India should necessarily go for river cleaning and its preservation instead of river linking and over damming of rivers. Low cost water harvesting structures are always better than mega irrigation projects and dams which ultimately let the rivers lose streams.

Independent India has caused irreparable damage to animal husbandry sector by importing exotic cows which give milk in an ideal condition only. This theoretical approach has created genetic disorder and wiped out many tough weather resistant native breeds. Union Minister Piyush Goyal in his budget speech announced Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog to protect indigenous cows. The Aayog should involve genuine cow researchers from different parts of the country to revive the native breed. Many sheep breeds like Deccan Brown of Telangana, Nilgiri of Tamil Nadu, Muzaffarnagari of UP, Malpura, Chokla and Jaisalmeri of Rajasthan, Munjal of Haryana, the Changthangi, Tibetan of Himalayan range, Bonpali of Sikkim have become extinct due to mindless commercialisation of agriculture which has gobbled up grazing land.

The majority of developed nations do not have rich bio-diversity reserve. So, they focus on industry, services and urbanisation. India’s rich bio-diversity reserve has potential to provide jobs to a huge population. But, abysmal ignorance, poor research and lack of educated people’s concern attributes to loss of jobs in bio diversity sector.

Millions of Indian farmers enter into crisis due to aggressive mono crop activities. A few crops: wheat, sugarcane, tea, cotton, paddy, maize and Soyabean etc which are linked to global trade, are over cultivated which erode crop diversity. In the 60s, DDT was propagated as a potential pest fighter. Later, researchers found the high toxic effect of DDT. USA banned it in 1972. But, DDT is still in use by farmers in the country. Though Supreme Court has banned asbestos in 2011, it is still being used for various purposes in India despite its carcinogenic effect. The World Health Organisation said 1,07,000 people die annually from asbestos-related diseases. As per studies, eating junk food may shrink the part of human brain involved in learning memory and mental health. Junk food growth has already wiped out many nutritious Indian dishes.

Over the years, the Indian banking sector has been under external pressure to swell its capital base in order to withstand shock from global recession. India needs to have a well audited small and big banks to survive the unpredictable behaviour of the global financial sector. India should preserve its native weaving skill, handicraft skill and eatable skill which always add high value to the products. Everything good will happen if our educational institutions groom the right kind of people with courage to correct the wrong.

The British had left behind a tradition of bureaucrat yes men. Even today, a large number of bureaucrats do not give right advice to political boss as they fear to lose politicians’ favour. In the process they harm the national interest. The Guinea pig tendency will not let India stronger and wiser.