With a burgeoning population and a building boom, Mumbai was waiting for a water problem with its limited fresh water sources and resources. The last monsoon with less than the average annual rainfall( between 2000 and 2400mm) has triggered the problem this year. Already there is a cut of about 15 percent which is likely to go up to 30 percent or more till the arrival of the next monsoon. Schools had their exams early and the summer exodus has already started. But there is no respite for Mumbaikars.
Mumbai has a population of about 14 million and gets about 3350 million litres per day (MLD).It is estimated that only 20 percent of the water supply is used for drinking and cooking, 60 percent for bathing, washing and flushing and 20 percent leakage/pilferage. The water for flushing, gardening, cleaning cars could come from recycling, bore-well or rain water harvesting. Hotels and some housing colonies have bore-wells and some even recycle. The rain water harvesting can replenish and purify bore-well water which can otherwise become saline.
The water crisis in Mumbai is not merely a challenge but an opportunity to change the mind-set of the people, the politicians and the bureaucrats. BMC is searching for alternative sources of water in old wells, tanks and even highly expensive desalination of sea water around Mumbai. It has asked the Central Government to set up a desalination plant in Mumbai as it has done in Chennai.
Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) has been made mandatory for all properties with more than 1000 sq.mtrs and buildings with centralized air-conditioning. Recently, BMC has announced a rebate in property tax and development charges to promote Green Housing.
While all these measures have some value in ameliorating the water problem, one measure which can make Mumbai self-sufficient in water in a short time has not received the attention it deserves and that is, Rain Water Harvesting (RWH). Mumbai gets 2000/2400mm of rain in its 437 sq.kms area and this generates 8,78,000 million litres of pure water which is sufficient to supply 2400 MLD to the city. This was revealed by a BMC official some years ago. This is the potential. Even if we assume only 50 percent of the potential can be achieved, Mumbai's water problem would be solved. It is not clear why BMC has not made it mandatory for all housing societies to install RWH facilities in its premises. RWH has helped Chennai to meet the water crisis and it would help Mumbai as well.
The water problem in Mumbai reminds one the famous lines of English poet Coleridge, " Water, water, everywhere, Not any drop to drink." Mumbai gets torrential rains which all go to the sea and Mumbai is surrounded by sea, but Mumbai does not have enough water for its citizens. It is common sense state that Mumbai has to harness the waters of monsoon as desalination is an expensive option.
Since common sense is not common especially among the bureaucrats and politicians, it is for the common people to take up the issue. The NGOs who want to improve civic conditions in the city should request BMC to make RWH compulsory and educate people living in housing societies to go in for RWH. Slogan should be - do not ask what BMC can do for you but ask what you can do for the city.
If citizens unite to solve this water problem, it can be extended to other issues as well later on. Mumbai will continue to suffer – traffic problem, bumpy roads, hawkers – unless people do not take initiative to educate our masters.
The government advertisements in newspapers is a waste of money, especially with regard to tender notices. These can be easily posted in each government's websites. It is purely patronage. It should be stopped completely to use that money for social welfare activities.
As a mater of fact, all government advertisements during the birthdays of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders should also be dispensed with and the money could be used education and health in the villages who do not have such facilities.
Government advertisement is the tip of the ice-burg. There is so much of money is wasted in inaugurations especially new trains,bridges and roads etc.
The Accountant General and the Auditor General of all states and the Union Government could be requested to list such futile and unnecessary expenditure.
If an NGO can take it up with the help of top retired government officials who have the information or have access to such activities, concerned citizens can mobilize public opinion through articles and signature campaigns to shame the government to stop all these expenditure.
( A response to the query by Karmayog on the topic.)
Nitin Desai in his piece, The Indians we forget, andB.S.Raghavan in his article, There is a much simpler answer ( India Abroad, 23/4) have highlighted the neglect of the adivasis who constitute almost 8 percent of the population in the country. The economic development through 40 years of socialist paternalism and 20 years of liberalization has not made much difference to the lives of the poor in India, especially the Scheduled Tribes (STs). The Tendulkar Committee Report estimates the number of poor in India to be 37 percent, 10 percent more than the earlier estimate of the Planning Commission. However, in the case of STs, it is 47 percent.
Both the writers have proposed good governance and a share in the mineral wealth to uplift theireconomic status. It is incumbent on any democratic government to rehabilitate all displaced persons for the development purposes. This has not been done in adequate measure. This, and the neglect of villages and the agriculture in the last three decades since the Green Revolution, has given rise to the Maoist menace and the proliferation of slums in India. Poor people without the means of sustaining themselves in their own areas, either go to cities and towns in search of work and live in slums or falla prey to the false promises of Maoists of a bright future through violence though their vision has failed to create a society of the free and the equal in the Soviet Union, Eastern European countries, and even in China and Cuba.
The time has come for the political parties and economists to pause and think afresh regarding the poverty in our country. GDP growth, which went up from 3.5 percent in the socialist era to 6 to 8 percent in the capitalist era, alone cannot be the goal in a democracy if it does not percolate down to thepoor. Mahatma Gandhi said that India lives in villages. He always spoke about sarvodaya ( welfare of all) and unto the last ( poorest of the poor). He had even given a guideline to the rulers to judge their policies – how they affect the poor, whether their policies would improve his lot , whether he can take charge of his destiny. He also emphasized the need for mass employment, not just mass production.
However, in our frenzy to catch with the rich and industrialized countries, we created more facilities and jobs in the cities than in the villages. Some of the irrigation dams on rivers, especially during the first five-year plan, and later the Green Revolution, have enriched the rich farmers. Poor farmers and farm workers have not benefitted at all. With almost 70 percent of Indians living in villages and 60 percent depending on the agriculture contributing less than 20 percent to the GDP, the villages should have been the focus of development.
Since the economic development has not percolated to the poor, we have to reverse the model ofdevelopment from top down to bottom up – progress through empowerment of villages with primary education and primary health-care. A cluster of villages should have facilities for vocational education which should include modern agricultural practices – selection of seeds, fertilizers, marketing, soil testing, dairy and poultry farming, cultivating fruits and vegetables, drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting, food-processing and agro-industries. All these should provided to the farmers or their children at a small fee, if not free of charge in their own language.
All these years the state has made people depend on its dole. State gives subsidies and freebees – free electricity, subsidized food-grains, low-priced LPG etc. The state spends colossal amount of money on this. This has benefitted the well-off than the poor. Even the flagship schemes suffer from leakages. A report in the Times of India (2/10/09) states :" A government investigation into the working of the Scheme ( The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) with an annual budget of Rs.40,000 crore has revealed the siphoning-off of a whopping 40 percent of the allocation and woefully inadequate implementation of the Scheme in the districts where it is needed most." All this money could be easily diverted to empower people. Poor should be provided with the tools of improving their economic life. It is better to teach fishing rather than give fish to the poor so that they can live a life of dignity, not of charity.
The poor and the illiterates are not poor in wisdom and even invention. Dr.Anil K.Gupta's Indian Innovation Foundation has some 12,000 innovations in its Honey Bee database collected from the poor and the illiterate. They are all self-taught mechanics and entrepreneurs. Sebastian Joseph, a school drop-out developed a high-yielding cardamom variety in Idukki in Kerala. Amrutbhai Agrawat of Junagadh in Gujarat invented a multi-purpose tool bar, a wheat planting box and a pea-nut digger. He also devised a pulley with a ratchet for village wells and a bullock cart with a tilting bed. There are many more such useful gadgets in the database. They are all poor and illiterate because the state never provided them with the tools of progress – education and access to credit.
Since the change in the strategy of growth for the poor would take time, a new idea of directly helping the poor has been mooted by Bhagwan Chowdhry, Finance Professor at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, as mentioned by the Economist of London recently. The professor has proposed that every child born in the world should have a bank account at birth with an amount of $100. It is called FAB ( FinancialAccess@Birth). The amount would not be touched until the child attains the age of 16. This would encourage parents to register the birth of their children. The government or charities could transfer monetary help to the child's account for education and health. This simple idea has the potential to empower the poor children in the world.
India can pioneer and promote this idea with its UID programme being implemented by the central government. If there is anything that can empower the poor people apart from education and health, it is the access to financial resources (capital and credit). .
Ever since I heard in Saudi Arabia, where I was working for a couple of years as a journalist in the early 'eighties, that all graduates were entitled to get 50,000 riyals to start their life, I fancied we in India should have a similar facility. It could be Rs.5000 at birth as now suggested by Chowdhry or an amount of Rs.25,000to each child when he/she reaches the age of 16/18 to start his/her life after the graduation or vocational education irrespective of gender. He/she should be eligible for an additional loan at a low rate of interest if he/she has a feasible idea. The Government of Madhya Pradesh gives an amount Rs. One lakh to a girl child when she reaches the age of 18 and this has improved the sex ratio in the state. Entitlement after education has the potential to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
This amount could be used to improve whatever occupation the person has inherited or an occupation the person has learnt. It could be even used to build a house or repair a house as it would create employment in the village. It could be used to purchase the latest tools of his occupation.
India should focus on the villages, the poor and the agriculture. India should empower the people, not the state. India should promote small towns and villages, not mega-cities with slums. With telecommunications facilities, television and internet, there is no need to be in a city. Let us re-think our strategy of growth and progress.
Kudos to R.Jagnnathan for his piece, Dynasty Vs government (DNA, 8/4) which hits the nail on its head. As he has pointed out Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have never taken any step to promote good governance. Populist measures are their forte, not good governance. They have never advocated any steps to target subsidies to the poor ( welfare schemes have huge leakages) , implementing reforms in the economy ( PSU autonomy or privatization) or reforms in administration (for example, police autonomy, speedy justice, transparency in awarding contracts). They delayed implementing oil sector price increase till after the election. They have not asked their own government to take stringent action against the Maoists who are on the rampage or the terrorists who are all over India. They have promoted caste and creed division with reservations in every sphere of life instead of promoting unity. They have promoted populism and made India a soft state. PM is a fall guy but he is a willing victim. So also parties in UPA. Power ke liye kuch be karega !
The author has hinted at some co-ordination between " the soldiers of god and the mercenaries of Mao". Otherwise, why should Maoists kill a Hindu religious leader who was promoting health and education in the tribal area just like the missionaries. There have been reports of similar co-ordination in Nepal and Sri Lanka as well. It looks like another jihad on India and Hindus.
The Economist , the well-known weekly magazine published from London, has a report on a novel idea put forward by Bhagwan Chowdhry, Finance Professor at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles. The professor has proposed that every child born in the world should have a bank account at birth with an amount of $100. It is called FAB ( FinancialAccess@Birth). The amount would not be touched until the child attains the age of 16. This would encourage parents to register the birth of their children. The government or charities could transfer monetary help to the child's account for education and health. This simple idea has the potential to empower the poor children in the world.
It is a fabulous idea indeed! It is an idea for which the time has come as other avenues of help have been usurped by the middle-men. The idea has already received support from prominent people like Peter Singer, a well-known philosopher, and Vijay Mahajan, an Indian social entrepreneur.
The rich countries such as Britain, Canada and South Korea have introduced this, says Chowdhry. He expects 35 million rich children would not avail this facility and the 100 million babies born each yearcould be covered with one-fiftieth of one percent of GDP amounting to $10 billion annually.
India can pioneer and promote this idea with its UID programme being implemented by the central government. If there is anything that can empower the poor people apart from education and health, it is the access to financial resources (capital and credit). The Tendulkar Committee report has highlighted the fact that one-third of our country's people are still poor and even the recent Economic Survey of the central government is concerned with the last 20 percent of the people in the country. The economic development of the last 60 years through the socialist paternalism and individualistic liberalization has not made much difference to the poor. They are still waiting for their economic freedom. Mahatma Gandhi's statement that India lives in its villages hold good even today as two-thirds of our people still live in villages and almost sixty percent depend on agriculture.
Since the economic progress has not percolated to them we have to reverse the development model from top down to bottom up– progress through empowerment of villages with education and health. If the state can provide primary health-care, primary, secondary and vocational education and an access to credit to the poor, India should be able to abolish poverty in the next 10 years. It may even unleash innovation and enterprise in the country in a large scale.
Dr.Anil K.Gupta's Indian Innovation Foundation has some 12,000 innovations in its Honey Bee database made mostly by our poor and illiterate people. They are all self-taught mechanics and entrepreneurs. They were the pioneers of 'reverse engineering' for which India is famous. Sabastian Joseph who is a school drop-out developed the high-yield cardamom variety in Idukki in Kerala. Amruthbhai Agrawat of Junagadh in Gujarat invented a multi-purpose tool bar, a wheat planting box and a peanut digger. He also devised a pulley with a ratchet for village wells and bullock cart with a tilting bed. There are many more in the database. After all necessity is the mother of invention. Their inventions are made from scrap as they do not have access to sophisticated machinery and equipment. They are not scaled-up and commercialized. They are poor and illiterate because our state has not provided them access to education and credit, the means to improve their social and economic status.
Poor in India do not need any charity. They need the tools to improve their lives
Ever since I heard in Saudi Arabia, where I was working for a couple of years in the early 'eighties, that all graduates were entitled to get 50,000 riyals to start their life, I fancied we in India should have a similar facility. It could be Rs.5000 at birth as now suggested by Chowdhry or an amount of Rs.25,000to each child when he/she reaches the age of 16/18 to start his/her life after the graduation or vocational education irrespective of gender. He/she should be eligible for an additional loan at a low rate of interest if he/she has a feasible idea..
This amount could be used to improve whatever occupation the person has inherited or an occupation the person has learnt. It could be even used to build a house or repair a house as it would create employment in the village. It could be used to purchase the latest tools of his occupation.
To make such a scheme successful, the state has to make primary, secondary and vocational education free. Since most of the people still depend on agriculture, a school or a course in modern agricultural practices including the selection of seeds, fertilizer, testing of soil, cultivation of cereals/ vegetables/ fruits, drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting, agro-processing, dairy and poultry farming should be made available in every taluk of the country at a small fee, if not free of charge in the local language.
Indian agricultural productivity is poor compared to the world average. An educated farmer could increase agricultural yield and bring prosperity to his family and the country. Mobile phone revolution has made it possible for him to know the price of his produce in the cities in his state and sell it to the highest bidder. India has the potential to be the granary of the world. Of course, there should be a guiding body, a rural bank with the knowledge about the resources of the region and how it could be used to create wealth through enterprise or though the joint effort of a co-operative. In addition to that, a monitoring body, an NGO, to prevent misuse.
All these years, we have made our people depend on government doles in the form of subsidies - free electricity, subsidized rice/wheat, low-priced LPG etc. Most of these have benefitted the well-off rather than the poor. Even the latest flagship schemes suffer with the problem of leakages. For example, a report in the Times of India (2/10/09) states " A governmentinvestigation into the working of scheme ( the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme)with an annual budget of Rs.40,000 crore has revealed the siphoning-off of a whopping 40% of the allocation and woefully inadequate implementation of the scheme in districts where it is needed most." Money now misused can be easily diverted to empower every child and every person in the villages..
Poor should be helped to be productive, and be the proud citizens of India who can stand on their own legs. They should be empowered with education, a vocation and resources to be their masters of destiny. It is better to teach fishing than give fish.
