Pramod Kumar
LAST month, a survey conducted by global recruitment firm, Ma Foi Randstad, claimed that despite global recession around one crore Indian youth, under 30s, want to go abroad for jobs. Not only that, 39 per cent of them want to go abroad even without any pay hike, the survey finds.
If the survey was conducted honestly and if its findings are true, the situation is certainly grim and appalling. Why our policymakers ignored it, we cannot say, but many nationalists were forced to contemplate. They pondered as to why these youths want to go abroad and that too without pay hike, when their services are urgently needed here and too many of them are already engaged in the task of nation-building. One of the reasons may be that the youth have lost all hope in the conditions prevailing here. Some even think that the situation may further deteriorate. When we speak to some youth in this regard, we can perceive their despair.
Undoubtedly, the overall conditions in the country are alarming and need immediate and concrete action. The entire government machinery, financial system and major constitutional institutions are non-functional. Scams and large-scale corruption have become the order of the day. The sufferings of aam aadmi are touching new heights due to surging price rise and food scarcity. By and large, the nine years of Congress-led UPA government have pushed the country into a mess. You take any field, the situation is distressing. Instead of acting decisively, the Prime Minister and his team are openly protecting the corrupt. What baffles more is that they are acting shamelessly not only because they have their own vested interests in mind, but also because they are serving the interests of their foreign masters.
Our heads hang in shame due to recurring incidents of rapes and other crimes against women. A recent data from National Crime Records Bureau points out that the total number of criminal cases against women increased by 29.6 per cent between 2006 and 2010. The figure is still rising. Instead of taking effective steps to curb this menace, the Sonia-led regime wasted time on discussing to lower the age for consensual sex. Forget the entire country, even in national capital the Delhi Police records show a dramatic rise in reported crimes since January 1, 2013 with molestation cases up by 590.4 per cent over the same period last year and rape cases up by 147.6 per cent. The number of female tourists visiting India was down by 35 per cent in the first three months of 2013, according to Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India. This is the condition even after enacting a special anti-rape law by the Union government.
What adds fuel to the fire is the stunning revelation that the judiciary has lost credibility. There appears discrimination even in punishing the accused. Some are being released without punishment, while some are being denied bail even though the investigative agencies failed to gather evidence against them, like in the case of Sadhvi Pragya. The premier investigating agency CBI is being openly misused by the Congress Party to silence its political adversaries.
The Parliamentary procedure is under serious question. The Bills related to public welfare continue to hang in balance for years, but the matters pertaining to interests of foreign powers are cleared without delay. The bureaucracy has become politicised. They do not behave like public ‘servants’ but like ‘masters’. They enjoy unlimited rights, but zero accountability. Our democratic rights are at stake. The Union government is always over-conscious of minorities’ rights and privileges, while ignoring aspirations of the majority. This is what we see in Ram Setu case.
The autonomy of Election Commission too is under question. It fails to act decisively on the complaints of violation of moral code of conduct and keeps mum over the reported anomalies in the use of EVMs (electronic voting machines).
The financial institutions are being forced to sanction unproductive loans. The big corporate houses are granted loans smoothly and no one bothers to know the purpose of the loans. There are reports that the money taken as loans from India is being invested abroad. The loan amount earmarked for rural areas in the budget is being released in urban areas. The industrialists have already been granted tax rebate of over Rs 13 lakh crore. Still they are demanding withdrawal of annual subsidy of Rs 3-4 lakh crore given to farmers. When the farmers or middle class people protest against this, their movements are crushed sternly. The unabated price-rise and insecure conditions keeps the people busy with their livelihood. When the resentment is articulated in social media, they started issuing threats to ban it. The growth rate of economy is at the lowest, as the key sectors are repeatedly being ignored. By hiking FDI limit in retail, the conspiracy to kill this vital sector stands exposed.
The defence sector too is not in perfect shape. A former army chief is facing serious allegations in the helicopter scam, which also put the Defence Minister AK Antony, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and also the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the dock. It seems the loot of public money has been institutionalised. The repeated scams prove it. In 2012, Transparency International study ranked India 94th out of 176 countries on corruption – tied with tiny countries like Benin, Colombia, Djibouti, Greece, Moldova, Mongolia and Senegal.
The US and European companies are freely hiring our people sitting on key posts. They spend millions of dollars on lobbying. In this game, the victim is common man. The present system neither lets them live as per their traditions nor allows them to live in modern conditions. They have become like football, being kicked from all sides.
The country’s 65 per cent population is below 35 years of age. But we are not able to grant respectable employment to even 20 per cent of them. In the national growth system, there is no policy for employment generation. All efforts are being made to block the intellectual growth of young generation. They are deliberately taken away from serious debate on vital issues. That is why there is no strong voice against the anarchy and destruction caused by the policymakers. If any voice is raised, it is nipped in the bud.
In this situation, the big question is how to ensure the holistic development of the country. If the country remains in this state for long, the situation may go out of control. Ironically, we do talk about scams, but never talk about curbing them. We talk about foreign technology, but refrain from promoting indigenous technology; we want higher education and allow foreign universities into the country, but do not pay attention to research and development. We preach character-building for all, but avoid having the same qualities in leaders.
Definitely, this situation unsettles all patriotic citizens. That is why, intermittently, the youth are in the streets. But all the time they are forced to withdraw, given hollow promises. But the good thing is that the youth have understood this conspiracy and are not ready to be fooled again. This clearly reflected in the demonstrations, organised after December 16 rape incident. Justice (retd) JS Verma, who headed a committee set up to suggest ways to make rape laws stronger, also admitted that the agitation by youth basically forced the government to think of amending the law. This proves the potential of youth agitation.
Need of the hour is to move this potential in the right direction. There are many organisations and individuals who have shown the way. But the big question is, instead of preaching others we should start from ourselves, from our own families. Mahatma Gandhi also said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Let us imbibe this message and start today itself.
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