Once I was on Election Commission’s duty as an observer in the state of Bihar. It was for assembly elections in the year 1995. Bihar is a poor state, but the Araria district, the area where I was assigned duty was even poorer. At that time, I was posted at Kolkata and there was a direct train from Sealdah to the place of my duty.
On my very first visit there, I was amazed to see the socio-economic condition of its people. People there were simple and poor but their happiness index was certainly higher than their urban or more prosperous counterparts. This trait of theirs was exploited fully by their leaders, who had vested interest in keeping them in that condition only. Overall, it was a very rich experience, which not only increased my sensitivity towards poor people but also revealed to me the secret of economic growth. One day, while travelling on a countryside road in the district, I started conducting a survey of people walking or cycling on the roadside. The two parameters I had in mind were their clothes and footwear. I observed both these possessions carefully. As far as clothing was concerned, I noticed that half of them wore only an undergarment (baniyan) and in a good number of cases, it was a torn one. There were some who were bare-bodied, some with a damaged kurta and only about one in ten had put on a shirt or kurta which was in a good condition. More or less the same was the situation with women, many of whom wrapped their upper parts with a sari. In the case of footwear, half of them were barefoot and most of the remaining wore a cheap rubber chappal, which was damaged in a good number of cases. Only about one out of ten had proper shoes on their feet.
I was touched to see this condition of the majority of people. My attention went to the wardrobes of those rich people who have countless clothes and shoes only to remain unutilised while depriving others. I was not a student of economics but by common sense thought that this could not be the way of economic development. Certainly, it would be much faster, if the entire population had access to their minimum needs. If each Indian woman was to possess one pair of sari, man one pair of shirt and all of them one pair of footwear, the textile and footwear industry would grow at a much faster rate than it does now. The same is true for other needs.
Economists and planners have failed to bring equity in the development process. I feel that all the disorders of the society are mainly on account of the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Such growth models cannot sustain for a long time and today’s recession has a lot to do with this failure. Gandhiji had this model of growth in mind which we have failed to follow, and are now paying the price for it. Let us review our priorities and learn from our mistakes. After the above visit, I also started possessing only one pair of shoes and few sets of clothes. Surely, I have been a happier person since then.
