Preamble.
I reproduce here an e-mail. The letter makes for interesting reading. This is not a political post but please form your own opinions. Happy reading...and feel free to comment on your own experiences.....the good, the bad as also the ugly. India has many faces.
Dear Prakash,
1. Some time back you'd asked me, "Will Modi win 2019 election?" I told you that I've no idea as I do not get involved in politics. This time, almost for a month, I was in my village in rural Bihar and interacting with farmer communities of several villages. I also happened to interact with with a few persons in Jharkhand and UP. My observations are given in the succeeding paragraphs and based on these you can form your own opinion. You are a better analyst than me.
2. It all began when my aged 85 year Maternal Uncle came to our place and told me that he has got SMS of getting a credit of Rs.16,000/- in his account but he does not know in which bank account money has gone. My brother who was a banker, made a couple of calls and confirmed that the money has been credited to his account in a particular bank. My uncle was very happy. He is a middle class farmer of small land holding in a rural Bihar village. His village is deep in the interior, more interior than my village.
3. When I asked him as to what this money was for, he said that his area has been declared drought affected and he has received this subsidy for the same. I checked from other small and middle class farmers and they all confirmed having received the amount. In a family, if the land was held in the name of several members, each member received this amount. All of them were very happy. Not only this, one of my cousins who is a farmer told me that he received Rs.1,200/- and Rs.1,600/- as compensation for diesel used for irrigation for which he had to claim(Mind you, claim is much simpler than our CDA claims and no government officials are involved in these claims).
4. I further inquired as to what they must do to get this subsidy. They directed me to a small-time computer operator who links your Aadhaar to the scheme and the bank account. He then uploadsyour land holding, he will upload your diesel claims for irrigation and charges just Rs.30/- No government officials are involved, so there is no bribing or red-tapeism. Besides these, they regularly receive subsidy for seeds, fertilizers, urea etc. Most of the farmers have taken Kisan Credit Cards on which they can draw interest free loan of Rs.50,000/- in a year. My cousin told me that he plans to return this amount by 31 Mar '19 and withdraw again on 01 Apr '19. So, he will always have this money at his disposal for any eventuality.
5. I suppose the concept is to prevent debt by advancing such subsidies. Incidentally, since I remember, in my village there has neither been any death by starvation nor any farmer has committed suicide. Such news I guess are the creation of the Media.
6. These subsidies are not merely helping the farmers, these are triggering overall economic and social growth. The bazaars are buzzing with activities, people are graduating from cycles to motor cycles to cars to buses to trucks. Tractors are aplenty. Other agricultural tools like harvesters etc are operating in a big way.
7. I travelled on several state and national highways, these are all being upgraded from one lane to two lanes to four lanes to six lanes and so on. The famous GT Road was just a two-way road. During Vajpayee and Khanduri's tenure it got upgraded to four lane and now the work is on for its upgradation to six lanes. My own road from the district headquarters to my village and beyond is being upgraded to four lanes.
8. My village got electricity in the late '60s when we got power for 24 hrs. Later governments extended the poles and wires to all villages but without power. There was no improvement in power generation. For my personal consumption at home we have installed solar power and have a back up generator. But now for the last two years the power situation is so good that the generator is almost rusting and invertor has become outdated, batteries have dried up. The theft of electricity has been considerably reduced, people are going for meters.
9. All the above developments have also brought in real development on the social front. This time I observed hardly, maybe just 5% defecating in the open, they are doing by their force of habit. Every household has got toilets. Regarding schooling, government schools are yet to improve but those studying in them get free books, lunch, note books, uniform and girls get a cycle.
10. Private schools have mushroomed. They are offering quality education - but this will take time.
11. A few homeless families have got a credit of Rs.2,50,000/- to construct their homes.
12. Most of the households are cooking on gas, there is no shortage. Some of them still prefer to cook on wood and cow dung cakes.....food is tastier cooked on wood and cow dung cakes.
13. Law and order is generally okay but prohibition has its own drawbacks and it is causing problems.
14. By the way, each police station has got 10 re-employed Army personnel to function as QRT. Now the latest is that Registrars of colleges and universities are retired officers of the armed forces.
15. I also happened to be in UP and visited Varanasi - there is unbelievable development in the last two years. Ganga ghats are clean. People who visited Kumbh Mela told the others about the facilities and from my village and villages nearby, numerous people have all gone to Kumbh and there is no one who has any complaint.
16. Prakash, I did not believe initially but by personal visits and inquiries, I conclude that these are not mere "Jumlas" but a reality. These are indications of "Achhe Din". Ye jumla nahin hai.
To conclude I would say, you can make your own deductions as to who will win 2019.
With warm regards,
Satyendra.
Tailpiece.
Had decided last night that we'd get up later than our usual timing today being a Sunday. But after hearing the alarm, couldn't stay on the bed for long because of the habit. I let Lekha sleep for some more time as I went about my usual activity of opening up the house.
Spoke to Rema and Mini but both were busy; while Rema and family were visiting temples, Mini had Gopu visiting her as he was in the city in connection with the organising of a film festival.
I reproduce here an e-mail. The letter makes for interesting reading. This is not a political post but please form your own opinions. Happy reading...and feel free to comment on your own experiences.....the good, the bad as also the ugly. India has many faces.
Dear Prakash,
1. Some time back you'd asked me, "Will Modi win 2019 election?" I told you that I've no idea as I do not get involved in politics. This time, almost for a month, I was in my village in rural Bihar and interacting with farmer communities of several villages. I also happened to interact with with a few persons in Jharkhand and UP. My observations are given in the succeeding paragraphs and based on these you can form your own opinion. You are a better analyst than me.
2. It all began when my aged 85 year Maternal Uncle came to our place and told me that he has got SMS of getting a credit of Rs.16,000/- in his account but he does not know in which bank account money has gone. My brother who was a banker, made a couple of calls and confirmed that the money has been credited to his account in a particular bank. My uncle was very happy. He is a middle class farmer of small land holding in a rural Bihar village. His village is deep in the interior, more interior than my village.
3. When I asked him as to what this money was for, he said that his area has been declared drought affected and he has received this subsidy for the same. I checked from other small and middle class farmers and they all confirmed having received the amount. In a family, if the land was held in the name of several members, each member received this amount. All of them were very happy. Not only this, one of my cousins who is a farmer told me that he received Rs.1,200/- and Rs.1,600/- as compensation for diesel used for irrigation for which he had to claim(Mind you, claim is much simpler than our CDA claims and no government officials are involved in these claims).
4. I further inquired as to what they must do to get this subsidy. They directed me to a small-time computer operator who links your Aadhaar to the scheme and the bank account. He then uploadsyour land holding, he will upload your diesel claims for irrigation and charges just Rs.30/- No government officials are involved, so there is no bribing or red-tapeism. Besides these, they regularly receive subsidy for seeds, fertilizers, urea etc. Most of the farmers have taken Kisan Credit Cards on which they can draw interest free loan of Rs.50,000/- in a year. My cousin told me that he plans to return this amount by 31 Mar '19 and withdraw again on 01 Apr '19. So, he will always have this money at his disposal for any eventuality.
5. I suppose the concept is to prevent debt by advancing such subsidies. Incidentally, since I remember, in my village there has neither been any death by starvation nor any farmer has committed suicide. Such news I guess are the creation of the Media.
6. These subsidies are not merely helping the farmers, these are triggering overall economic and social growth. The bazaars are buzzing with activities, people are graduating from cycles to motor cycles to cars to buses to trucks. Tractors are aplenty. Other agricultural tools like harvesters etc are operating in a big way.
7. I travelled on several state and national highways, these are all being upgraded from one lane to two lanes to four lanes to six lanes and so on. The famous GT Road was just a two-way road. During Vajpayee and Khanduri's tenure it got upgraded to four lane and now the work is on for its upgradation to six lanes. My own road from the district headquarters to my village and beyond is being upgraded to four lanes.
8. My village got electricity in the late '60s when we got power for 24 hrs. Later governments extended the poles and wires to all villages but without power. There was no improvement in power generation. For my personal consumption at home we have installed solar power and have a back up generator. But now for the last two years the power situation is so good that the generator is almost rusting and invertor has become outdated, batteries have dried up. The theft of electricity has been considerably reduced, people are going for meters.
9. All the above developments have also brought in real development on the social front. This time I observed hardly, maybe just 5% defecating in the open, they are doing by their force of habit. Every household has got toilets. Regarding schooling, government schools are yet to improve but those studying in them get free books, lunch, note books, uniform and girls get a cycle.
10. Private schools have mushroomed. They are offering quality education - but this will take time.
11. A few homeless families have got a credit of Rs.2,50,000/- to construct their homes.
12. Most of the households are cooking on gas, there is no shortage. Some of them still prefer to cook on wood and cow dung cakes.....food is tastier cooked on wood and cow dung cakes.
13. Law and order is generally okay but prohibition has its own drawbacks and it is causing problems.
14. By the way, each police station has got 10 re-employed Army personnel to function as QRT. Now the latest is that Registrars of colleges and universities are retired officers of the armed forces.
15. I also happened to be in UP and visited Varanasi - there is unbelievable development in the last two years. Ganga ghats are clean. People who visited Kumbh Mela told the others about the facilities and from my village and villages nearby, numerous people have all gone to Kumbh and there is no one who has any complaint.
16. Prakash, I did not believe initially but by personal visits and inquiries, I conclude that these are not mere "Jumlas" but a reality. These are indications of "Achhe Din". Ye jumla nahin hai.
To conclude I would say, you can make your own deductions as to who will win 2019.
With warm regards,
Satyendra.
Tailpiece.
Had decided last night that we'd get up later than our usual timing today being a Sunday. But after hearing the alarm, couldn't stay on the bed for long because of the habit. I let Lekha sleep for some more time as I went about my usual activity of opening up the house.
Spoke to Rema and Mini but both were busy; while Rema and family were visiting temples, Mini had Gopu visiting her as he was in the city in connection with the organising of a film festival.
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