RIGHTS OF LIBERTY

RIGHTS OF LIBERTY

India has been the main news internationally mainly because of our population of over a billion people our country has almost one fifth of the total human population. But the land area is not in proportion in comparison as our country is not as vast as we would have liked it. China is about six times larger and area population ratio will show that our country is the most thickly populated and people per square kilometer are the highest. As our population increased the land area occupied by people spread thick and fast resulting encroachment of forests. This has been proving disastrous and have left the animals no place to hide leave alone their other problems such as access to drinking water and food. Already we can see the daily news items of elephants and wild animals wandering about and stumbling upon villages.

Well there seem to be no opposition when the animals right of living has been ignored while, there are so much opposition against the land grabbing being done by the Government, animals on the other hand does not find any supporters and have been losing ground steadily throughout the history. The next target is the poorest among the poor, the small farmers with what little land that was left, is now being targeted by the big corporate houses in the name of development and progress with the steady support of the Govt. Machinery.

The idea of cost effectiveness and cheaper productivity can not be justified, if the land acquisition was done forcibly against the farmers’ wish. His right to livelihood is a bigger issue and can not be forcibly thrown out of his farm land unless he agrees to an alternate arrangement or offer. Like wise the special legislation empowering the govt. to acquire any such land in the larger interest of the state or the country, is also debatable and does not guarantee safety to any citizen or his land.

As a democracy, which boasts of civil liberty and rights of all her citizen, the contrast in approach towards the right to lively- hood and the right to own land can not be ignored.
Even if the effected party is only one person still the Govt. is under obligation to provide these fundamental rights, leave alone all other basic needs such as drinking water ,food, electricity, transportation, protection etc. Each and every citizen has a right to live and the government is supposed to be seeing and ensuring that the basic fundamentals are provided without hindrance rather than being hindrance to their lives.

Farmers’ suicides these days are becoming a non event and no one seems to be in a hurry to address this issue, while the takeovers and market swings and the few rich Indians doing well in the international level seems to be the front cover stories of almost all magazines and newspapers. The claims of 9 to 10 percent growth and share markets’ which are booming are all seen as the big success story of our country. But the ground situation or reality shows our poor have in real become poorer while, the rich as always are getting richer. The word inclusiveness has become the latest mantra but nobody has actually included our farmers in their scheme of things.

We need a national movement for the causes of the poor farmers. They have to be subsidized and guided before they perish. The development, progress and industrialization can not be at the cost of our poor farmers. The government has to gear up and lift those farmers above the poverty line as a primary target before embarking on further development and land acquisitions. The urgency of the country shown in fast track development of infrastructure instead, should be on the farming side which is still the primary livelihood of almost 70 percent of our population.


By, Balakrishnan Mechakat, 16a , 3rd layout, Meena Estate, COIMBATORE -641028

Res .Phone -0422 2310637 Cell.09894474174