Taresh Gupta
Today, a great part of the developed west and the elites of India wake up to an alarm sounded by an Apple iPhone, checks the schedule of the day and plan for the week and then leaves home, for a morning jog wearing a fitbit and further plan the meals of the day based upon the estimate of the calories to be burnt during the day. This is a mere illustration of how even the first half an hour of the morning arousal of a modern man is influenced and to a great extent controlled by technological advancements, the fruits of which seem to have failed to be distributed to the downtrodden.
Today as we sit back on our sofas, sipping our morning tea and browsing through our whatsapp family group morning chats, a different downtrodden India has already begun its daily hard labour trying to provide for two square meals to its family.
As we the urban educated elites of India, have increasingly started using digital tools to simplify our daily jobs, the reality of a great part of India has not changed much.
Our exposure to technology not only allows us access to modern ideas, education and influence but also simplifies our daily lives along with entertaining us at the touch of a button.
Whereas even the source of livelihood of the agrarian India majorly depends on a natural phenomenon – rainfall.
This divide has to be reduced sharply, if not eliminated. If not for the social argument of equity, for the very maintenance of peace in our urban world.
The India is on its way to become the most youthful country in the world with a major chunk of its population in the working age, with a reduced number of dependents. This is a demographic dividend, but if educational and health institutions of adequate quality continue to fail at including all sections of society within, it will surely lead to a demographic disaster.
Moreover, the overuse of smart phones and social media has created a cocoon of selfishness and self engrossment around us. So it is in our own interest to respond to the call of inclusiveness, so the benefits of modernisation trickle down to all the sections of society. Naxalism is a living national example of what happens when the energies of the young blooded people is channelised in the direction, which according to them is the only way out of their misery.
Talking of our state Jammu and Kashmir, 5 to 7 of 22 of our districts are at present under international spectatorship. The problem if not huge, has ruined the lives of many Kashmiris by depriving them of their basic education and opportunities. It has robbed the state of its potential to earn revenue from tourism and merchandise sale. If not robbed, the potential has not been achieved fully. Our ignorance to the issue can not and must not continue for our own very benefit. To cure the current situation, the educated youngsters belonging to the state must think of coming back to their home state and provide their knowledge and experience in every domain of the economy and administration rather than being ignorant. To start with, these are only a few among many actions we may take to revive the our state’s economy, polity, society and administration. Inclusiveness is a broader term and it is a broader solution to every problem of our society.
Let’s wake up together before this time bomb of our demography inches closer to explosion. Let us for our own very benefit think about our regions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in totality as one state and not as separate independent islands, for some long term, coordinated and cohesive solutions to our state’s social, economic, political and administrative problems.
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