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At
Conceptual Level: |
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At Conceptual Level: 1. At the grassroots
level the 'economics' means art of survival with human dignity.
The charter for 'survival with human dignity' includes community
& civil obligations and socio-cultural obligations apart
from the sustenance and well being of the family.
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For centuries such requirements for
survival were by and large taken care by the socio-political
and socio-cultural fabric of the oriental societies like
ours. Community obligations and common property resources
played more critical role in the lives of the poor than
the 'money' and both of these are threatened by the expansion
of money economy and market.
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The crux of the inequality among nations
in the world order lies in international agreements related
to 'valuation of currencies'. The present mechanism ensures
unfair trade between producers of monetarily 'high value'
items i.e. arms; heavy machinery; electronics etc. and the
producers of monetarily 'low value' items i.e. minerals;
food, cloth, craft etc.. Though the valuation of items is
just reverse if we look from the humanitarian angle.
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The discipline of macroeconomics
has little or no value for poor people's concerns of survival.
Since it is based on the science of averages that is biased
in favor of the haves, it has no meaning to the lives of the
toiling millions. The concepts like GDP (Gross Domestic Product),
Growth Rate and Fiscal Deficit tend to smokescreen the reality
of the masses. |
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People need to be empowered to articulate
their own economics and devise strategies to influence the
economic world order from that standpoint.
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At
The Field Level:
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The requirement of cash
is on increase, not because of escalation in consumption but
because of other factors i.e. price rise, erosion in access
to non cash sources, introduction of user fee and privatisation
of services. |
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The
opportunities to earn cash have squeezed in non-metro circumstances
due to entry of big money even in service sector. |
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In the rural sector the
farm employment is showing sharp decline due to non viability
of agriculture, changes in crops, unpredictable fluctuations
in market prices of crops, spread of rent seeking from agricultural
machinery, promotion of horticulture and other off farm activities.
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Whatever opportunities
of employment or self-employment still exist, the terms and
conditions of those are unfavourable for the poor. Terms of
labour are becoming extremely exploitative with increasing
clout of contracting system in various fields. In semi-urban
areas, the emergences of service companies of various types
are rapidly marginalising the poor. |
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Steady decline in real
wages, consumption and nutritional levels. Apart from factors
i.e. price raise and non production of coarse serials, the
trend of monitisation of wage payment has substantially contributed
to this factor as it has replaced the practices of providing
food at the time of ploughing, sowing & transplanting and
share of crop at the time of harvest and cash at the time
of sale of the crop. |
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There is steady decline
in the status of and the people's access to the 'common property
resources'. Part of it is already encroached upon by the powerful
lobby of landed class, some of it was leased out by the government
to the private parties in the name of 'wasteland development',
while at other places the usury rights to the people are denied
'in the name of 'Eco-development'. |
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All the factors illustrated
above are causing increase in drudgery, discrimination and
repression of women of poor and marginalised sections of the
society. |
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Dismantling
of occupations other than agriculture i.e. blacksmith, cobbler,
potter etc. due to enhanced outreach of manufactured goods
and tools. |
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Social segregation and
isolation of the poor and marginalised and ghettoisation among
the rich leading to intensification of tension and conflict
in rural India. |
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Exclusion
of poor and marginalised from the processes and structures
of decision-making; decrease in democratic space for dissent
and a virtual take over of the political system by the 'elite'.
The efforts throttled down in the name of 'good governance'
or 'decentralisation' or 'community participation', in effect
are re- enforcing this 'elite' control as the 'citizen' of
the past has been replaced by the 'stakeholder' of today.
And is obvious, the poor and marginalised have poor and marginalised
stakes and hence excluded from the efforts of 'good governance'. |
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