A VISIONARY LEADER OR AN ILLUSIONARY LEADER? CHOICE IS YOURS Print E-mail Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on print More Sharing Services Friday, 07 February 2014 14:21 A discernible wave of dissatisfaction in the minds of youth in Andhra Pradesh is apparent in AP now . Reasons for this are lack of opportunities for job growth and corrupt practices in the system that took deep roots during the past decade in the state. Compare this with the nine year golden rule of Sri Chandrababu Naidu and the previous TDP regime of Sri NTR which we can call “NTR legacy”. Figures speak for themselves. A comparative study on the economy of the state during the golden period of Sri Naidu and the YSR period marked by high debt, corruption and wasted investments speak for themselves. The first part can be called the Naidu era (1994–2004). The salient aspects of this era are High level of investment into Hyderabad city infrastructure to support IT export priorities. Software exports from Hyderabad grew at the same pace as Indias over all software export growth and elevated Hyderabad to the 9th largest software exporting city in India. This can be called the YSR era (2004–2009). The salient aspects of this era are The one lakh crore budget. State government budget due to foreign borrowing, real estate sale and higher allowed deficits. Fake large scale investments into irrigation, rural development, roads, telecom, energy generation and health care. First period marked huge investments in IT Sector that directly helped in software exports and AP was elevated to the ninth largest state in software exports. Not only this, an invisible growth took place in AP. Many students who, hitherto, never expected nor aspired for a white collar job in India or a high paying job abroad sensed an opportunity in the sector. There is no gainsaying the fact that most of the aspiring students were from rural belt. It was during this period that AP students competed with other students down South and earned top rankings in All India Competitive Examinations. This paved way to plum white collar jobs being pocketed by youth from AP. E-Governance model provided more employment opportunities. E-Seva Centers received nationwide applaud. While creation of white collar jobs for aspiring youth was one aspect of the story, the resultant downward percolation of the positive effects created more blue- collar jobs with investments flowing into industries from investors in India and abroad. It was during this golden period that many large scale industries were established and expanded in India. Factories not only created blue-collar jobs but white collar jobs too in administration. Exports from these factories, like Pharmaceuticals increased boundlessly, creating more jobs. And factories provided contractual employment to manual labour. Factories needed transportation facilities, which meant more employed and self-employed youth. Where are all these people drawn from? While most in the cities got employment, those that migrated from rural sector too got enough work to feed their families. This debunks the theory that the visionary ignored rural youth. Besides, construction of factories, infrastructure like roads, bridges and airports to cater to the needs of growing industries provided work to more people. Large apartment houses came up in Hyderabad and other cities employing security people which is a large scale employment provider today. With increasing mobility of people transportation needs increased and thus public transport companies provided more jobs, while simultaneously private transport too increased in strength. Tourism got a boost as people were gainfully employed and hotel industry flourished thus providing more employment. In fact, Hotel Management Courses were started on large scale during this golden period. Power sector reforms were initiated to cater to the needs of growing industry and software sectors. Farmers too were provided uninterrupted power supply. This sector saw large scale growth in employment potential. The third area where work/employment generation needed a boost was rural sector. For most of the years that Sri Naidu was at the helm as CM, there was severe drought. It was not man made, as some adversaries sought to project. Despite the adverse effects of nature Sri Naidu strived hard to keep up the morale of rural workers by providing round the year work. As already stated, the growth in the Software and Industrial sectors saw many of the rural youth getting gainfully employed. By providing uninterrupted power to farming sector Sri Naidu ensured farming never got derailed. He gave boost to rural economy through various measures. He opened Rythu Bazars that was a novel concept where the farmers were encouraged to sell their produce directly in City markets, avoiding middlemen. This encouraged farmers to reinvest in farming. Self Help Groups for women was another concept introduced by Sri Naidu. These groups gave women economic independence. The scheme aimed to bring every assisted poor family above the poverty line by ensuring appreciably sustainable level of income over a period of time. This objective is to be achieved by organizing the rural poor in to Self Help Groups (SHG) through the process of social mobilization, their training and capacity building,and provision of income generating assets. 1. Training 2. Infrastructure 3. Revolving fund to SHGs 4. Subsidy for Economic Activity Weavers were provided subsidies and other incentives. Advasis that depend on forest produce were encouraged through Girijan Co-Operative Societies by providing access to Rythu Bazaars. Compare this to the past decade. Figures speak high but ground level the situation speaks a different language. Investments were said to have been made in various sectors. Where did the money go? Ho many acres of land were irrigated. How many projects were completed? How many additional jobs were created by this huge investment? Almost ‘nil’ as the whole investment was drained out of the system through corrupt means. As suggested supra, the state was thrown into a debt trap with siphoning, by illegal means, of the money that was raised through debt. Rural development took a back seat with populist schemes taking place of real development. Investments were made on unproductive schemes with eye on vote banks. Result is total destruction of foundations of economy. Power sector was the worst sufferer despite huge investments. The sector did not add jobs. Energy generation suffered hugely due to mismanagement of funds. Even the much acclaimed Health Sector reforms suffered a setback due to misuse. “Feed a man, he will be satisfied for the day. Help the man to earn the livelihood for himself. It will sustain his family for generations.” Sri Naidu strived to lay strong foundations for growth and the latter day government enjoyed the fruits. But they squandered whatever work was done by Sri Naidu and left the state barren. Time is high for youth of the day to choose between a “VISIONARY LEADER” and an “ILLUSIONARY LEADER”. The visionary lays strong foundations and the illusionary leader constructs castles in the air and shows an “UTOPIA” or an illusion. “Choose the Right Leader” JAI HIND JAI JANMABHOOMI @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:30:19 +0000