Taking away of *Upens'* lands in Singur heart-breaking!

[arya.ray...@sbcglobal.net]

It is such a huge issue in Bengal because of Tagore's famous poem Two
Acres of Land
where the poet depicts the pain and agony of a poor peasant Upen when
the landlord wants
to coercively purchase his land! In the case of Singur, of course, it
is for the purpose of
building a car plant. But, many still do not see the justification of
building industrial factories
on arable farm land. The situation has given rise to some unavoidable
political turmoil.
While there is a general consensus on the need to have the industrial
development revamped,
there appears to be a lack of transparency regarding how the displaced
peasants are being
compensated or rehabilitated. If the peasants are seen to be adequately
compensated and
accommodated the unrest may die down. But, there will be a lingering
afterthought. That of
the shrinking of farm lands with the growth of further industrial
enterprises. Hopefully, it will
inspire researchers and developers of agricultural strategies to come
up with new solutions
for enhancing agricultural productivity. One of the interesting ideas
that can be tried would
be to build multilevel farming structures, somewhat like parking
structures. It can effectively
increase the land surface quite a few times. Or even hemispherical dome
shaped fields that
can double the farming surface area.

Arjoe

[arya.ray...@sbcglobal.net]

The important point to consider here is the balance between agriculture
and industry.
That is, if there is a visible emphasis on development of new industry,
there needs to
be equally visible push towards modernising agriculture. So that the
agricultural
community doesn't feel left out. Also, the choice of new industry
should be made
carefully. Not all industry is environmentally friendly, or even in
sync with the aptitude
and requirements of the people. In my view, new industry should focus
more on
generating finished products. It not only makes more commercial sense,
but it also
involves co-development of a number of associated products. In that
sense, the idea
of a new car plant is very welcome. But, not the idea of another steel
plant.
One good thing about hi-tech and software products is that the industry
is relatively
free from environmental pollution. But, then you cannot just do
hi-tech and software.
So, the industrial planning should consider all the parameters of
development and
the associated issues. And, seek those types of new industry that
appear to be
of priority.

> Arjoe

[arya.ray...@sbcglobal.net]

Good to see the major opposition politician in Bengal break her long
fasting
protest aginst the commissioning of the car plant. She has been such a
talented
lady and a major political figure in India! But, looking forward, one
of the interesting
things to expect is creative oppositioning as opposed to disruptive
oppositioning.
The opposition needs to be seen smarter than the rulers in coming up
with
more balanced and environmentally friendly developmental ideas along
the lines
I have discussed earlier. Of course, disruptive oppositioning is not
unique
to Indian politics, it is almost a world-wide phenomenon. Here, in the
US, I have
suffered from disruptiveness quite a bit in my career and life. Like,
whenever
you come up with better ideas and methodologies in your work
environment,
there will folks trying to stop you!
>
> > Arjoe