Manohar Lal, an indian villager, stays in one of the remote villages of Uttar Pradesh, India. Manohar's main source of income is farming and poultry. He has around 4 acres of land inherited from his father, who had around 20 acres of land. His father divided 20 acres of land among his 5 sons. Manoher also has four children, 2 sons and 2 daughters. All 4 children go to school. It seems to be a very happy tale, however there are some concerns.
Are these people well aware of growing prices, growing standard of education, gorwing standard of living in urban parts of India? Manohar is not as lucky as his father in terms of size of land, so his next generation would not be able to depend on farming for their source of living. The worst part is that neither Manohar nor his children are aware of future growing competition in terms of making their living, forget about making impact on the world.
Well, I am not saying that people like Manohar will not grow. There are many forces that can drive their growth like migration to cities, food price rise, individual struggle and brilliance. However there is not enough proactive effort in this area by the government, as a result we may have to wait probably for next to next generation before Manohar's grandchildren will be in upper/middle classes, with the assumption that Manohar's children will be able to provide sufficient resources and education to their children.
About 70% of the Indian population is still in villages, and the story of many of them is not different from Manoher's own story. Does it mean that it is a timebomb waiting to exlode? Can we still act fast and diffuse the timebomb? Can we bring million people like Manahar on the path of progress?
Well, I do not know but I have hope, a strong hope that 'Yes' it can be done.
In my opinion, a couple of things can be game changer that can drastically change the standard of Indian villages and bring smile on the face of Manoher and millions like Manoher. Here they are
1. Innovation: We need to more innovative ideas on how to connect Indian Villages into the main stream and progress path, and also how to execute those innovative ideas.
2. Entrepreneurship: We need more and more entrepreneurs pouring their energy, time and money into the Indian Villages. We need more business models focusing on quality but economical education, sanitation, food and creating jobs.
3. Young Leadership: We need more and more young leadership in politics
4. Government as a Corporate: Well I just love the way the corporates work. Their transparency, their way to bring innovation, their way to execute can bring a lot of good in the country. Note that I have not intentionally said "Government as a Business".
Finally I hope that we will be on the right track.
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