India is going to unveil the world’s tallest statue today, i.e. on October 31, 2018. As evident, it has cost many crores of rupees. The bronze-clad accolade to Indian freedom fighter cum the first Home Minister of independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel cost 30,000 crores. The Gujarat state government alone is apparently born more than half of that amount. The remaining amount has been given by the union government. Besides, a portion of it was collected as donations from the public.
As the Chief Minister of Gujarat state, Narendra Modi, who is the present Prime Minister of India, has commissioned the statue in the year 2010. There’s no need to mention that he also hails from the same state. Seemingly, in recent years, the Bharatiya Janata Party has embraced Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in an effort to claim his legacy, while accusing the Congress Party of sidelining him to benefit Nehru’s descendants — the Gandhis.
While the nation is rejoicing the grand occasion of the unveiling of the world’s tallest statue, apparently a sector of people is not happy over the same. According to the media reports, the local farmers in Gujarat state are aghast that the government has spent so much money on the statue while the agrarian community in the state has been struggling to fulfill their basic needs. As opined by the local farmers, instead of spending money on a giant statue, the government should have used it for farmers in the state, wherein the farmers in the area still lack basic irrigation facilities.
Of course, a leader of his stature, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, surely deserves a great honor. However, considering the woes being faced by the farmers in Gujarat state alone, the government should have considered utilizing the funds nominally for the erection of a statue and would have made the remaining amount as a corpus fund to safeguard the farmers in the state — in the honor of the Iron Man.
Even now, it is not too late. The government if thinks so, still has a chance to make it happen. The place surrounding the statue may be developed progressively as a tourist spot. The tourists may be charged nominally — the funds thus generated could be effectively utilized for the welfare of farmers.
The true progress of a nation happens when the farmers are happy with the ongoing developments. In actuality, the farmers neither expect any waivers of their loans nor any other types of caring considerations. All that they want is genuinely setting the cost for their agriculture products. Besides, they want the abolition of the mediator system.
-Dr. Suman Kumar Kasturi
