And for a Friday as most States and City Corporations are presenting their annual Budgets; three cities in my life now, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Trivandrum, some thoughts….. some musings…..
All Mumbaikars have a “Gav” which means the village they originate. My Gav in that sense is Trivandrum and post retirement my Aadhar address and home is Bengaluru. Incidentally, all three are state capitals and each city is lovely, charming and unique in its own ways and we have good friends, relatives and colleagues in each place. However, there is a huge disconnect. The politicians who wield economic and political power in these cities are mostly from Mofussil constituencies, particularly true of Mumbai and Bengaluru. Steeped in corruption, most politicians look how best to loot the “Golden Goose”. Statistics of Bengaluru are symbolic of every major city in the country. Whilst the average per capita income in India is $2300, in Bengaluru it’s $11000, five times the national average. It contributes more than 60% of state GDP and is the highest Income tax earner next only to Mumbai at number one. Yet the “ease of living” of the tax paying hard working citizen is miserable. What with pot holed roads, traffic snarls and flooding. With 654 deaths in road accidents last year, this city earned the dubious distinction of highest pot hole deaths. One of the biggest reason for our cities in neglect is a Constitutional defect. Central and State Govt roles and responsibilities are well defined, but cities are left in lurch. Clubbed as “local bodies”, poor Governance and high corruption requires each of us to be vigilant and contribute our baby step to improve Governance.
Kerala is a completely different story; with the highest social indicators, but no job opportunities. With trade unionism and hartals as the daily dose of life, the young are migrating to study abroad and look for jobs. A recent study revealed Kerala students in 54 countries including Barbados and Kyrgyzstan. Of the 51,000 engineering seats in the state 23,000 are not availed; vacant seats, Vacant houses and old age homes.
In spite of all the hurdles, limitations and obstacles, it’s the tenacity and “never give up“ attitude of every Indian, that we march along, the hard way, the persevering way, the SEEGOS way.